After Astra spent a few minutes coming himself from that insane quest. He finally pondered one that was actually doable.
"Refine Inner Star, huh…" Astra murmured, rolling the thought over in his mind. "I'll deal with that later. First, I need to see what Shadow Magic I can wield now!"
His excitement crackled in the air as he closed his eyes, steadying his breath. Shadows coiled around him, slithering like living tendrils, whispering secrets only he could hear. He reached deep into the abyss of his newfound power, letting its knowledge surge through him.
Astra smirked. "Now… let's see what I can truly do."
[Shadow][Rank One]
The shadows pulsed with his breath. His mana stirred, weaving through his veins like cold flame, threading itself into something ancient and waiting. Before him, the regal coin hovered silently above his palm, rotating slowly, as if orbiting a truth he had yet to comprehend.
And then, it pulsed.
His hand extended, mana humming.
The shadows answered.
Stalking Shade
(Rank One Shadow Magic – Utility)
A whisper left his fingertips. The darkness slithered out like a serpent made of smoke and silence. It darted, curved, and clung to the wall, merging with it perfectly.
He could feel its eyes—though it had none.
His mind tethered to it as though part of his awareness had split. A silent observer, an unseen tether.
"A scout without breath or footprint," Astra murmured. "I see… without being seen."
Flickering Gloom
(Rank One Shadow Magic – Illusion)
He twisted his wrist.
Shadows billowed at his feet, flickering like flame, distorting the air. The world bent subtly around him. Not invisible, not quite, but blurred—flickering in and out like a dying lantern.
"A poor man's veil," he thought. "But sometimes, even a moment's confusion… is all that's needed."
Leeching Touch
(Rank One Shadow Magic – Minor Curse)
He exhaled and placed two fingers on his forearm. A ripple of mana flowed outward—and pain crept inward. Not flesh-deep.
Deeper.
The warmth in his hand dimmed as though drained. Beneath it, he felt a weightless numbness where his essence had been grazed.
Soul damage. Minor. Almost negligible…But lasting.
"This… this is not pain meant to kill. It's the kind that accumulates."
Shadow Pin
(Rank One Shadow Magic – Binding)
He glanced down. His own shadow curled around his boots. He willed it—and part of it froze.
He stepped forward.
There was resistance. Not physical. Conceptual.
A delay.
"If someone were sprinting… they'd falter."
"A stumble is all a dagger needs."
Shadow's Embrace
(Rank One Shadow Magic – Enhancement/Concealment)
Astra pulled inward. The shadows followed.
They wrapped around him—not as chains, but as threads, cloaks, whispers. His breath quieted. His mana became harder to trace. He moved, and the darkness seemed to move with him, masking his intent.
He could feel his other spells subtly pulsing longer, stronger.
"They linger, now."
"I'm not stronger. I'm simply… quieter."
Hidden Blade
(Rank One Shadow Magic – Utility)
He drew his sword—Odinson Steel, glinting dully—and let the shadow wash over it.
The light died.
The blade vanished into blackness. Not cloaked, not disguised—absorbed by the void.
He slashed through the air. The silence was uncanny.
No hiss. No gleam.
Only the faintest ripple… and the creeping sense of something unseen.
"A weapon that's not just invisible," Astra muttered, "but forgotten until it strikes."
He lowered his arm. The spells settled into his nerves like memories.
This wasn't study. This was instinct.
This wasn't stolen. It was inherited.
His breath came easier. The coin floated quietly, dim now, its message still echoing:
You are not ready for more.
But what he'd received was enough to shift the tide of any battle, if wielded correctly.
Astra smirked.
"Low rank shadow magic rewards deception. It is not strength, but opportunity—and in war, opportunity is everything. It lacks offensive strength but makes up for it in versatility and utility, But combing it with the mystical abilities of the stars, it is a scary combination...am I really some talented genius? no way." Astra laughed self deprecatingly, he never actually expected his fantasies to be fulfilled.
His gaze wandered.
In the silence of his inner domain, his soul-sea glimmered with distant galaxies. He stood alone beneath a sky that bore witness to his ascent.
Star magic whispered across the stars—promises of cosmic strength. But they remained just out of reach. His connection to them was faint. A call unanswered.
But shadow magic—that was his, now. Every spell pulsed in his veins, every technique felt like a muscle memory waiting to be tested.
He looked down at his longsword, then at the armor curled around him like living dusk. The blade pulsed with soul-affinity. The armor shimmered as though part of the night sky itself.
He looked like a warrior.
But he knew better.
Experience could not be conjured from shadows.
"I've studied formations. Theories. Counter-techniques. Battle rhythm.""But a single battle teaches more than a thousand pages ever could."
The sword style he'd practiced was a basic form—a publicly available pattern streamed across the mana network. Enough to survive. Not enough to win.
Not in a world of warriors who wove their mana into every strike. Where spears left trails of lightning. Where blades shattered time.
"There are styles passed down through bloodlines… techniques bound to mana affinities."
"And there are the masters—those who walk the realms, wielding weapons that don't just kill… they end."
