I would love to say that I’m cold-blooded, all professional-like.

  The butterflies in my stomach beg to disagree. Right now, I feel like a kid whose parents told him he could buy anything from the toy store.

  The difference is that I don’t need to buy anything. The fucking shop is mine.

  Not a second to waste, I grab the green shard that the filthy orange rat transformed into.

  There’s just one wonderful problem: the rat didn’t transform into one shard—it became three!

  One green, one blue, and another green, all of them shining brighter than the few shards I’d seen before.

  I expected a translucent one in the mix; they seemed the most common, after all. No complaints.

  There’s a chance that any shard could contain a weapon or maybe even what Houonas said—mimic, mummy, mimicry?

  Whatever. I want power. I want it right now. No need for a giant hammer; I don’t need a mime either.

  What the fuck would I do with a mime, anyway?!

  So, I did the best thing I could do right now. The deceased great leader, the orange rat—furred political savant—consumed the hammer shard and lived to tell the tale… almost for an hour. Not the shard’s fault, though! I think…

  In better news, soon consuming the brilliant green shard proved that shards aren’t only different in appearance. The essence contained within the shard seemed concentrated.

  My fourth star connection soon formed—with only a single shard!

  Sadly, it’s just a normal star. Still, I don’t feel any different. Whatever.

  Nevertheless, the shard still had some oomph, and soon I formed a weaker connection to what would be my fifth star. Not enough to unlock it, but enough to feel the connection. I need more fuel for it.

  So, I topped it off with the other brilliant green shard.

  And that’s where my mathematical fears became reality.

  The brilliant shard wasn’t enough anymore, even with some essence from the one I’d used before.

  At least the connection seemed more than halfway through.

  In this situation—somewhat dire, with rats possibly showing up while I’m low on energy and need to count my ammo—it’s obviously time to sweep this place.

  No time to check if the vampire or the wererats had any resources or items. Now is shard time.

  I’m pretty proud of myself. In less than four minutes, my shoulder bag is exploding with loot.

  Maybe it’s a safety concern having these shards near my ammo.

  But I’ve got bigger problems: time and danger.

  Summing it up, I have one remaining brilliant blue shard from the orange rat. The greatest haul, however, comes from the vampire: five large magic shards, three large bio shards, one large tech shard, and three large basic shards.

  Yes, calling them “big” because of the quantity of essence makes some sense, though I need a better naming scheme.

  An interesting fact: the vampire didn’t only have big shards but also some small ones.

  Nine magic, seven biological, five translucent, and one tech shard.

  I thought the vampire would be the only one to drop big shards, but here and there, I found two big bio shards.

  I don’t know if some creatures were stronger or if someone was stealing from their bosses.

  The rats seemed like really loyal soldiers.

  Probably the work of the tigers or the fat dogs.

  A pet is the greatest friend, my ass!

  Now, without delay, it’s time to analyze my math problems.

  First, my shard theory. Without it, I can’t prove my first law of star progression.

  To prove it, I’ll use my tech cluster.

  First, a summary of my spoils:

  Big Shards:

  - Five Magic

  - Five Bio

  - Two Tech

  - One Basic

  Sadly, no divine shards. They seem pretty rare. I’ll probably have to use the translucent ones to top off that cluster.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Normal Shards

  - 17 Magic

  - 29 Bio

  - 5 Tech

  - 33 Basic

  - 2 Divine

  I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out where the divine shards came from. Good for me, whatever the source.

  Now, for my shard theory:

  The third star of the tech constellation will take four tech shards to unlock.

  A new normal star—no spell, no change in me. But proof is born.

  Since I don’t have more tech shards, I’ll use some basic ones to prove another theory I have.

  Let’s call it the Basic Shard Law.

  With the remaining tech shard and fourteen basic shards, I’ll get another star.

  Again, a new connection, a new star, a new proof.

  Basic Shard Theory: Its value shall always be half of a colored cluster shard.

  This will be my truth until proven otherwise.

  And with it, my first shard law—no, constellation law.

  First Constellation Law: Each star will cost double the shards of the star before, provided the shards are of the same type as their cluster.

  With one caveat: a thing that disproves the theory. My second stars didn’t need more than a shard, and the third one needed four shards.

