On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“You win, little man. Grul yields.”

As Grul surrendered I stopped the blade of my spear. Looking at the limbless hunk of savaged meat that was Grulgor I let out a long sigh.

“Are you sure?” I had to ask.

“Grul says you are strong. Grul cannot beat you now, therefore Grul will do as promised and pledge to you as master.” His beady eyes were looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite identity. “Grul needs three Oaths. Grul says you must not oppose Duke Formor, for Grul is loyal. Grul says you must bring Grul and his kin foes to fight, crush and eat. And Grul must serve a master who is strong. No weak little man can be Grul’s master.”

Three Oaths for three Boons, just like Shaeula. “Very well. Strong foes such as the Wyrm I have no doubt we will find in plenty, but keep the killing and eating to our enemies. I want no trouble between you and Shaeula. As for my strength… I intend to get much stronger. I need to if I am to protect those who rely on me and I care about.” The third oath to Grulgor was trickier. Still. “As for Duke Formor, I will not go against him unless it is to defend those who are under my protection, or should he go against me first. And should that happen my response will be proportionate. That is the best I can offer I am afraid.” I would need to avoid a situation where Duke Formor could attack us at will and my hands were tied by my pledge to Grulgor.

For a long moment Grulgor thought it over, and then he nodded his head. “Grul says, I am Grulgor, mighty fist of Duke Formor, Seelie Lord. Grul makes three Oaths. Grul will shatter your enemies, Grul will slay your enemies, Grul will destroy your enemies, from this day until Grul is dust, so long as you are strong!”

Once he had spoken the words I felt a shiver run through my lunar Chakra, cascading down the rest of my network, filling me with power. A message blinked up on my vision in silver, and it was welcome.

You have joined in compact with a ranking Fae from the Seelie Court. By agreeing a second covenant, you will more rapidly take on more of the aspect of the Fae, who are renowned for their Fortune and Charm. Your ?????? will increase and your other intangible statistics increase more rapidly. Due to your lunar chakra you find it easier to acclimatise to the aspects of your bonded Fae, and have a higher chance of manifesting ?????????????.

Your Class, Fae-Bonded, has increased from level 7 to level 8.

Not only had my class levelled, I now understood more of the message that had been blurred last time, when I bonded Shaeula. Having my intangible statistics rise seemed a really good deal, and by ‘other intangible statistics’ I guessed that the first ?????? was an intangible statistic I wasn’t aware of yet. Maybe the one Shaeula has?

Turning to Shaeula and her kin I shouted “It’s all right. Grulgor has submitted. You can release the wind barrier now.”

Shaeula was looking rather pale, sweat streaming down her as she had struggled to keep my enemies contained. Beside her the Kamaitachi was already slumped on the ground. With a sigh of relief she released the wind, joining her kin in sitting down. “It is about time you won. Those trolls have such barbaric strength, it took a great effort to keep them penned in. You should be vastly grateful to me for my labours-labours.”

As the winds dissipated, revealing the bloody trolls, who were now milling there uncertainly, making no moves to attack, I continued to shout to Shaeula. “Oh I do appreciate it, you definitely saved us from disaster. That was some really quick thinking. You are getting really good with handling wind.”

“I know I am. If you are not careful, it will soon be time to declare me the victor of our wager, will it not-not?” she puffed out her chest with pride.

“No need to get ahead of yourself.” I had to laugh. Turning back to Grulgor, who was quietly lying there, bubbling flesh regenerating slowly, I asked him if he needed any assistance.

“Grul is fine. Soon Grul will be as strong as before.” He turned to his trolls and bellowed an order for them to come haul him up, and one of the least injured ones came and pulled him from the ground, supporting him so he could move with his one leg. Hmm, that reminds me…

I turned back to the corpse of the wyrm which had mostly dissolved. What was left was a large amount of bloody soil and grass where its blood had soaked out, as well as heaps of polished white scales and fragments, plus some long curved fangs. This should be a jackpot for crafting materials.

“Shaeula, can you get your kin and the kobolds to come and dig up the bloody mud and plants around here and take them to the Warehouse when it is finished?” I then turned to the trolls and asked if they could carry the heaps of scales and fangs. They looked at Grulgor, who nodded, and they then set to it.

This battle has shown we are not strong enough. My spear is good, but if I had a better one… and as for armour… as I mulled over the ideas in my head Shaeula had joined me, standing on the opposite side of me to Grulgor, eyeing him coldly.

“Pay close attention, troll.” Shaeula said imperiously, her face tilted in a haughty manner. “I am the first servant of our master Akio, and you would do well not to forget this-this!”

Grulgor snorted in return, spitting gobbets of destroyed flesh onto the ground. “Bah, Grul thinks just because you were first does not make you best. Soon Grul will crush all our foes beneath his fists. Then Grul be the favourite.”

“I doubt Akio has much use for such brute force you can offer him. My elegant winds are far more useful to him in his other tasks. Soon you will see this-this!”

