Given the circumstances around her birth, Anton had been somewhat concerned that Anishka might have ended up overprotected. However, he’d underestimated both the amount of experience Annelie had being a mother and the amount of trouble her daughter was capable of finding. Ultimately they struck a perfect balance of protection. For example, the girl was currently attempting to touch lava flowing around the sect, having unsealed various doors along the way, and Annelie was at this very moment yanking her back.

When Anton arrived, Anishka was clearly upset- not because of the burns on her face and hands, but because of her mother. “Let me go!”

“You’re not allowed near the lava until you can control the heat,” Annelie said with the practiced patience of a mother of more than a few children.

“How can I control it if I don’t get near it?” Anishka complained.

“You can learn to practice with something smaller. Like a candle.”

“But candles are boooring!” Anishka’s eyes lit up as she turned to regard Anton. “Grandpa Anton! Mommy won’t let me play.”

“Nice try,” he said as he landed next to them. “But I don’t tell your mother what to do. She’s much older than that.”

“But you tell lots of old people what to do!” Anishka complained.

Anton smirked, “And yet hardly any of them listen. So perhaps I should get more practice ordering people around.”

“Noooo~” Anishka complained. “I don’t want to listen to orders. I just want to train.”

“Well… I suppose we can spend some time together doing that. That’s why I’m here anyway.”

“Yay!” Anishka raised her blistered hands high. “Ow.”

“Why don’t you head in and get some salves rubbed on you? I’m sure it will make you feel better.” Anton said.

“‘Kay.”

Both adults watched to make sure she properly arrived in the safer parts of the sect. “So what are you actually here for?” Annelie asked.

“A visit,” Anton said. “Nothing else. But… that’s because I’ll be gone for a while.”

“I haven’t heard about anything going on with the trifold alliance…” Annelie prompted.

“Nothing to do with them. Or the Sylanis Cluster. Or even Gnadus,” Anton said. “I have a… secret meeting I should get to. In general, I’m going to be spending more time away from Ceretos.”

“Why?” Annelie couldn’t help but ask.

“Because I’m not needed here. And I would prefer things to remain that way. Letting people rely on my power is fine, but I don’t expect to be around forever,” Anton explained. Though his lifespan was still uncertain, Anton had the feeling he could last a while longer as long as he continued cultivating and binding new stars- despite making use of Candle Wax. “Besides, there’s no way I could settle for just a few victories in the lower realms, when those arrogant bastards up above haven’t been paid back in full.”

“Don’t forget to drop by at least sometimes, then,” Annelie said. “Anishka has grown used to seeing you regularly.”

“I can’t say I’ll be as frequent of a visitor as I am now,” Anton admitted. It turned out that being able to fly anywhere on the planet in under an hour was quite useful for visiting people. “But I’ll be back regularly. As much as I can, considering.”

“I understand,” Annelie said. “And I suppose Aniskha will have to get used to it.”

“She’ll be alright,” Anton said. It wasn’t like Annelie needed his help. Parenting was hard, but nothing that was impossible for an individual of Annelie’s caliber, despite her other responsibilities.

-----

In some ways, Anton was already late to his meeting. In others, he had already waited nearly a century for the chance- a couple years here or there wouldn’t make much difference. This was still more or less right after the end of the ‘cycle’, especially since the tides of the world flowed differently in different parts.

Space travel was still long and lonely, but Anton did his best to pass the time with cultivation, mainly focusing on strengthening his connection to existing stars. Even away from his bound stars, his strength continued to grow- though he certainly didn’t have much in the void of space. The only positive thing was that as he traveled more, he incrementally increased his speed as his strength and proficiency grew. He could travel to Rutera and back faster than most of their ships could make the trip in one direction, which cut weeks off of visiting neighboring systems.

Reaching the Hidden System- or rather one of its neighbors- was still a matter of months. When he arrived, he considered binding the star- he had more than a handful of available systems, though he tried not to maintain too many for the sake of his growth. However, even if this system was unoccupied, its neighbors and thus the ones with the best claim to it might not approve. Since Anton wanted to remain in their good graces, it was best not to risk anything.

A quick trip around the system and he arrived at the barren planet where he’d left a note. That had been read and responded to, and now it was time to use their communication device. He gave the code phrase and… waited.

He didn’t expect an immediate response, but after a week he wondered at the technology they had available. To his understanding of such things the formations were lackluster compared to Catarina’s latest designs. Slower. It… had to transmit faster than light speed though, right?

Perhaps not. If they had recognized his arrival immediately, coming back years later and finding a response might have meant just barely missing someone. Even the upper realms had difficulty transmitting between upper and lower with great speed and capacity. He’d finally learned the details there after the Worthy Shore Society officially split from them.

A month passed.

Anton practiced cultivation, not willing to leave the planet in case he missed something. The fire burned in his dantian, but he also did not neglect his archery. Without targets of interest he had to provide for himself puzzles and challenges- like shooting two arrows in opposite directions around the planet and having them hit without altering their trajectory along the way. If the planet had an atmosphere his range would have still been significantly short of that accomplishment, but without it simply meant keeping the energy solid and understanding the pull of gravity.

