Ascension of the last Celestial

"Fuck."

"Fucking shit."

If you’re wondering why Valerian is currently cursing so much, that would be because he is on his way to the flower garden where his mother, Freya Solaria, currently is, and he has to somehow convince her to let him go into the Voidwoods,a dangerous place teeming with powerful monsters that could threaten an entire kingdom, and uncharted regions, completely alone.

After getting the OK from his father, who agreed without much question, the real challenge begins now.

He began to come up with multiple ways he could break it to her, but all of them ended with failure. That’s also why he decided to take the long walk to the garden instead of just teleporting and being there in an instant. He had to make a game plan, one that she couldn’t refuse. But unfortunately, the castle wasn’t big enough that he could think of a way before he got there.

’I just have to wing it.’

When he reached the garden and walked through the entrance, what met him was a sight he could never get used to, no matter how many times he visited his mother or got dragged here against his will.

The "garden" wasn’t just a small field with a few flowerbeds; it was a meadow that reached as far as his eyes could see, with large patches of beautiful flowers. In the distance, he could even see a forest with a river running beside it. There was a beautiful, clear blue sky with no sight of the towers of the castle that normally reach into the sky.

All this was possible thanks to the wonders of space magic. This garden was created by one of the previous kings of the Solaria Kingdom as a present for his daughter who loved flowers. So, he asked the best space user of their time to build a pocket dimension filled with more flowers and nature than any little girl could dream of. The space of this pocket dimension was larger than the total space taken by the massive castle. But the space it occupies in our dimension is just a small room. Truly a masterpiece of spatial magic.

Valerian spotted his mother taking care of some white flowers he didn’t know the name of. Even while gardening, she wore a red dress, though it looked less expensive and luxurious than the ones she normally wears as the queen. There wasn’t a speck of dirt on her dress, like the dirt wouldn’t dare touch this beautiful lady’s dress.

As he stepped inside, Freya’s eyes immediately turned to the entrance, and when she saw Valerian walk over to her, her face lit up with a wonderful smile.

"Val! Come here!" she began to shout at him and wave in his direction.

Mentally preparing himself to talk to his mother, Valerian made his way over to her, trying to use these last seconds given by the walk to think of a strategy. Once he stood in front of her, she pulled him down so they both crouched in front of the white flowers.

"Val, do you know about these flowers? I imported them from Verdantia. Once they fully bloom, they will create a beautiful glowing effect. They say because Verdantia has such a close connection to nature, these flowers will reflect the will of nature in different colors."

Before Freya could take another breath to continue to babble about the flowers, Valerian interrupted her.

"Mom, I’m going into the Voidwoods alone."

When these words left his mouth, the temperature in the garden dropped considerably, and a suffocating silence took over the garden. Not even the small animals like birds and squirrels dared to make a noise.

"Why?"

It was a simple question, but that simple question was spoken by someone of the Ascendant rank, a being that has left the mortal ranks and has achieved a deeper connection to the universe. So, her words had actual power, real tangible might.

Through gritted teeth, Valerian tried to answer. "Because I need the experience. All I have done until now is practice alone and spar with knights. I need something that can actually challenge me, and you know how good I am at running with my space affinity."

Freya knew that. She wasn’t stupid; she herself threw herself into countless life-and-death battles to achieve her power. She just didn’t think she would have to let one of her children fight for their life so soon. Because that’s what Valerian is to her: her son. Not the adoptive child they picked up from a dumpster. She loved him the same as she loved her biological child. So, the decision to let her son go and fight monsters to the death didn’t sit well with her.

"And Mom, there is another reason why I need to go and have real fights."

After saying that, he did the same thing he did with his father and explained his void lightning affinity and how he got it. The existence of the new affinity he can’t practice didn’t make the decision easier.

’He’s right, he has to go. And I’m sure Helias already agreed.’

"I will allow it."

Valerian’s face lit up, but before he could jump in happiness, Freya’s voice cut through his joy. "But only if you can show me that you can survive out there."

"Ehhh, and how can I do that?"

At his question, Freya showed a beautiful smile, but looking at the smile, Valerian’s whole body was covered in sweat.

"By fighting against me, of course."

’Sigh, I already feared that.’

Even if Freya wouldn’t hurt him too bad, there is no way he wouldn’t go out of this with at least a broken arm, all for his own well being, of course. With a shaking body, Valerian looked Freya in the eyes.

