The ground slipped away as Anton thrust himself ever higher into the sky. He had no formal flying techniques, though he’d had opportunities to peruse the Soaring Air Sect’s methods. They relied on the specific type of energy produced by their cultivation technique to fly, and Anton had no reason to attempt changing his core cultivation technique at such a stage. He could still fly, it was just wildly inefficient. That would have been a problem if he did not recover energy at such a rapid pace, but upon attaining assimilation he was greatly empowered in that regard.

Anton wouldn’t wish to engage in combat during a flight, given he could only straightforwardly toss himself in one direction, but for transportation purposes it was fine. Though if he had time he preferred to walk, and running was much more controlled.

Neither walking nor running allowed him to go directly into the sky, however, so they were not much use in his current circumstances. Anton was in the mood to test the limits of the world- in a fairly direct method. According to the understanding of the Order, gravity was constrained to the proximate locations of the great celestial bodies. At least, in practical terms. So if he could be further away from Ceretos, he should find himself weightless. So he climbed, and climbed. Once he could no longer breathe, he noticed barely any difference- except his potential speed and acceleration increased with the lack of atmosphere. He needed to provide his own warmth and to refresh the air in his lungs using his own energy, but with his current level of power those were both attainable.

It was a surreal experience to reach the point where he could no longer detect the planet below him with his energy senses. Not in any detail, at least. For something so truly massive he could of course extend the thinnest tendril of energy and detect something beyond the hundred and fifty kilometer mark, but to be able to see it clearly with his eyes at the same time was a stunning experience. He supposed that in a technical sense the same thing happened with the sun and moon, and to a lesser extent the further stars… but they didn’t encompass the whole of his vision. He could see most of Brogora beneath him, and his vision continued to expand. Somewhere in the back of his mind under the sense of wonder was the idea to fix some of the maps, with their inexact shapes.

He had been to such a height before, but he did not look down- instead concentrating on his task. Perhaps he should have, but he was grateful to have the chance now. As the atmosphere fell away behind him and his speed accelerated, his view of the planet beneath continued to widen- until he could see its full face. He could see the edge of Aicenith, but the islands of the Exalted Archipelago were on the far side. There were some other interesting features. Massive white swaths of land on the poles, previously predicted by the ice floes in the seas but generally avoided for their uselessness. Perhaps they truly had no value, except to observe.

As far as he was moving from Ceretos itself, he felt as if he were no closer to the moon or sun. And in the grand scheme of things, he was not. A few hundred kilometers was nothing compared to hundreds of thousands- though if he continued to accelerate, he might arrive rather quickly at the former. The sun was much greater in its distance.

There was a problem with continuing to accelerate, of course. A fall from any distance would not harm Anton. Even if he did not use his defensive energy to protect himself, a body tempered to the completion of Spirit Building was sufficiently strong to survive any fall that didn’t land in the worse way possible- smashing headfirst into a rock or twisting the body. But that ‘any distance’ only applied within the atmosphere of a planet, where the air resistance limited the maximum speed one could fall. Now, Anton was moving many times faster than he ever had before, even if he didn’t really feel it. At such a speed, he could impact the moon and create a grand crater. Having taken a significant period of time to accelerate himself to such a speed, stopping himself would require a monumental expression of energy all at once. At this exact moment he might be able to manage it, but much more and it would be impossible.

Anton had not planned to take a long trip, and so he should be returning soon enough. At some point, he had the intention to visit the moon to see what was going on with it after the collapse of the tomb there. Sometime when he had a few spare weeks, perhaps. He could make time, but it wasn’t really necessary.

Even at his current distance of several hundred kilometers, Anton found that upon ceasing his efforts to propel himself further away from Ceretos resulted in him slowing down… though it would take quite some time for him to stop, if it would actually manage to keep its hold on him. But he intended to return, so he actively shifted his direction. Around Ceretos, instead of directly back. He wanted to see the whole planet, every angle, at least once. That might take a few days still, but he had some equipment to message the Order and remind them that he was fine.

It was a tricky process, keeping himself at enough height and accelerating around the planet just fast enough. He found a sort of equilibrium where he remained at the same distance, orbiting in the direction he chose. He saw from above the Exalted Archipelago, as well as other islands that filled the southern hemisphere in the same area. Many places unexplored, forgotten to time- at least as far as the continents were concerned. It was unlikely that cultivators had never sought out these places, but the invasions from the Trigold Cluster had intentionally quashed their knowledge in future generations.

When he finally returned to land, he came in at a sharp angle. As he hit the atmosphere he quickly formed a ball of fire- something he had vague memories of but was now much more conscious for. He would have to work on future reentries to arrive closer to his target and with less… disruption to the world around him. He did manage to slow himself before he impacted somewhere in western Ambati, but it would be better for one of his standing to not randomly show up in another country. Especially not in a manner reminiscent of the invaders.

