Author’s Corner: Not entirely back from the break yet, but the mood to write has been biting away at me(when I didn’t have crushing headaches or computer problems). So, say hello to the first chapter of the new arc. Go ahead, say hello! Also, sorry for the shortness of the chapter, the rest of it was lost after it ran off the cliff at the end.

“Daddy, come on~! We’re going to be late.” Tokemi tugged on my hand as we walked through the halls of the X-1 station. She was still the same size as she had been back when we first met her. A couple years ago, I discovered that her body isn’t actually aging at all. It was likely an effect of her race, but she didn’t seem to mind. Worst case scenario, I could artificially age her with my Nature Magic.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” I chuckled as I followed behind Tokemi. It’s been nearly five years now since we arrived at this world, and honestly… It only recently became busy. The day that my quest was completed, the end of the three year timer, was the same time that the first alien ship arrived in Qu’Lopti space. By that time, the Qu’Lopti had already created their Magitek ships. And yes, that was what they called their new branch of technology.

Since we had agreed to let me handle the majority of contact with other races, I was the one that ended up talking to the traveler. After that, there was no more contact for nearly a year before people began steadily appearing in Qu’Lopti space. Each time, I would make sure to warn people of the ‘eccentric’ nature of the native race, so as to prevent misunderstandings. However, it seemed that quite a few people were interested in the race not recorded in the future’s information.

Naturally, I’ve also been keeping track of the development of other races through Talia. Even though most of the elves chose to return home after the X-1 station was completed, we stayed in contact. By now, the elven ‘empire’ had officially begun. The first of their newly terraformed worlds were being completed outside of their own system, and their population spreading. They had even managed to develop the Void Elf race, through their own studies of auras and genetic manipulation.

Speaking of… I had made considerable progress of my own in that field. If it was just a physical change, I was at least eighty percent confident in being able to assume a new form. Special properties, however, were not quite as easy to produce.

Now, back to the present. Today is Tokemi’s sixth birthday, so we decided to get together and host a picnic down on the planet’s surface. Right now, Yin, Yang, Tokemi, and myself were all headed down to get things ready. Celeste had planned to come early as well, but her and Sharon were still working on their presents.

I was rather proud of Tokemi over the last few years. Once I was able to have her understand the basics of magic, she was able to quickly pick up the rest. Maybe it was the influence of the Qu’Lopti, though I had to ‘save’ her from them a few times, but she was able to easily grasp her own magic after staying here for a while. She even unlocked her own class, likely the only one of its kind in existence, the Time Lord. This was basically a druid class that focused almost exclusively on the Time Affinity. Ever since she acquired that class, she has not had one of her time hiccups, which made both of us happy.

Now… as for the other girls? Well, I’ll get to them later. “There you are, master!” I was broken out of my thoughts by the angelic Yang walking over. “You almost missed the shuttle.” She said in a reprimanding tone.

Yang has taken the time here to learn, even going to schools to interact and develop herself. She’s no longer just a simple-minded pet at heart. Though… she still insists on calling me master. I swear, I tried to break her out of that habit, but she always just shakes her head with a smile.

“Sorry, had a last minute call to take care of. Yin already on board?”

“Yup!” She nodded her head quickly. “And your parents said they’ll take the next one down with everyone else. So we’ve got just enough time to get everything set up.” With that, she grabbed my free hand and, together with Tokemi, dragged me to the shuttle.

When we arrived at the shuttle, Yin was sitting down, smiling at us happily. Like the rest of the girls, she had become quite used to being a mother figure for Tokemi, so she made sure to help out whenever the little fox girl was involved. Naturally, that included setting up a birthday party.

Seeing Yin, Tokemi happily ran to her side, sitting next to her. Grinning slightly, I sat down on the other side of Tokemi, and she leaned back in her seat with a smile. After reaching over and petting her head, everyone in the shuttle got ready for it to take off. Aside from us, there were about ten other people aboard. Most of them were Qu’Lopti going back home from a visit to the station, but there were also a couple of other aliens as well.

As the shuttle took off, I glanced at my status window. Although I haven’t spent most of my time learning and training new affinities, I did pick up a few. Most of the time, though, I was busy schooling Tokemi, or doing diplomatic work for the Qu’Lopti, or practicing my skills and abilities.

