Wish upon the Stars chapter 404

The feeling of having your impact rise naturally through rank up was odd and hard to describe. It was interesting, and even notable, but it  wasn't exceptionally dramatic in the grand scheme of things. It was something people were designed to do, a natural part of our evolution,  and you had the stat points to act as a foundation for the Impact. It  was like building a tower. You had a level of stats, then Impact to act  as support for the next section.

Having Impact added  independent of that was MUCH more intense. The lightning storm coursing  down my throat spread like wildfire, singing through my veins and out  into my muscles. My body felt like arid ground, hungrily consuming the  energy as it spilled out, rolling through me and somehow filling every  individual cell. I could feel the change to every single atom of my  body, but not consecutively. All at once, like I was a million people at  the same time, each completely perceiving a change to a single cell.

My  cells were singing to each other, belting out operatic harmonies as  they ascended to a greater state, to a higher plane of existence, and  carried my million brains along with them. I couldn't tell if I was  screaming, or crying, or if I'd never make a sound again. I was in  unbearable agony, and suffused with the most exquisite bliss I'd ever  felt, and hollow and empty and so full I was about to explode.

And  then it was over, and I was just me. Just standing around as a single  person, heart pounding, body coated with sweat, muscles twitching as I  fell against a tree, wheezing and panting. "That." I gasped  breathlessly. "Was so fucking weird. Gods, is it like that every time?  I...don't even know how to describe that. Did I hate it? Did I love it?  My brain hurts."

Callie groaned from next to me. "Yeah, I  was getting some of that through the bond. I think it was worse because  we were sharing it. I was getting the highs as well as the lows  simultaneously because we were alternating."

I paused,  thinking it over. "That...shit, that might have been happening to me  too. It was so hard to tell, everything was confusing the shit out of  me." I cocked my head at her. "You doing ok? I'm starting to settle down  I think. Or maybe I'll never settle down again? I can't tell if I'm  wired or exhausted."

She let out a bark of laughter. "I feel that." She looked at my cousin, Abel, and Valk. "How about you guys? You feeling ok?"

Abel shrugged. "That was weird, but I've had worse. I'll be fine in a minute, just need to get my head on straight."

Nat  shuddered. "I'm less sanguine about the whole thing. I can't really say  it was awful. But also I can. It was definitely the best worst  experience of my life. As little sense as that probably makes."

"As  much as anything else that just happened to me." Valk croaked hoarsely,  standing to his full height from where he'd been hunched against the  dark bark of a silver tree. "I feel like a wrung out toothpaste tube  made of chewing gum stretched between the two ends of sporting field."

"That!"  Said Nat excitedly. "That's exactly how it feels. Like...to a T."  Weighing the words I nodded, as did Callie. He was right. Like I was  empty and stretched in a weird way that I couldn't exactly put my finger  on.

Anna-Marie looked interested. "That's fascinating. I  suspect I'll want to space out my consumption in that case. Who knows  what multiple drops at once would do to a person. Do you feel well  enough to continue?" The princess had been watching us like a hawk since  I'd mentioned what I was going to do. Her eyes were wide and focused,  desperately trying not to miss anything.

If I had to  guess, the king wasn't the kind of guy to do something as risky as  dropping Moonglow Dew in front of his kids, or pretty much anyone  barring his most trusted guards. This was probably her first time seeing  the process up close, and given how big a part of her life it was going  to be, I was guessing she wanted to know as much about it as possible.  She wanted every detail before her first drop, though I was skeptical  we'd been helpful with our descriptions.

"Jessie." I said  calmly. "How about you hit us with a little pick me up?" My teammate had  been a bit quiet since her time as a teddy bear, but not upset exactly.  She seemed more pensive than anything, and at the sound of her name her  eyes jerked up to me. She shook off her thoughts and nodded.

"Sure.  I can do that." She sounded as chipper as ever, so I wasn't too  worried. I was sure she'd talk to use when she was feeling upto it. She  stepped forward, her hand on me as she flooded me with green lifegiving  energy. I felt my body fill with power and vitality, and it synergized  well with the wired feeling the drop had left, leaving me bursting with  energy.

She did Callie next, then Nat, then Abel, and Valk  last. The big bearded man looked a bit more jittery than the rest of  us, so I think she wanted to give him extra time to settle before she  shoved a live wire into his brain, so to speak. Once that was done she  smiled widely at all of us, stepping back to lean against Lily, her  wolf, as the other puppies surrounded her. Energizing all of us had  taken it out of her, and I could see the sweat on her brow, but she'd be  at the back with us all surrounding her so I wasn't worried.

I  bounced in place a bit, letting the energy flow through me. I felt  amazing. Not just vital, but...more. The recovery and the extra Impact  really were a hell of a combination.

