On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Twenty-Nine

The feeling of the wind elemental energy inside me was different to the normal warmth of aether. This felt prickly and chilly, though the feeling was surprisingly comfortable. The area around my heart was the most concentrated, although I could feel the energy circulating within me throughout my body.

“Oh well, if I am going to put my plan into action, I need to see what I can do here on the Material.” After grabbing breakfast I pulled out a couple of hundred yen coins and some dice. Moving the wind energy as I would aether, I formed the image and released it. The flow was sluggish, and it took some effort on my part, but there was a flash of green and the coin balanced on my hand was flicked off and tumbled to the desk below.

“It does work. It seems to be less inhibited by the Material plane than aether too.” I wondered if that was because aether was a pure form, while wind was something that was already part of the Material world?

For the next few minutes I continued to experiment, until the wind energy I had stored was all gone. Noting down my results I ran the numbers and was rather pleased. Even without being able to generate it myself I could still use the wind in my plan, but if I was able to generate it consistently, the efficiency would rise exponentially.

Another benefit of this was I was getting used to how it felt to manipulate the wind energy. It worked similarly to aether, but there were definite differences. Aether responded to thought at a much higher efficiency, while the wind relied more on my moving it through my network and expelling it. This would take some getting used to, but once moving it became second nature to me it would free up my concentration, which would be very useful in combat.

“Oh well, time to do some research. If I need knowledge of the wind and air, then internet, here I come.”

I spent the next few hours going over wind and what caused it. It was mostly related to temperature differentials causing atmospheric pressure, as I remembered from classes at school. There were some other factors such as the rotation of the earth and large geographical features, but that was basically it. I felt my understanding of that was about as good as it could get. Hell, I’m even aware of super strong winds on Jupiter. Harnessing that sort of power would make me unstoppable…

But I had the feeling that wind elemental energy was also more related to air, as per the classical Greek model. I knew the relative composition of air, most people did (those who paid attention at school, anyway) but what made air… well, air? After all, air here wasn’t the same as air on Venus, or Jupiter, or those planets where the atmosphere was made of molten metal due to the heat of their sun.

Perhaps the air element is merely the ability to manipulate the flow of any gases… it might even go further and allow one to affect further the properties of any gas. Remembering the way that the wind energy had felt as I used it to move the air around me to flip the coin and push the dice I had thrown, I felt like I was nearing a breakthrough.

Closing my eyes while thinking about the wind I began to draw in aether. It was so smooth now that my network had matured, and I felt I could probably draw in enough aether in a single day to return to the Boundary now, rather than taking two or three. Of course, it was still far slower than it was in the Boundary, especially areas touching the lower Astral, but that was only to be expected, as the Astral was the realm of aether… wait, eureka!

My eyes shot open and I bolted out of my chair, mind racing. If there is aether here, then surely there is wind energy too, after all, Earth has plenty of winds. It’ll be typhoon season in a few months. Plus if it is

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Thinking of it another way, every human was already making use of wind energy, after all, we needed to breathe to live. We could also cause wind by exhaling, or even a little by flailing our arms. It was the difference between a pebble and a mountain in scale, but still it was there. So if I could capture the feeling that the wind energy gave off in the Boundary when I was drawing it in, as well as when I was using it, I could find the energy here!

It took a while, my day wasted in idleness for the first time in ages, no fitness or combat training done, but by the time evening was rolling in, I was able to sense the presence of wind energy around me. It was not terribly strong, but I was able to draw it in to replenish my reserves. Moving it to the heart I crossed to the final stage, which was to try and understand how to create it myself.

As the night drew in, darkness spreading outside, only broken by the twinkling of streetlights and the glow leaking from the windows of the surrounding buildings, I struggled to progress. The feeling of the wind I had grasped, and my ability to draw it in was improving slowly yet noticeably, yet I couldn’t get it to start generating from my heart Chakra. Of course there should be no surprise, Shaeula said it would be difficult, and I am already way ahead of the Fae, for example, because of my large base of scientific knowledge, plus the internet to build on that. I just needed another eureka moment to push me over the edge. I didn’t want to spend months on this, as I still needed to earn money and work on my fitness and combat skills too.

As the time approached midnight, the rhythmic ticking of my clock the only sound I could hear, I realised something. Wind energy was circulating to the heart, but then small portions of it were moving to my lunar node, which was in turn sending back the flow through the lesser branches of my network, accompanied by small needles of pain. That reminded me of the way that my circulatory system worked. My blood carries oxygen, which is air…my whole body runs on it, and oxygen is used to turn various sugars into energy… air to energy… my heart creates energy…

As I drew in my aether I visualised my heart drawing energy from the air that passed through it. Suddenly a prickling feeling spread within me, and my heart pulsed irregularly. Pain flared and for a moment I couldn’t breathe, my heart spasming, my lunar node firing off what was now daggers of agony, but as I concentrated my heart settled down, beating in rhythm again, the torment fading. With each beat of my heart the heart Chakra also pulsed, generating a tiny amount of elemental wind.