NameJohn HulettRaceWood ElfTitlesVengeful Heart, Amateur Brain Surgeon, Spider Slaughterer, Starship CaptainFame100,000Level 20028%ClassDruidAdvanced ClassXeno-ShifterDeityMalthanHealth2000/2000Health Regen0Mana4500/4500Mana Regen122.4Strength80Wisdom300Agility62Intelligence450Dexterity62Charisma35Vitality200Luck25Points Remaining0Earth 89%Fire 88%Wind 88%Water 88%Lightning 87%Light 87%Dark 87%Plant 87%Void 87%Metal 87%Magnetism 87%Plasma 87%Gravity 87%Time 59%Animal 75%Gem 67%Gold 80%Luck 25%Order 21%Bone 69%

Thanks to cultivating the Gold Affinity, I had eventually managed to obtain elemental seeds for Luck and Order from the gold market. Although the two hardly had any effect, due to cancelling each other out in most cases, these were two elements I would eventually need. Once my grove was at the Galactic stage, it would just be a matter of time until the big bang hit. I might be able to speed up the process of pouring everything into the black hole, but making it advance to the next stage still needs Luck and Order.

Speaking of the grove, I managed to advance to the Nebula stage after being here for about two years. From there, my grove grew explosively. For a couple of days, I was like a magnet for all of the elemental mana I could absorb. It was to the point that I had to go down to the planet, because the metal of the station was starting to erode around me.

Once I fully settled into the Nebula stage, I learned the special effect of this level. In short, my grove was now fueling its own growth. Before, I had to absorb any material lost from my grove manually, but now the planets and stars in my grove all emit their own mana types. That means that my grove is cultivating itself now. In the three years since then, my grove has gone from ten stars to roughly five hundred, each with their own planets. The more my grove expanded, the more mana it would generate to fuel the expansion, creating an exponential growth rate.

Oh, you guys probably want to know about my new skills and abilities too, right? Well… I’ll go into more detail on how my skills progressed later. But, I will mention the unique ability I settled on, since it is relevant to a few things I’ve mentioned so far. I ended up scrapping the idea of making a gun, because it was overly complicated and unnecessary.

In the end, I went with the elemental aura creatures. The ability itself is different from my first imagination. I am capable of recreating auras with purely elemental mana, making an elemental version of the represented creature appear. But, instead of it having free will and being its own person, like I originally suspected, it linked directly with my mind. This let me experiment with altering auras for the last five years, giving me my current confidence.

Now, again, back to the present. I need to stop getting sidetracked. It’s surprisingly easy when the days start blending together. Back when we were constantly moving around-- gah, it happened again! Anyways, after the shuttle landed, we walked out of the city, Tokemi swinging playfully while holding onto mine and Yin’s hands.

Our location for the party was about twenty miles outside of town, in one of the quieter plains. I had already come down here repeatedly the last few days to lay down an anti-spawn barrier, and ensure that the spot was safe for the party. Now it was just a matter of getting things ready.

Once we arrived, Yang and I got to work using our Nature Magic, while Tokemi played with Yin. While Yang sang, and caused bushes to thicken and shed their thorns, reshaping to form comfortable chairs, I tapped into the wood from the roots below and caused them to rise up to form tables.

Next, I began grabbing the food prepared from my inventory, and laying it out on the tables while Yang went off to play with Yin and Tokemi. They seemed to be rather engaged in a game of tag once Yang joined them.

Once I was all done setting things up, I connected to the elements to do something special, wanting to make a small statue of Tokemi. But… for some reason, the elements weren’t responding. I furrowed my brow, and tried again, even using my own mana in place of the ambient elemental mana, but there was still no response.

Suddenly, a feeling of weakness came over me, and I could feel a strange mana rushing into my body. As I fell to the ground, I heard a pair of screams from behind me. Using what little strength I could muster to turn my head, I saw Tokemi and Yang holding onto each other, while Yin hovered just a few inches off the floor.

I could tell why the screams came after only a moment, thanks to the bloody hole in the center of Yin’s chest, an invisible blade protruding out smeared in her blood. The light in her eyes gradually faded away, and through our connection… I could feel as her life faded away. Yin was dead…

Her body was pushed off the invisible blade, and she fell to the ground in a limp mess, her eyes open and looking ahead. I could hear a voice talking from the space behind where she had stood, but I couldn’t register the words. My eyes were simply locked on Yin’s body. This place was supposed to be safe. We didn’t use clones because there shouldn’t have been any dangers, and this was Tokemi’s party. But now…

Yin was dead…

Author’s Basement: All power to forward shields! Commence evasive maneuvers! Rage comments imminent! Impact in 10...