"I think we're good  to go." I glanced down at Jin. "Take care of her will you? You and the  others." My wolf gave me a deadpan look and a sniff of disdain, as if  telling me not to make stupid unnecessary comments. I got no respect.

The  puppies circled up around Lily, making a triangle formation as Jessie  rode on her wolf's back. Oddly, they seemed more...maybe not  intelligent, but more aware. I suspected Jessie's rank up had allowed  her power to boost them in a less restrictive way.

We  headed back out to the path, following it along to where the city  waited. There was a huge black stone wall around the perimeter of the  place that I hadn't been able to see from further away. There was an  iron gate cutting the path off from entry, and two guards stood waiting  there for us to approach.

To my surprise, Anna-Marie  didn't just wave them aside, stepping up and pulling out a cerulean  token carved from some kind of gemstone. "We seek entry into the Spiral  Grove." I could literally hear the capital letters on those last two  words. The guards took the token and there was a surge of energy the  caused it to light up. A pattern shone on the dark wall, and the guards  stared interestedly at the patterns for a minute before nodding and  stepping back to allow us entry.

As  we walked in, I couldn't help but comment on the token. "That was  pretty cool. What was it? Some kind of light key or something?"

Anna-Marie  smiled. "Royal seal. Every member of the bloodline gets them. They're  made of a special type of living crystal that shifts randomly over time.  The guards here and on the royal chambers have samples of the crystal  that shifts in the same randomized pattern. Anyone outside the bloodline  has to go through a careful vetting process when entering or leaving  the Spiral Grove."

"That's  awesome." I said appreciatively. "Probably the best security system I  can imagine. I guess they check the patterns daily to make sure they  know what each seal is supposed to look like?" She nodded in amusement  and I put a pin in the idea for later. Might be a neat idea for my own  faction later down the line. "So, I take it this is the Spiral Grove?" I  said, waving around at the massive city we'd only just entered.  Buildings festooned the area, some on the ground, some in trees with  walkways between them. I could see some of the walkways leading up to  the islands in the air I'd seen before, too thin to have been visible at  a distance.

She  grinned. "The heart of the capital. All our highest ranking officers,  nobles, and even foreign dignitaries hang their hats here." She closed  her eyes and took a deep breath of the clean, fresh air. "One of my  favorite places in the world."

I  could see genuine fondness on her face as she opened her eyes again. It  was always so strange to see the dichotomy of how much she cared about  her country and how little she seemed to care about the people. The idea  of Ladrigan, the places, the construction, the culture, it seemed  almost sacred to her. But the citizens were almost an afterthought, like  they just got in the way of all the things she loved. Like they were  just unpleasant additions to the kingdom itself.

As  we strolled down the main street from the gates though, I couldn't say I  didn't understand at least the first part. While the rest of the castle  was utilitarian and brutal, the buildings down here were beautiful.  Carved stone etched with bas relief scenes of ancient battles and heroic  deeds, all set in the forest and inset with silver to give it depth and  impact.

It  was beautiful, and I couldn't help but notice that the Spiral Grove,  hell the cylinder in general, was almost a mirror image of the rest of  the castle. It was like they took all the beauty they were forced to  forgo elsewhere and shoved it all in here so they could enjoy it in  private. She walked us along the path, showing us buildings and  sculptures and parks that were a feast for the eyes.

Finally  we came to one large but fairly squat building with massive silver  doors. Anna-Marie strode up to it and shoved the doors open, leading us  into a huge marble foyer with a large desk on the opposite end. The desk  had windows along it, and the whole thing was heavily reinforced. A  bank.

Strolling  up to the bank window she withdrew her seal and slipped it into a gap  in the window. "I'd like to withdraw ten hundred-coin markers. Infused,  not blank." She turned to me. "I'm offering two hundred heartstone coins  per drop, along with future considerations. The infused coins are worth  more, obviously, and a thousand is plenty for the deal we've made so  far."

I  glanced to Celine, who nodded. She'd been looking into the economy here  during her downtime, while we'd been working on trade deals and such.  The banker nodded, passing over a dark wooden case. The princess opened  the case to find a series of long thin tokens made of dark stone with  red glowing cracks running through it. "Each of those can be traded for  one hundred infused coins. Just bring them to the bank to trade them in,  or spend them as is."

That  worked for me. Carrying a thousand coins would be substantially more  trouble, and since we'd probably be spending in bulk the markers would  do for now, plus we could always swap if we needed to. Once I received  the markers, she gave me a wide grin. "Now. You can hand over the drops  and then I'll take you somewhere to eat before you start shopping for  the longer trip." I chuckled at the forwardness, but didn't disagree.  That sounded like a plan.