Wish upon the Stars chapter 1247 (Patreon)

I spent the next few days returning puppets to life. It was exhausting, time consuming, and probably the most difficult thing I’d done since I started my journey…and I loved every second of it. Something about interacting with Dabrock’s manifestations just made me feel like I could do anything. Like as long as they were along we could win.

There were five of them, by the end. At least five who had been around since the early years and knew war. Timothy, the mouse, used knives of course. Carrie the badger used a cudgel, Sal the porcupine used a bow, Martin the bear used a staff, and Dean the Raven a spear.

Martin, in particular, hadn’t been one of the puppets, and when called to meet with us had come immediately. He’d offered to help train my Goetia Staff Art demon (who preferred to be called Eddie), and had been working with him during my puppet rescue sessions. Eddie had already been pushed to tier nine, and had been learning a lot about using a staff from his new mentor.

It was a clear example of what Dabrock had told me. Eddie was the manifestation of a staff art, but he was also a genuine staff fanatic. He loved practicing, and he was thrilled to work with Martin. I wasn’t sure what rank Martin’s skill with a staff was, or if that was the skill he was manifested from, but unlike some of the manifestations we’d met in town, Martin and Dean were both S-rank, and it was clear Martin’s staff art was profound.

During the days of work, I stopped periodically to check in with Callie. My wife had been hard at work training as best she could, mostly working with her vault and staying off her feet during the pregnancy, but her abilities had become pretty celebrated among Belsara’s court, and she’d been gaining notoriety at a rapid rate. She was sure she could reach A-rank before the babies came, and after confirming that ranking up not only wouldn’t hurt the twins but would actually help them, had put all her effort into making sure it happened in time.

Which meant she was enshrining items in the vault, creating permanent inversions for people to promote herself, and was even working with some crafters to make it happen. I could tell she was working hard, but I reminded her consistently to pace herself, and she promised she was, so I wasn’t too worried. Or at least, that was what I told myself.

Dabrock, for his part, had become something of a confidant. Between smeltings, he shared his memories and impressions of the manifestations we were restoring, but he also gave me advice and listened to my problems. The old Demigod was a font of wisdom that I hadn’t expected, not just because of his age, but because of his unique perspective. Dabrock was an Ascendant who had truly outgrown the trappings of fame and renown long before reaching godhood. He didn’t care about notoriety or gaining power, he just enjoyed living his life with his friends and searching for inner truth.

In fact, that turned out to be the answer to a question I’d had since meeting Gordon. “So, how are your manifestations using Divine level skills while still being A-rank?” I asked as we sat by the fireplace in the lodge between sessions.

“Let me guess,” he chuckled as he sipped a mug of hot apple cider. “Your demons increase in tier as they rank up, inseparable from their skills?”

I nodded. “Of course, why wouldn’t I want them to do that? I mean, I didn’t know it was possible to bypass that feature, but even if I had I’m not sure why I would want to. Isn’t it better for them to become stronger?”

“From a certain perspective,” he nodded. “It is surely convenient, but as I’m sure you know, you can’t push too many of them to S-rank or even Demigod while you’re still at A-rank. The strain won’t be survivable. They know that, and of course they won’t do anything to harm you, so they restrain themselves once they reach that point. More than that though, linking the two factors shows something about why you value them.”

I considered that. “So you’re saying that if I allow them to continue to improve their skills independent of their tier, it’ll show trust? That I’ll be letting them be their own people and decide how they grow?”

“It is my experience,” Dabrock said with a warm smile. “That there are kinds of growth beyond the numerical. Most Ascendants prioritize gains and losses above everything else. That is a path, but not the only path. Investing in emotion, cultivating friendships and loyalty. There are no numbers that tell you what a person feels, but you know very well the lengths a person can go to for love. Friendship is no less powerful a force than romance, and it can push us to heights otherwise impossible to achieve. Taking a short term loss can result in unimaginable benefits. And even if it doesn’t, it shows people the kind of man you are, and that’s a value of its own.”

That brought me up short, because he was right. That was how I’d always done things, really. Keeping Benny and Jessie with me all these years, even when I knew they were lagging behind. Because they meant more to me than numbers on a page. And when Callie fell behind me, I did my best to help her catch up.

So why had I not applied that same reasoning to my demons? The shameful truth was that it was because somewhere deep down I didn’t see them as people. Oh, some of them I considered real. I’d bonded with Brad, who had been reincarnated from an external source. But the rest of them just felt like extensions of me. Like parts of my power. I had never treated them like friends or supporters, even though that was objectively what they were. They were my court, yes, but they were also my family, in a very real way. My brothers, in a sense.