Your Class, Fae-Bonded, has increased from Level Four to Level Five.

Your Fortune and Charm have increased.

Your Chakra Network has further stabilised, more easily integrating irregular elements.

Your Crude Aether Manipulation skill has evolved into Aether Manipulation skill. This allows you to use Aether with less waste, and reduces the effect of the Material plane on your Aether usage. You can achieve stronger effects when your will and vision are firm.

As the silver letters scrolled across my vision my aether depleted. Despite that, it was a welcome sight. In games upskilling was vitally important, and every Skill I gained here would make my real life that much more exciting, and more importantly safer. Still, it wasn’t efficient to check my status using Self-Examination on the Material plane, it was too wasteful. Instead, it would make more sense to gather up enough aether to return to the Boundary. However, I could do that tomorrow, it was getting late and I was tired from all my mental exertions. With that thought in mind I pulled out my futon and went to sleep…

**********

The next day I finished most of the extra work I had been sent by Hayato-san, only a few more hours should see it completed. I then did my usual jogging and weight training, topped off by some combat practice with my spear. During all of this my body was slowly accumulating wind energy. It wasn’t as efficient as absorbing it yet, even from the Material plane (and I was absorbing as much aether and wind energy as I could during my other tasks, concentration permitting) yet it was something that could be trained.

After a quick evening meal of a store-bought bento, which made me think that my sister would be very scathing of my inability to find a girlfriend to cook for me, I settled down for some meditation and quickly amassed enough aether to return to the Boundary, which I did swiftly.

As usual Shaeula was waiting for me, and as she opened her mouth to greet me she paused, eyes glowing brightly. There was a long moment of silence, and then she exclaimed “You-you are generating wind energy already?”

I held in a laugh at her shock. “Yes, it wasn’t easy, but like you said, I gained an understanding of the wind and air, and here we are.” Of course, just generating the energy was only the first step, finding ways to use it effectively was even more important.

“Well, you are still-still weak compared to me.” she said, regaining her poise. “But I will-will allow you show some promise. I expected no less.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks for the praise Shaeula, but you should take a fair chunk of the glory. After all, it was your teachings that led me to the answers I was seeking.”

“Quite-quite. You do well to realise this. Of course, helping you is helping me, so I do not-not need your praise.”

Although it looks like you still want it. “All right then, so what is next?”

“You must absorb more-more wind energies to strengthen your heart Chakra. Finding a unique wind would be far-far better, but I have not-not seen one since the fortunate wind I found as a child. No-no, you will have to make do with a steady accumulation. With such a swift breakthrough that you have made-made, one unprecedented in all of the Seelie, I am sure-sure you will be stronger in little time.”

Heeding her advice we went to the richest area of wind energy and I began to absorb it. The upgrade on my Territory Anchor still wasn’t finished, so there was little else to do. Ether was building slowly because of my Ether Spires, even at the reduced effectiveness, but there was still not enough for an upgrade to the Barracks yet. Hmm, Ether Spires, that gives me an idea…

Checking the data on them I noticed that they could accrue some abundant elemental resources. If I put down some new Spires when the Anchor levelled up I could probably cut out some of the tedium of gathering wind energy. Of course, I’d need somewhere to store it. A quick search found the answer.

Elemental Silo- Rank 1 – This annex to a Silo will securely store up to 100 units of one type of Elemental essence, protecting it from theft or loss. You may transfer this essence between yourself and this Silo at any time. Cost 800.

It seemed I would be able to absorb elemental wind without having to seek it out, once all the relevant Buildings were set up. The groundwork would place extra cost on my operations, but long term it was definitely worth it. Got to invest in infrastructure to win any RTS, at least ones where rushing isn’t a thing…

As I worked through my future plans and continued to absorb elemental wind we were suddenly interrupted by a weaselkin rushing in.

“Princess, bad-bad news. Another troll has broken our lines-lines. If we do not drive it back-back our Territory could be in danger!”

Shaeula and I exchanged long glances. Shrugging my shoulders I rose to my feet and grasped my spear. “I guess this would be a good time to test out how much stronger I’ve become. All right, let’s go!” We can’t afford to let it rampage now, not with the Territory undergoing an upgrade…