I can see this is going to be a pain. Not that I didn’t expect this. Still Shaeula sure is dropping my name a lot, I wonder if it is some kind of authority thing? I left them to bicker for a while before stepping in and restoring order, earning an irritated look from Shaeula.

“All right, now that we have resolved our quarrel we can take stock of the situation.” As we discussed our plans, the trolls and weaselkin working on moving the scraps of the wyrm, the barrier protecting my Territory finally shimmered back into life. It was at a low ebb, just ten percent, but over time it would repair itself.

I feel a bit more secure now. “We didn’t get any Territory capture notifications when Grulgor surrendered, so I guess his Territory was lost. The wyrm probably wrecked it. But it shouldn’t be hard to reclaim, and that will open up the area over the river for us to conquer. Still, I don’t think we should push too fast in case we run into any more powerful adversaries, not while the Raven Knight is on our other border.” There is also the shrine on the hill as well. I get the feeling that … something… might be there.

“That is a wise decision.” Shaeula approved. “The Raven Knight is an unknown, a dangerous one. I would feel safer if we turned our efforts to defeating him next-next.”

Grulgor also assented, rumbling threateningly. “Grul knows the Raven Knight is strong. To destroy him would prove your strength, little master. Grul will help you break him.”

“Excellent. I’m glad everyone agrees. In that case we will take some time to recover our Territory and get Grulgor and his trolls back to fighting strength again. I don’t really feel like any extra combat after that draining encounter. Besides, I think that after that serious life-or-death battle and all the powerful attacks and even the combination attack with you, Shaeula, I’m on the verge of a breakthrough. I think if I can hold onto what I felt during the fight against the wyrm I can improve.”

“It was indeed an enlightening experience.” Shaeula agreed. “Though you pushed me to the limits as ever, Akio. I too shall practice my skills. I cannot let you get ahead of me or my pride as a princess of the Seelie Court would weep-weep!”

We returned to the centre of my Territory. Several of the wounded trolls had largely recovered by this point, sprouting new limbs and filling in bloody craters in their bodies with new flesh. Grulgor now had stumps where his missing limbs were, growing steadily, and the huge gouged hole in the centre of his body was filling in. It really is remarkable how durable these trolls are. I can’t help but feel that the weaselkin are lacking in comparison…

As I eyed the Kamaitachi, Shaeula smacked my shoulder with one hand. “I feel you are thinking something rude about us. This does not please me-me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I had to laugh. “I was just thinking those trolls really are something. Still, a tough foe can be stopped in many different ways rather than pure force. It is comforting to have them with us though.”

“Hmph. I can not-not argue with that. Still, you will find my worth will outshine that brute Grulgor’s like the difference between the sun and a star. After all I reached the fifth level during the battle with the wyrm-wyrm.” She said so proudly I was forced to pat her head in praise, causing her to squirm and blush. “Stop that-that.” She shrugged off my hand, but I couldn’t help but notice she let me do it for a few seconds first.  “If I am to grow stronger, which I must, if I am to realise our goals, then you must upgrade the Throne of Heroes so that my level can increase further. With each increase I feel so much more powerful-powerful.”

Yeah, I do really want to upgrade the Throne. I could spend 50,000 ether and get Grulgor to the same state as Shaeula with a new Throne, but long term…. Damn, but 250,000 is a ton of ether…

“I’d love to, but what with needing to upgrade that Barracks too… I think we are better off focusing on Ether Spire upgrades for now. After all, the huge bounty of ether the etheric tide has brought us will not last much longer, as the tide is dropping, right?”

Shaeula scowled. “You are quite correct. Still, when the tide recedes our Territory will be safer-safer…”

With that decided I took a look at our stocks of ether. Even with the bounty from the wyrm we had a pitiful amount, as I had used what we had to attack the wyrm with my finishing blow. Our supply of wind elemental energy in the Elemental Silo was pathetic as well, as we had constantly been using that up too. Still, as a trade-off we got Grulgor and a half-dozen or so trolls, which is worth it.

“In any case, we might as well get to training, while the tide lasts.” I began to concentrate, drawing in ether and elemental wind from the air around us, working my chakra network hard. Flecks of the rainbow snow were drawn in and converted, filling me with power at a rapid pace. My network was stinging and prickling, like a muscle tired from overuse, but I ignored it as I gathered power.

Beside me Shaeula was doing the same, though she was pulling in ether and wind at a far more rapid rate than I, probably due to her more developed chakra network and skills. As I watched it was almost as if I could see a nimbus of power around her. As we gathered ether the trolls and weaselkin kept bringing the piles of wyrm parts ready for the completion of the Warehouse. Since we had defeated Grulgor and brought him to heel there was no point having the Defensive Emplacements on that flank until we had expanded further, so I cancelled them. I got back most of the ether, though some was lost. Using that I rushed the Armoury upgrade and finished the Rank 1 Warehouse instantly. The power of pay-to-win strikes again.

As the wyrm loot vanished into the Warehouse I turned back to Shaeula, who was channelling wind into fine compressed blades, sweat beading her brow, I suddenly had an idea.

“Hey Shaeula, you want to train together with me? I’ve just thought of something good…”