-----

The group had followed a series of rumors to the slopes of Illmount, and now that it was within their sight they could determine why it had such a name. It truly looked sick, yellow-orange pustules of lava squeezing out of the rock anywhere it pleased. The rumors of a fire wolf vaguely matched up with the timeframe Fuzz could have arrived, so they thought to take a look.

As they approached closer, Vari very politely complained. “Great lords and ladies,” she said from inside her barrier technique, “I believe I may be more of a hindrance than a help should we continue any further. If I offer my aid, I am afraid that I will not be able to sustain it for long as my body fails.”

Alva looked at her and shook her head, “In that case, you should just go back to town.” She really didn’t want Vari to try to protect her if doing so involved leaving herself vulnerable to burning up. On that note, it was incredible how extreme things could get in the upper realms. At the temperatures around them the entire mountain should be a puddle instead of just… half of it. So it wasn’t completely different, but a constantly replenishing cone of lava solidifying and melting was more active than most of Ceretos’ volcanoes. That included the one over the former Chain Harmony Sect, though this one wasn’t spewing chunks of rock into the sky on a regular basis. It seemed to be more of a continual oozing.

“I do not wish to give up on my duties so easily,” Vari said, “But I would truly only inconvenience you beyond this point.”

Thus, Vari began to make her way back to the nearest settlement, while the other pushed onward. Their higher cultivations gave them a bit more leeway, but the key factor was the affinity for fire in the Hundred Stars. Even if Hoyt was the only one of them to practice the element directly, they all had some methods to resist the oppressive heat more efficiently. They didn’t experience the same sort of constant replenishment of their energy as Anton mentioned, not to the same extent, but they could draw upon the powerful upper energy around them to sustain them.

There was not much in the way of life on Illmount, nor had they expected it. Once they reached deeper in the mountains, they could sense the few sources of controlled energy- beasts and a few straining fire cultivators they had passed. The one that had to be the aforementioned fire wolf was clearly not Fuzz- the entire aura was different, and the creature appeared to be more fire than wolf. They still had a reason to be in the area, however, as the creature seemed to have been causing trouble for the local populace- its passage burning down some of the nearby farmland, as well as snatching livestock at its whim. Most places didn’t just have cultivators of their level convenient for hire, and paying them what their time was actually worth was beyond a group of farmers.

The city would be contributing some, and nobody really felt the need to charge the maximum possible price for their services at every opportunity. If those making the request had wealth or were requesting the return of materials or a body for use, that would be another matter. These people just needed it to stop causing trouble.

“It’s just across that lava lake,” Alva gestured. “I’m sure you’ll be able to pick it out once it starts moving. I can start whenever you’re ready.”

Hoyt nodded, “I think I’ll be sticking to a defensive posture here, deflecting the fire and whatnot. Unless it relies solely on tooth and claw, which I doubt. Though my axe is plenty sharp enough even without elemental augmentation, should I get an opportunity.”

“I am ready to intercept whenever,” Timothy nodded.

Everyone turned to Catarina, who was carving runes into the ground, “I swear it will work this time.”

“It’s alright if it doesn’t,” Alva said. “Just let us know when you’re ready.”

“It’s not alright!” Catarina countered. “If my main contribution to the battle isn’t even functional on a basic level, I’m just a below-average combatant with abundant energy stores.”

Timothy placed his hand on her shoulder, “It will be fine. Nobody should expect an extremely difficult maneuver relying on the precise factors of the terrain to work every time without practice. And like yourself, I believe you will succeed this time.”

Catarina held onto that hand as she continued to carve into the ground with her sword, going back over positions for unknown reasons. She even carved apart some of the flowing lava, which seemed extremely transitory in effect, but she was the only one who understood the complexities of this particular endeavor. “Thirty seconds,” Catarina said. “I will be done then, and I can’t count on it holding together for particularly long after that so we should begin immediately.”

At the time Catarina finished her last stroke with a flourish, Alva began firing volleys of arrows. Timothy had placed himself partway around the lake of lava on the shorter side, but as the creature began to charge at them he realized that of course it was not concerned about moving directly. It was fast too, leaving him barely enough time to move into position. The creature’s mouth opened wide enough to swallow Timothy whole, a beast more flame than flesh. His energy extended the natural width of his shield, causing the beast to impact upon it, but sending him staggering back.

On the ground, the glow of magma was fading and in its place spikes of rime ice were forming as the temperature rapidly drained from the area. At least some part of the formation was working, and everyone took heart as they positioned themselves to continue the battle.