Gray was eager, like a kid in a candy store…
"Amazing! Lizzy, Teach me how to use this Star Gazer!"
Sighing, she came closer, wondering why she was the one Teaching her new Teacher. Yet, she had to admit that him not being scared shitless right now was impressive.
"Like this, Teacher Gale…"
She quickly explained the Star Gazer to him, the whole thing pretty simple overall.
1. Sit his ass on the Throne and wear the helmet-like Star Gazer!
2. Circulate his Mana and send it inside the artifact.
3. Try to sense stars, any stars at all...
But just as he was about to dive inside the thing, Lizzy tugged lightly on his sleeve, seemingly burning to ask him something. He gave her a refreshing smile.
"What is it, little one?"
"Teacher, that supa-computa thing—"
"Don't worry about it. Let Teacher handle it, alright?"
He seemed so damn casual about it?! What was the end of the world to others was merely a formality for him?! And yet, he seemed so innocent at the same time:
"Ah?! It lit up? Hehe, this is just like VR! Now, shouldn't there be stars?"
Gray found himself in space. But no matter how he twisted and turned, there wasn't anything except the empty space. Right, he had to sense them? He focused and…
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Nothing for sure, only darkness.
But amidst that darkness, Lizzy's voice came next to his ear. "If you look three twinkles away north-east, then there should be the Arris Cluster. It's one of the easiest to notice."
Even as he kept looking, he could hear her detailed explanations. Apparently, two clusters had once collided and melded together to form the Arris cluster. This meant lots of stars to detect!
"Arris, little Arris, where are you? Are you hiding from this Lord?" Gazing at the vast space's expense, Gray felt like a god.
That's when he promised himself: he would be back, and not just as a Spirit in a Star Gazer! When he did, wouldn't he be godlike? Still, this emptiness had him feel like a forlorn deity:
"Alas, Teacher Gale stood at the very peak, Supreme amongst all the stars. How lonely it was to have the power to crush and create universes on a whim, and yet it was his burden…"
He even powerfully waved his hand like a powerful immortal as he inwardly laughed. After all, what else was there other than role-play in this emptiness? But that's when he froze…
Was that… light?! Yes, it bloody was!
Except, it hadn't been here a second before! Had his earlier words actually resonated with a Star?!
A lonely Star, maybe? Or maybe a Theater Star? Whatever it was, Gray excitedly grinned as his spirit flew toward it, heart beating fast. This would be his first Star ever!
He flew, and flew, and flew some more…. And some more?! Wasn't this a bit too far? Or maybe that was his lack of Soul potential fucking him up? Either way, he kept steady until:
A Golden Star…
Burning quite brightly!
Mana bleeding out of it like crazy.
But that's when he felt it… a nascent consciousness?!
ꜱᴜᴘʀᴇᴍᴇ ᴀᴍᴏɴɢꜱᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ...
ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱᴛᴀʀ ᴅɪꜱᴀɢʀᴇᴇꜱ...
ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ...
Wait, had this Star summoned him just to diss him?! Weren't Stars supposed to give power? This one clearly had no intention to! At that moment, he didn't care. So what if it was a Star?
"Is that so? Then tell me, little star, what have you done that's so great?"
ᴛʜᴇʏ ʀᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜɴ ɢᴏᴅ
ᴛʜᴇʏ ꜱᴀᴄʀɪꜰɪᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜰʟᴇꜱʜ ᴀɴᴅ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ
ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴏʙᴇʏ ᴍʏ ᴡʜɪᴍꜱ, ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴍᴇ
ɪ ᴀᴍ—
"One pitiful little Star! Is that really the best you've got?"
Gray had nothing to lose. The Star Gazer? It was 99% a simulation! What would this Star do? Get mad and chase him? As if! Instead of backing down, he'd double down on it!
"What's the point of getting a few ants to worship you? I'm renowned across the entire universe! They're nothing without you? Congrats, you got useless dogs! Should I be impressed?"
ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ ꜱᴛᴀʀ!
ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴍʏ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʀᴇ ᴍᴇᴀɴɪɴɢʟᴇꜱꜱ
ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴍʏ ᴍᴀɢɴɪꜰɪᴄᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴀʟʟ ʙᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʜᴇᴀᴅ
ʙᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ɪ ᴀᴍ—
[Ding! Received Offer From the Sun God Star!]
[Offer Your Soul and Obtain Power?]
Offer his Soul? Bitch, please! Souls were HIS thing!
That Star a couple million times his size? All Gray felt for it was contempt! He might be weak now, but he still owned the Library of Heaven's Souls!
"Bow to you? You were merely born in this world. I created it and shaped it to my will. As for taking my Soul? Hahahaha, you don't know who you're dealing with, now do you?!"