  Still, my would-be fifth star will prove it again and help me quantify the value of the big shard.

  Which will require one big tech shard and twelve basic shards—equivalent to sixteen tech shards.

  The essence flows, connecting me to the new cosmic body, another part of the constellation.

  And…

  Another normal star. A mathematical victory, but a power loss.

  I really want a new spell right now!

  As a plus for my depression, my future looks pretty grim. Doubling the quantity of shards for each star, with most stars being useless aside from the magic ones—how the fuck will I get strong?

  This past clash was more about me playing with the rival tribes like some colonizer than actually fighting myself.

  I won’t use all my shards right now on my magic cluster. Both the vampire and the orange rat, at least judging by their shards—which is probably the right thing to do, equilibrium and all that—seem to have balanced their shards.

  However, if after all these shards I don’t get a new spell or learn what these fucking normal stars (that aren’t magic) do, I’ll splurge all my new shards on the magic cluster.

  And probably go back to Houonas and try to pry some useful information out of that religious fanatic’s brain.

  Alright. I spent the big tech shard—not enough for a new star, but enough for a frail new connection.

  Time to spend all the magic and bio shards.

  What seemed like a fortune of shards pales before the menace of calculations.

  So many shards, for barely a little more than the unlocked stars from before.

  Managing this many shards almost made me remember my childhood playing with marbles. Who would’ve guessed that these small, beautiful things would hold so much power?

  Starting with magic:

  I already have a weak connection to my fourth star, from a single shard I consumed during the encounter with the team of wererats.

  So, seven more shards.

  Soon, the connection grew taut, and another star formed—another increase in my energy density. In my body, I could feel it, especially since I’m drier than any desert.

  Soon, an even greater quantity of energy flowed through my body.

  Now, sixteen shards—one big and six normal shards. Another star, more energy, but this time…

  I feel weird.

  Like a balloon with too much air. More energy is always welcome, though.

  Especially since this increase is even greater than before.

  It’s insane. Now, this is good. Finally, math is being my savior.

  This beautiful energy is increasing exponentially, the same way the shard cost doubles for each new star.

  Although, with this flux of energy, it’s probably way less than double.

  Still, exponential growth is beautiful. Compound interest is what made my dream life in the countryside happen.

  It made my money work instead of me.

  Still, I need someone to help me quantify the energy or something that could teach me. Maybe I’ll create my own way of measuring it so I can understand how many spells I can use.

  I don’t have time for that right now, so I’d better focus on gaining power.

  Three big shards, two normal magic shards.

  Another normal star, but this time, something changed.

  The stars, which before were only beautiful in the void of my—let’s say—existential space, now began to change.

  Starting from my first star (in this case, my Spellstar), a bright line shot up, soon meeting my second star, which beamed a line to my third, and so on, until it reached my sixth star.

  It looked like a weird figure—maybe a rune, maybe a drawing, maybe it’s just random.

  What mattered most was the change happening in my body.

  The energy surged, my body feeling like a pressure cooker. With one problem: no way to vent it out.

  My energy didn’t respond to me; I can’t use any spells.

  And worse of all, my energy is recharging at an alarming rate—like fueling a bottle by submerging it straight into a river.

  It isn’t painful, but it feels like I’m overstuffing.

  I focused on my breathing, trying to calm my nerves, and turned my attention to the area nearby.

  Nothing beats trying to forget an immediate danger, like thinking about a possible new one.

  Slowly, I felt better, and the energy inside me changed. It felt concentrated—from a sparse fog to water vapor.

  Not that it looked like it, but that’s how it felt.

  As I tested it by creating a drop of blood with my divine spell, the sensation remained the same. The spell worked as normal.

  The difference is that my body now contains way more energy.

  That must be why the vampire and the wererat leader could use their powers so much.

  Although I’m not sure if they used spells. The vampire seemed to, but the orange rat didn’t look like he did.

  I’ll keep that in mind.

  Still, is the energy increase limited only to the magic cluster? If so, they’re really fucked without a connection to a constellation in the magic cluster.

  Food for thought, though not a priority.

  I finished absorbing the last magic shards—one big and two normal, so twelve in value. A weak connection soon formed to what would be my seventh star.

  Now, it’s bio cluster time.