As it turned out, what he thought to be very minute inconsistencies throughout the planet were significant on that scale. A bit of high density under the ground followed by a low spot and his arrows were off target by kilometers, let alone striking the sub centimeter profile they required. The adjustments were easy to do, but the point was to not need it.

Six months passed. Anton was now attempting to shoot three arrows, all of which would converge on a single point. He could manage handfuls of arrows aimed at opposite sides, as any that began close together would deal with the same fluctuations, but that was more like shooting two wide arrows in either direction. Here, he split the planet in thirds as his arrows circled around.

One year. He was learning to target any point on the planet, which required fine control over each projectile’s velocity and how it would change. He was also beginning to think he’d never get a response.

Then a figure appeared next to him. “You’re very patient.”

Anton very nearly shot the thin old man, with his pale blond hair fading into white and silver in most places. He certainly raised his bow, his reflexes going that far before being taken over by a level of conscious control. It wouldn’t have mattered, but it wasn’t a good sign. “You’re… not particularly fast,” Anton said.

“How do you know? I could have been here for months.”

Anton shook his head. “No. I would have noticed. Besides, you’re implying that you’re here now. But not just yet, I think.”

“Well,” the man shrugged, not bothering to deny he was an illusion. “Depends on how you count it. I didn’t want to surprise you… too much. I take it, then, you left the message?”

“And you the response,” Anton nodded. “Since nobody else comes here, that’s pretty certain.”

“I’m surprised you’re here alone,” the man admitted.

“You wanted it to be secret. So I kept it that way.”

“I appreciate it. Are you… actually alone?” the man asked.

“There’s no one else here.”

“I mean, do you have allies? A planet?”

“Yes,” Anton nodded.

“And you didn’t bring anyone?”

“If you had ill will, and the ability to defeat me, I couldn’t see the point in bringing anyone to die.”

“Confident in your strength, then,” the illusion nodded. “Though I suppose you should be, living without air. Or… any visible source of sustenance.”

“I manage simply through natural energy. Are you going to be long?” Anton asked. “I’d rather have this conversation in person.”

“No. Not long.”

Fortunately, that didn’t mean another year or even another month. Instead, the man arrived within an hour, leaving behind a ship and crew away from the planet. This time, the man touched down with his own two feet- or an exceptionally convincing illusion. “I realize we did not introduce ourselves,” the man said. “I am Caradog of Doruma, head of the Wandering Heart Sect..”

“Anton of Ceretos, head of the Order of One Hundred Stars,” Anton inclined his head. “We just finished repelling the upper realms from our planet… for the second time in as many centuries.”

Caradog raised an eyebrow, “Two successes? Impressive. We managed just one, eight centuries ago. Even now, we are still recovering.”

“Then I should give both my congratulations and my condolences,” Anton said. “The damage we sustained was… tolerable.” Anton looked the man over. His appearance was the same as the illusion, which perhaps indicated honesty, or just consistency. His cultivation was a mystery, though Anton could say he was at least at the peak of Life Transformation. It was unclear if he had made the step beyond, however. “The Trigold Cluster lost three Augmentation cultivators, between us and one of our neighbors.”

The man whistled- a fully artificial noise without an atmosphere. “Really? I’m… more than impressed. It certainly doesn’t sound like bragging, either. Tell me, did you take them down with your own hands?”

“One fell to the betrayal of a foolish alliance with the Exalted Quadrant’s permanent residents,” Anton said, looking for a reaction to the name. If Doruma was a subsidiary planet of them, he would prefer to just avoid them. “The other was killed by a turtle.”

Caradog certainly showed interest and recognition, but nothing suspicious. “That sounds like an impressive turtle.”

“He is,” Anton nodded.

“Have the members of the Exalted Quadrant… caused any trouble for you?”

“Quite a bit,” Anton admitted. “And we no longer have any residing in our system.”

“Good,” Caradog said. The whole time, he was clearly studying Anton- and Anton did the same in return. “Since you are no friends of theirs, I would like to extend an offer for you to visit. We must stay secret, of course, so if you would find that difficult we can continue talking here.”

“I would hope that someday you would be comfortable in the open, but I can keep your existence secret. I simply need to limit my coming and going. Though if we could speak at a distance…” Anton gestured to the communication device left for him.

“That is not possible, I’m afraid.”

“Ours might work,” Anton shrugged. “But I understand if you don’t trust them. My granddaughter developed them before she ascended.”

“I see,” Caradog said the pale haired man as he led Anton towards the ship. “Perhaps we will reach that level of trust some day. Though it is unlikely it would work through our… concealments.”

“It might,” Anton shrugged. “Maybe a few modifications would be needed though. Not my specialty.”

“So,” Caradog asked, “Do your people have news of the upper realms? We cut ourselves off to maintain our safety, so any knowledge is over a millennium outdated.”

“Some of those who ascended to the Scarlet Midfields have managed to maintain contact,” Anton said, slightly obfuscating the truth. “Though I’m not sure what will interest you. Have you heard of Everheart?”

No reaction. Good. He certainly shouldn’t have, but nobody who knew Everheart had no reaction. “Should I have?”

“No, I suppose he showed up after your isolation,” Anton explained. He wasn’t sure if he would gain anything out of this except confirmation that there were others who had resisted the upper realms, but that was really all he wanted to begin with. And he could perhaps provide some hope for the Hidden System- Doruma.