(Cyrus POV)
After falling unconscious after dealing the final blow to the core, I didn't know what would happen after that shockwave of energy exploded. All I knew was that my astral form was not destroyed, and somehow, I was unscathed despite being that close to the explosion. Regaining my bearings, I noticed that I was once again in a new environment.
It was evident that I wasn't in the physical realm or the astral realm. Essentially, I was in a clear and iridescent tube that seemed to be transporting me to another location. Looking through the tube, I noticed that I was gazing out into a dark expanse littered with faint glowing lights. "Where am I?" I asked myself as I slowly turned my body around, trying to grasp what I was experiencing.
After nearly completing a full rotation in this cylindrical pathway, I saw something familiar. It wasn't something I had seen in person before, but I had seen it in textbooks, pictures, and occasionally on TV. It was Earth. "So, does that mean I'm in space?" I thought, trying to control my shock. This must be the pathway Rava mentioned—the one her species creates once the rift is defeated.
"So, this is what I was rocketed through when I took my Starbirth trial, huh? It honestly makes complete sense now, and explains why I saw all those faint streams of light as I zipped by," I said to myself. After this realization, I came to another conclusion as well. I had thought the astral realm was something equal in size to Earth in some shape or form. But seeing as I was literally being transported through space—which is practically infinite and ever-expanding—there was no way the astral realm wasn't something even greater. I could only assume that I had seen just a speck of what truly existed within it.
I sat in the tube for a while, gazing at the vast amount of stars, wondering if I would be able to find a constellation I recognized as I was slowly transported toward what looked like a new portal. With time to kill, I decided to try out the technique I had stumbled upon while in the rift. Entering a deep state of meditation, I expanded my senses as far as I could. The process was far easier now that I wasn't distracted by behemoths and rift mergers fighting to the death. Deep in my meditation, I felt all the different gravitational fields around me and how each entity interacted with the others.
"I truly must be my father's son because I feel my urge to dissect and analyze every little nuance while in this state," I thought to myself. If I could master this Gravisense, it would be extremely beneficial during our trek to the western border of the continent. I knew that just being associated with my father and traveling with him would draw enemies far greater than those in the embryonic stage.
Letting myself sink deeper into meditation, it wasn't long before I sensed a strange disturbance in the gravitational fields around me. The object was moving like a comet—fast and heading straight for me. Sensing this, I immediately pulled myself out of meditation to put my eyes on the approaching object.
When I finally spotted it, I noticed that it wasn't large whatsoever. As it reached me, it came to an abrupt halt and simply floated, seemingly waiting to be grabbed. The object resembled a scale, likely from some type of lizard. It shimmered with deep emerald and gold celestial hues. When I reached out to grab it, I felt a strange pulsating sensation, almost as if the scale had a subtle heartbeat. "Is this thing alive?" I thought, flipping the scale over multiple times, hoping to find some answers.
Upon turning it over, I saw celestial runes inscribed on the backside. Deciding to pour cosmic energy into the scale, I watched as the runes lit up, my essence flooding into it. Now that my essence and cosmic energy were inside the object, I felt a connection form between it and myself. The runes began to change, translating themselves to me. The first inscription revealed that this was an astral relic called the Scale of the Eternal Hydra.
"Wait, did I just get an astral relic? Is this the reward for defeating the rift?" I thought to myself as I continued reading the translated runes. Looking over the next several inscriptions, I learned that this relic granted me several traits once activated with my cosmic energy. The first ability was called Hydra Rebirth—it provided rapid healing, allowing my wounds to close almost instantly. My bones would mend in seconds, and even lost limbs could regenerate over time. The second passive ability was Vital Resilience, making me immune to poisons and adaptable to extreme conditions. However, these abilities came at a cost: the greater the wound, the more cosmic energy it would require to heal—just like the hydra.
Then there was the last ability it granted. If the wielder of the relic suffered a fatal wound, Lernaean Requiem would activate, using all my cosmic energy reserves to reverse the effect.
I was in shock at what I had just been granted—it was essentially a supercharger for what cosmic energy could do over an extended period. But the cost was substantial, especially since my core already leaked a great deal of cosmic energy. "I'm going to have to use this sparingly; otherwise, I could end up in a situation where my core is at risk of eating itself." Suddenly I realized that my core wasn't empty either, and it only had shrunk just a tad bit. "Did I absorb the remaining energy of the rift unconsciously?" I thought to myself for a brief moment.
After rereading the runes one last time, I stopped channeling cosmic energy into the scale. Shortly after, the relic attached itself to my right arm and embedded itself within my skin. As it fused, a bright light caught my attention from the corner of my eye. The light was getting closer and closer. Turning toward it and shielding my eyes, I realized it was the end of the pathway—I was about to be ejected back into the astral realm once again.