He paced, breathing slowly. His instincts tugged at something deeper.
Shadows and Stars…
A strange idea stirred.
Could they be combined?
A sword style formed of Star and Shadow. Hidden and radiant. His vision swam for a moment.
It wasn't a memory.
It was a possibility. A shape in the fog.
His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
"My intuition's never lied before. Perhaps I can even combine the mana types and feed them into each other, yes I really am unique even in night, in the duel affinity section I saw Star and gravity, Star and light, even Star and life, yet no star and shadow. It must be a unique mutation, I can be navigating my own unique branch of magic."
"Perhaps… it's not just instinct. It's a path."
He didn't know.
But he intended to find out.
.....
Astra found himself in front of a single, radiant star that burned brighter and larger than the galaxies around it. It was not just a source of light, but a presence unto itself—alive, vibrant with the energy of a thousand lifetimes.
Its light pierced through the darkness, cutting across the ocean's glassy surface, casting long, dark shadows that flickered and twisted like unseen things in the corners of his vision. The ocean had transformed when Astra obtained his path, It was always a dark and glossy surface with magical prowess of water but, it had shifted, deep down he had always knew it hid secrets, and when they were unraveled it transformed the ocean to a shadowy mass an ocean of shadows!
The glow of the star was otherworldly, a pure, blinding white-blue, so intense that it seemed to fracture the very fabric of reality around it, sending ripples through the cosmos.
The star hummed with a power that resonated through his very bones, a heartbeat that mirrored his own—a rhythm he had no choice but to follow.
"Now, how does one refine his own inner star, huh?" he muttered, voice trailing off into the vastness of his domain.
Astra stood there under the stars, Atop his head a incorepareal faint crown flickered in and out of existence, the crown was made of countless stars. Behind him, a cloak of ancient and infinite shadows was hung as it also faded. These were the two connected godhoods Astra currently had a claim on. He stood there as he watched the star.
The star was his, yet it felt distant—separate from the shadows that whispered his name or the waters that embraced him like an old friend. S-Rank affinity to the stars was something he had yet to comprehend, a power that remained dormant, just beyond his reach. How could he refine it, bring it to life the way he had learned to manipulate the other elements?
His gaze never left the shining orb. It pulsed steadily, each beat of light rippling out across the infinite expanse, yet it remained a mystery to him. Astra's hand instinctively hovered over his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his mana core, the source of his power. It was the same rhythm as the star—almost like they were one, yet not quite.
The deeper he focused, the clearer the realization came: his inner star was a reflection of his soul, his essence. It was something that couldn't be molded or shaped through simple effort—it needed to be understood, nurtured, and coaxed from within.
Astra closed his eyes, focusing on the rhythm of his breath. The constant pulse of the star seemed to echo in time with his heartbeat, a gentle thrum that resonated deep within his chest. It wasn't just a source of magic—it was an extension of his very being, a core that bound him to the fabric of the universe itself.
He could feel the warmth radiating from it, the gentle pressure against his mind, as if the star was waiting for him to reach out, to connect with it. He had always been drawn to the shadows, to the water, to the light—but the star? It had remained silent, indifferent to his efforts.
"Is it a matter of trust?" Astra thought, his mind grappling with the idea. Could it be that the star didn't respond to him because he had never trusted it?
Or perhaps, it was his lack of understanding—the star was not something that could be controlled, like the other elements. It was not a force to dominate, but something to align with, something to unite with.
Astra took a deep breath, extending his senses outward, reaching not just for the star, but for the heart of his own soul. He could feel his inner star's presence, pulsing with a quiet intensity, waiting for him to connect.
He focused on the sensation of warmth, of light, of the very essence of creation itself. The star was not just a part of him—it was him, as much a reflection of his nature as the shadows or the waters. His mana core shimmered in resonance, a soft glow that rippled like waves in the ocean of shadows.
"Perhaps this is it," Astra mused. "Not to control the star, but to become one with it."
He reached out mentally, letting his consciousness meld with the pulsing light. It was a strange feeling, as though the very fabric of his being was folding into the light and heat of the star. The sensation was overwhelming, yet it felt natural, as if he were returning to something he had always known but had forgotten.
The light grew brighter, warmer, almost unbearable. The pulse quickened, each beat of the star resonating with a deeper, more profound power.
Astra's mind felt as though it were unraveling, like threads of consciousness stretching and merging with the light itself. His essence became one with the light, and for a brief moment, he could feel the infinite possibilities of the universe swirling around him—limitless power, untapped potential.
His inner star was not just a source of power—it was his connection to the cosmos, to the very fabric of existence. It was his true nature, his purpose, waiting to be awakened.
The process of refining it was not about effort or will, but about alignment, about allowing himself to accept the light, to embrace it fully without fear. To become a Star himself.
To become a Star wasn't just about the magic—it was about presence. It was about acting with the authority of something eternal, something that could not be ignored. It was not enough to cast spells or wield power. Normally this would be extremely difficult but the Crown atop Astras head made the star calm down a lot.