"Okay, Mom, sure. When do we st-"

Before Valerian could finish his sentence, an outstretched hand came crashing down towards his skull. On pure instinct, Valerian’s mana began to flow through his space affinity, the space around him folded, and he reappeared a few meters behind.

"At least give me a warning!"

"My sweet boy, in the Voidwoods, nothing will announce themselves before attacking you. I’m merely showing you how dangerous that place is."

Throughout the entire time, Freya still had her smile on her face, but her eyes betrayed none of that motherly warmth she usually has.

’She’s fast, way faster than me. But I want to try out the enhancement with void lightning.’

Black lightning with a purple hue began to cover his body, enhancing his speed and perception to another level. The only downside was that he had to pay attention that the lightning wouldn’t erase the nearby flowers from existence, or else his mother would really try to kill him.

When Freya saw the black-purple lightning, she was intrigued by this weird lightning that her son got. ’Full erasure... truly frightening.’

Not wasting any more time, Freya charged towards Valerian, keeping her speed just so fast that he could keep up. She swung her right hand in a diagonal line down. Valerian, finally seeing the attack and not just relying on his instincts, moved downwards to dodge the attack and moved in towards her right side, aiming a punch towards her ribs.

But Freya was much faster and had more battle experience, so she moved her torso just out of the way before, and with the palm of her left hand, she hit Valerian on the side of his head, causing his brain to rattle in his skull. She used just enough force to make him dizzy without turning his head into wet goo.

The pure force of the palm strike sent Valerian flying away. He landed almost fifty meters away after the force finally let him land and roll on the ground. He was incredibly dizzy and his vision was beginning to turn blurry. But before he could pass out, he could feel the mana in the atmosphere turn into life mana and flow into his head, healing the concussion in seconds.

After getting rid of the dizziness, Valerian stood up again, only to be met with a fist flying towards his face.

’Oh, come on.’

He barely made it out of the way thanks to his mana enhancement. But Freya didn’t let him catch his breath like before. She sent out a barrage of punches, kicks, and slicing motions with her hand, just fast enough that he could dodge while also being too fast to think of a strategy.

As Valerian dodged another punch to the face, black-purple flames began to gather in his hand before he punched out with the ball of fire. An inferno of black flames engulfed Freya’s entire figure, giving Valerian an opportunity to teleport away. When Freya saw that he began to use his affinities, especially the fire, she let him use it.

As Valerian appeared a dozen meters away, he looked in the direction of his mother with slightly heavy breath. Something like this wasn’t nearly enough to take all his stamina, but it was taking a toll on his body and mind to act on instinct the entire time.

As he watched the inferno of cosmic flames devour his mother, he prepared a different kind of attack in his right hand. He began by gathering as much cosmic fire as he could compress so that it still fit in his hand. Then, he added his newly acquired void lightning and began to mix and combine these two otherworldly affinities.

At first, they didn’t combine, rejecting each other like water and oil. But then they began to mix like the yolk of an egg mixing with the egg white; they swirled around each other and became a mass of black with purple lines. The energy released by the attack caused the grass around him to turn pitch black and then turn to dust, only for the dust to cease to exist.

Feeling the mana of the combined spell of cosmic flames and void lightning, Freya didn’t waste another second toning down her speed to match Valerian’s level. She moved so fast the fire that was still raging around her got put out by the sheer back wind of her sprint. She reached Valerian in a fraction of a second, and with one precise hit at the back of his neck, he fell unconscious. The mass of black and purple dispersed in a shower of sparks and arcs of lightning, but none of which could even harm the dress Freya was wearing.

Before he could fall to the ground, Freya caught him before moving away from the now-destroyed grass and laying him down in a part that was still green.

’If I didn’t stop him from using that attack, this entire garden would have been reduced to ashes, and then even the ashes would disappear.’ ’I hate to say it, but he could hold his own in the Voidwoods.’

With a sigh, Freya turned around to look at the destruction their fight brought to the garden. ’All these wonderful flowers...’

As she internally cried at the loss of the flowers, Valerian slowly began to stir and open his purple eyes. He began to sit up and looked at his mother, who was looking at the garden with a sad expression.

"So, did I pass?"

Turning to look at him, Freya let out a sigh. "Yeah, you passed. You can go into the Voidwoods."

Valerian was overwhelmed with joy and had a happy smile on his face.

’Finally, I can avenge you, Aurelia.’