“I get it,” I admitted. “And you’re right. But how do I even do that? It shouldn’t be possible, right? They’re manifestations of my skills, the skill goes up and they get stronger. How do I uncouple them from the core mechanic of their existence?”

He chuckled. “It’s both simpler and more complicated than you might think. You are aware of a Domain Seed, yes?” I nodded, because who wasn’t? “Well, the Domain Seed is simply one of the many wonders of Ascendancy. There are other paths to power, other facets of development. I’ve made a career of studying these various paths and avenues, and I’ve learned many unusual tricks. One of them is what I like to call a Soul Seed.”

“Is that what it sounds like?” I asked warily. “Because if so…how does that even work?”

“The same way most things do,” he shrugged. “Your soul is a part of you, and you use it every day. Every technique, every ability, every skill. Your soul strains and recovers, grows stronger and supports you, just like your Domain. And just as you can learn to create a seed of a new Domain, essentially forging a second self that acts as a multiplier for your Domain and power, you can create a seed of soul, giving of your spirit to help foster a new being’s true autonomy.”

I blew out a breath. That was heavy. Giving someone a soul sounded complicated. But then again, how much difference would it really make? And was I really GIVING them a soul? They felt like they already had them, I was just helping make them a little more self sufficient.

“If it helps, this ALSO grants them a substantially more robust presence outside of your Domain,” he chuckled. “They can extricate themselves for longer without worry of reprisal. It’s a benefit of extending your trust, the increased autonomy is its own reward, in a way. Of course, they ARE still a part of you, and your ability to access their powers and make changes to them remains, though I think you’ll find yourself less willing to make those changes quite as casually as you do now.”

That was actually somewhat worrying, because a lot of my current strategy for growth involved those changes. But then again, I knew that my demons often preferred that, and since it was their own choice I didn’t think it would be necessary to refuse. I could work around it even if I did end up feeling compelled to turn down a request to change, the throne gave me more options in that regard.

“Ok, but how do I make the seed?” I finally asked after making up my mind. “Like…what’s the process? If it was something simple I imagine more people would do it.” Though maybe not, after all, it was useful mostly in this specific situation, it was possible nobody else NEEDED to make a Soul Seed.

“The process is complicated and difficult,” he admitted. “For most. If you have another person who has already accomplished it, however, there are ways around that. I’ve witnessed you forming those blueprints of yours several times within the bounds of my own Domain, I should be able to do something similar, create a mold for a Soul Seed that you can just fill. Once that’s done…”

I nodded excitedly. “Dantalion can recreate the process,” I said immediately, catching on to his plan. Dan was all about studying phenomena and recreating them, and he’d done so in front of Dabrock more than enough times for the old man to know it. “How long will this take, exactly?” I asked worriedly. “Do we have time to do it alongside the current smeltings?”

“It’s not a short process,” he admitted. “But it shouldn’t be too difficult to do at the same time. You’re unlikely to have trouble multitasking, after all. I’d estimate it should take a couple of days, but once you’ve completed the step it’ll be easy to set aside until such time as you can dedicate yourself to it. There’s another benefit to it, as well. Soul Seeds allow autonomy, as I mentioned, and that means they can operate at a much larger distance. If you’re as intelligent as I suspect, it should then be obvious that-”

“They can help me farm renown,” I said in awe. “Like having alternate identities, if my demons can range out away from me, that means they can live their lives the way they want and improve faster, but it also means they bring me more points and help me rank up faster.”

Which was going to be critical going forward. A-rank was already marking a massive slowdown, and when I hit S-rank it would get even worse. If I wanted any chance of hitting Demigod, much less god in the near future, this would be a crucial step to take.

“Alright,” I said with a nod. “You convinced me. Show me how to make a Soul Seed.” I could almost feel the shift in myself as I said it, the winds of destiny changing course as I made a decision that would forever alter my path as an Ascendant.

Oddly though, I wasn’t worried. In fact, I was thrilled. This was just one more step down a path I’d been walking for years. I made hard calls all the time, important decisions that potentially decided the life and death of millions in some cases. I was used to putting it all on the line, and I had found that as long as I believed in what I was doing, things would all work out. And I did believe in this, for more reasons than just the benefits. I believed in it because this was the kind of person I wanted to be, and there was no turning away from that.