Astra did not know this
"A Star exists not only in its brightness, but in the way it moves the heavens, in the way it shifts the course of the world around it" I have to embody that.
His very existence would now be a statement. His actions, his thoughts, his will would ripple through the world like the movement of galaxies, small yet profound in their effect.
To be a Star was to become a symbol, an unmovable force, and yet, paradoxically, a beacon for others to look up to, lighting the way.
With a deep breath, Astra stepped forward, his movements now more deliberate, more weighted. The ocean in his domain reflected the change in him, the water's surface now shimmering with a new intensity, mirroring the pulsing light of his inner star.
The shadows at his feet stretched upward, as though reaching for his newfound power, and the air itself seemed to hold its breath, as though waiting for him to act, to become what he now realized he was meant to be.
His hands crackled with the power of the star, light flickering at his fingertips. The water, the shadows, the fire, the light—they all felt within his grasp, as natural as his breath.
But this was not enough. To become a Star was to move with intention. It was to decide, to shift the very forces of reality with each step, each thought, each action.
Astra closed his eyes, the pulse of his inner star growing in sync with the rhythm of the cosmos itself. He could feel the immense power, the boundless potential that lay within him. Now, he understood.
The essence of a Star was not in isolation—it was in action, in change. The world didn't simply revolve around stars; it responded to them.
He could feel the air thicken, the shadowy tendrils curling around him like the arms of the cosmos itself, waiting to be commanded. The water around his feet surged, eager to obey his call. Light danced along his fingers like fireflies drawn to the call of his soul.
In that moment, Astra knew. He was more than magic. He was more than a mere wielder of forces. He was the manifestation of the very elements themselves.
To become a Star was to act as one. His presence would reshape the world in his wake, and every movement would echo through the heavens, just as the stars had done for eternity.
Astra raised his hands slowly, the brilliant pulse of his inner star flowing outward. The shadows around him twisted in obedience, the water swirling as though caught in an unseen current. The very light seemed to bend, reflecting his intentions.
"I will become," Astra whispered, his voice carrying the weight of something ancient. "I will become a Star, not just in light, but in the way I move this world."
The world around him seemed to shudder as the transformation began, as Astra's will, his essence, burned brightly like a newly-born star, poised to reshape everything in its path.
The moment passed, and Astra opened his eyes. The star now burned brighter, but it was no longer distant. It was with him, a part of him—just as the shadows and the waters were.
It was no longer an untapped force but a living presence, one that was connected to him, ready to be called upon when needed.
The Crown of Stars turned slightly more corporeal.
...
Deep within Astra's being, where the physical world could not intrude, his inner domain churned.
It had once been an expanse of dark waters, vast and fathomless, an ocean of shadows . The tides of his existence ebbed and flowed, bound to the mysteries of the unseen. The shadows whispered, ancient and knowing, holding the secrets of his being. But now—
Something new had emerged.
A single star floated above the dark ocean, small, fragile, yet pulsing with an undeniable light. It was not like the shadows that obeyed him, nor like the waters that bowed to his will. This was different. This was celestial.
Astra, drifting in the endless abyss of his Soul Sea, reached toward it.
The moment his fingers brushed the light, a pulse erupted outward.
The entire ocean beneath him quaked. Ripples of gold, silver, and violet danced across the black waters, and for the first time, the darkness that had always ruled this place was challenged.
The star flickered—then flared.
Astra gasped as his body, his very soul, became engulfed in the new power. The celestial mana rushed through him, wild and unbridled, like trying to grasp the fire of a sun with bare hands. It burned, not painfully, but with an intensity so vast it threatened to overwhelm him.
His breath steadied. Control it. Don't let it control you.
He closed his eyes, feeling the celestial current weave through him, molding to his will. Then—he called upon it.
A single thought shaped the energy.
The star above him pulsed.
From its core, a blinding flare erupted, swallowing the entire sky of his Soul Sea in brilliant radiance. The dark ocean beneath him recoiled, the shadows pulling away instinctively. For an instant, Astra was surrounded by nothing but searing white light.
The radiance faded as quickly as it came. The ocean settled. Astra exhaled.
Too powerful. The raw celestial energy was still unrefined, slipping through his grasp like stardust in the wind. He needed to hone it, to shape it into something more controlled.
He tried again.
This time, the reaction was softer. The star pulsed, and from it, a gentle mist of shimmering particles drifted down, curling around his form. The veil bent the light, his own reflection in the dark waters below wavering, shifting, like a mirage caught in the astral winds.
Astra let the magic settle before dispelling it with a wave of his hand. He could feel it now—his connection to the celestial mana strengthening, weaving itself into his very existence.
He was not done.
Astra gritted his teeth. The spell was unstable, erratic—just like before. He could feel the inconsistency, the wild flickers in the mana. He needed refinement, precision.
But he was learning.
Slowly, surely, the celestial mana was becoming his.
He looked toward the star, its glow unchanged, unyielding. The magic he had gained was merely the beginning—the first step into an ocean of power far greater than anything he had known.
A slow smile curled at Astra's lips.
This was only the start.