Gray snapped his fingers, and that's when it happened….
[Successfully Summoned Soul of an Ugly Poet!]
[He Cowers Before the Golden Star!]
[He Cowers Before You!]
"Go on. Get started…."
The shell-shocked poet felt like dying. W-What the hell was this?! He had been courting his beloved, and now he was in space... between two immortal beings?!
"Hehe, don't be intimidated, little one. Go ahead…"
Little one? Go ahead? Go ahead with what?! But just as the poor ghost was freaking out, he finally noticed some glowing Ectoplasm before his eyes… words?! W-what was this?!
Day 1 → Light and Darkness
Day 2 → Sky and the Sea
Day 3 → Land and Day?
…
It was a list of all that Gray had "created" in order. This kept going all the way to Day 7, when he had finally retired to enjoy his creation as Teacher Gale?!
The poet started reciting like his life depended on it… But the results couldn't be said to be too good. The little sun before him was still acting so arrogant!
ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀ ʀɪᴅɪᴄᴜʟᴏᴜꜱ ᴛᴀʟᴇ...
ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱᴜɴ ɢᴏᴅ ꜱʜᴀʟʟ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʀᴜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ...
ᴡɪᴛɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴍʏ ɢʟᴏʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴀꜱᴄᴇɴꜱɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴇꜱᴘᴀɪʀ...
ꜰᴏʀ ɪ'ʟʟ ꜱᴏᴏɴ ᴇxᴛɪɴɢᴜɪꜱʜ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀʀᴏɢᴀɴᴛ ꜱᴏᴜʟ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱ!
That's when it happened.
The Star suddenly glowed bright and—
POOF! The poor ghost was instantly exorcised!
But that wasn't all. That's when all the Mana on the star's surface started gathering into one spot. Wait, was it freaking evolving?! It was, Gray was sure of it!
Stormy Mana? → It was taking a human shape!
Taking Human Shape? → This was a power-up for sure!
Vague Sun Consciousness? → Becoming a real being with thoughts!
At this moment, Gray suddenly started regretting a few earlier comments. E-Extinguish his arrogant soul, it had said?! Was it too late to beg for forgiveness… YES!
What about just leaving the Star Gazer? No, a Star wouldn't be able to chase him, but what if this thing could?! Tch—Why couldn't it just have let him posture alone in peace before?!
He had to do something, and NOW!"
'Wait! This process has to be risky, right? What if…?!'
He kept observing the Star's evolution, waiting for the right moment. It was done gathering Mana and was now shakily forming its body, one of pure golden energy…
ꜱᴜᴘʀᴇᴍᴇ
ᴜɴᴘᴀʀᴀʟʟᴇʟᴇᴅ
ɴᴏʙʟᴇꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴀʟʟ
ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʟᴍɪɢʜᴛʏ ꜱᴜɴ ɢ—
"G? Please! You're a streaker. That's what you are!"
The awe the being had expected from Gray? There was none of it! There wasn't a hint of reverence or fear in his gaze, only pure unadulterated disgust. But it got worse…
"A failed streaker, even! No little brother at all? Damn!"
"Golden man? You're literally piss colored! I'd be ashamed!"
"Brother, I don't think it's blood they've sacrificed to you, but urine!"
— Tremble! Tremble! —
"Supreme? Unparalleled? Noblest? Were you that eager to write Sun?"
"Please, that's third-grade level at best! You think you're unique?"
"There are more Stars in the universe than hair on my balls!"
— TREMBLE! TREMBLE! —
"Still, I kinda feel bad for you…"
That's when Gray suddenly summoned some Ectoplasm and rearranged it all neatly to form a nice little message. This would surely cheer the little Star, right?
🇦🇱🇱 🇹🇭🇪 🇧🇪🇸🇹, 🇱🇮🇹🇹🇱🇪 🇸🇹🇦🇷
🇸🇮🇬🇳🇪🇩⦂ 🇭🇦🇳🇩🇸🇴🇲🇪 🇹🇪🇦🇨🇭🇪🇷 🇬🇦🇱🇪
T-This…
It wasn't just the message.
Gray's hand was raised to headpat the poor thing.
Pity. Compassion. No reverence at all. It made the Star feel insignificant…
— 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀! 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀! —
— 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀! 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀! —
— 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀! 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙇𝙀! —
[Ding! Successfully Destroyed a Star!]
As the Star failed its ascension, exploding, Gray couldn't help but feel weird.
Hadn't it been a little too easy?! All he had done was roast it a little. Who knew the poor thing had zero sense of humor? He almost felt bad for…. NEVER MIND!
[Ding! Collect Soul of a Dying Nascent Star?]
"YES!"