(Cyrus POV)
After resting and replenishing my reserves with the celestial cores Lady Arya gave to me, I continued applying what I had learned. I repeated the process multiple times. I started to learn how the space around me interacted with the mass laid upon it. To the naked eye, it may have seemed like I was performing magic of some sort or developing some type of telekinesis. It was neither of those things—I was merely gaining a deeper insight into gravity. I was slowly starting to understand that gravity was merely a byproduct of the influence of mass on space.
Because of this, I now understood why I could feel the gravitational fields of heavier objects more easily. Heavier objects created larger bends in space, and the deeper the bend, the stronger the gravitational signal I received. This new understanding was fascinating and made me wonder what else I would be capable of the further I climbed the path of ascension with my celestial core.
As time went on with my practice, I felt the process of unbending the invisible space become easier, allowing me to activate my Gravity Well minor ability faster. After completing another round of this exercise, I felt the presence of my father entering the field.
"So this is what you've been doing all this time," my father said as he took position standing in front of me.
"Yeah, at least one of us has been productive with our time here," I replied, activating my ability one more time.
"What do you mean by that?" my father quickly retorted. "I wanted to make sure you were one hundred percent healed and ready to complete our journey."
"I told you days ago I was ready to leave… But nooo, you said I needed to rest more. Just be upfront—you've been enjoying your time with Lady Arya. I get it, you guys have ancient history. But we have priorities, or did you forget?" I lectured, as I focused on the space my father's body was bending. As he continued to plead his case, I didn't bother to listen. I worked on unbending the area he was in. Slowly, my father started to become weightless as he hovered before me.
"Cyrus, are you even listening to me?"
"Nah, not really. I'm kind of busy at the moment," I replied. But my father wasn't having any of my games. Quickly, he started to take control of his body by channeling solar energy out of his arms and legs, allowing him to escape my field of influence.
Next thing I knew, I felt a gentle hand place itself on my shoulder, bringing me out of my deep state of meditation. "Cyrus, I think you should just listen to your father for a sec," Lady Arya informed me. She had a stern and sincere look on her face that quickly grew into a smile as I turned my attention to her fully.
"Alright, I will—just because you said so." I said sarcastically
"Thank you, Arya. He can get like this sometimes when he doesn't get his way," my father said jokingly as he approached me again.
"So what is it you want to talk about exactly?"
"Well, remember the payment that Lady Arya promised us?"
"Yeah—the coordinates of an astral relic that was related to our family."
"Correct. But you see, it just happens to be en route to our final destination. Are you up for it?"
"I guess so, if it's on the way."
"Alright, but there's another thing to it."
"Go on."
"Well, you see, the person who got ahold of it made it so that people who are connected to our constellation couldn't access the chambers it's locked away in. So if we were to retrieve it, you would need to enter and get it yourself. So I wanted to see if you're down for it. If you don't want to make this little detour, I completely understand."
"Actually, I'm down. I need all the experience I can get. Also, I understand how much this one singular relic means to you. It's the one you've been looking for, right?"
"It is… The relic that can change the very world."
"So what are we waiting for then? I'm ready to leave this place," I said, jumping up from the astral grass I was laying on.
"Settle down. We will in the next day or so. Arya is still waiting on some items she commissioned to be finished before we go. Apparently, it's a necessity for our travels."
"Alright, but I see you dodged my statement earlier. I was right, wasn't I?"
"Observant as ever, huh?" my dad said as he took a couple paces back. "Come on, let's have a little bout. I see you've learned something new. I'm curious about it—and maybe it'll be good for you to let off a little steam. I can tell you're agitated. I'm sorry for that. I know I've gotten a little sidetracked recently. It's just… complicated."
I didn't say any words to respond. I grabbed a core out of my dimensional storage and filled my reserves, then proceeded to enter a battle-ready stance. Truth be told, he was right—I was a little angry at him. We've been through a lot already. I'm sick and tired of him stagnating our progress. We could've been halfway there by now at the very least. I know he wants to get me off this continent and to safety, but his connections to this place still tug at him to stay put.
"Here I come," my father said before he dashed at me. Immediately, I entered my Gravisense state. I couldn't see my father's movements at all, but I could sense the wake in the gravitational field caused by his immense speed. Then he appeared right before me with an outstretched palm inches away from my nose. At this point, I only had one other option. I pushed cosmic energy into my astral tattoo as quickly as I could before the strike landed.
My ability wasn't enough to send my father crashing to the ground, but it did enough to slow him down for me to dodge the point-blank attack. Quickly, after sidestepping his palm, I pushed cosmic energy into my fist and threw a quick and decisive strike at his ribs. Just as my strike was going to land, my ability wore off and he darted away from the strike.
"Your instincts have improved. Good. The last time we sparred, you weren't able to react to that."
"Well, a lot has happened since then," I muttered back as I prepared to go on the offensive. Right before I was about to take an explosive step toward my father, I felt a weird sensation in the gravitational field that emitted from the space he was in. It wasn't a ripple or a wave he created by moving at extreme speeds—it was almost as if there was a tear.
"What's got you so shook, Cy?" a voice said as I felt a chin rest on my shoulder. I slowly turned my head to see my father standing behind me, brimming with amusement. I was in shock because I had just been looking at him—planning my next attack.
"Did he just teleport?" I couldn't help but think to myself. I knew my father had immense speed since he was an astral knight. But something as instantaneous as that was maddening. It was so fast, my Gravisense was even delayed detecting it.
"Interesting. Okay, so this is the extent of your senses. Good to know," my father said as he struck me in the back, sending me tumbling over.
"What was that, Dad?" I asked as I got myself up off the ground.
"Oh that? That was just a Solar Step."