Aster Fall, Ch 11: The Touch of Ice (Patreon)

As the elevation increased, so did the cold and wind until they were a constant, cutting force against Sam’s skin. His Constitution and the Belt of Gentle Climes kept him from being uncomfortable, but there was an implicit threat in the touch of the ice.

Snow began to drift through the air as they climbed higher, a light swirl in the air that was always present. It slowly floated down onto his skin and face, covering the reins and his horse’s mane until a movement shook it free.

It never seemed to build up to more than a dusting, as if some strange force prevented it from accumulating, but it became a steady presence. It melted away as it touched the ground, which was still green from grass and moss.

Day by day, whether the sky was clear or dark, snowflakes danced through the air. It never stopped.

The horse beneath him stamped its feet and tossed its head, shaking the flakes free from its mane. The flakes were strange, perfect even as they slowly melted, as if something beyond nature held them together.

His Fire Affinity was not comfortable here. Flames seemed to constantly flare around him as if spiteful of the snow. Flickers of crystal flame snapped like hissing dragons from his skin, flowing around his clothing and sparking against the air as it kept snowflakes from landing on him.

It wasn’t just because of the cold, he realized as they rode through it. That wasn’t enough to cause a reaction like this. His eyes narrowed in consideration as he let Crystal Focus flow through the snow.

If it were what he thought....

When he found it, his jaw clenched into a deep frown. There was a very faint presence of something else in the snow, something that sent shivers of cold along his skin and gave him the desire to rip it away for himself.

Essence.

He froze in place as he gripped the reins. Stars flickered in his blood with a resonance like a battlefield, each of them calling to the others in expectation of destruction.

A desire to conquer rolled through him like a wave. He let it subside before he pushed it back down.

It was not what he had expected to find here. He’d thought that Highfold would just be a high mountain city, a place to grow and practice with his abilities.

One that was normal.

He looked around him at the redfrost pine forests that were growing thicker on the foothills, and the rising slopes that led up into the Western Reaches ahead.

The mountains were streaked with white, ice blue, stone grey, and patches of brilliant purple and green where forests and mana-infused ore gleamed from the slopes.

He let out a light sigh as he adjusted his view of the future. It seemed like it wasn’t going to be as simple as he’d hoped.

Part of his deal with the Astral Guardian was to defend the world and try to fix the seal, and he was sure that when he got closer to the source of this, the Guardian Star on his hand would notify him about it.

The World Law might push him to do it as well. He and his father both needed to close four more flaws to remove the Defiant trait. His senses reached out again as he studied the essence in the wind.

The advancement of Crystal Focus brought the world into stark relief with a level of detail that was much greater than the Basic tier. He used it to study the snow as they rode, examining its crystalline structure as he searched for the essence in it.

He could feel the slow flow of mana through the wind and the stone, and how ice crystals formed in the sky between the tumbling wind and cold. The structure was similar in some ways to his Essence Shield and Crystal Field. As he examined it, he compared those two abilities to it, looking for ways to improve them as he separated out the essence from the rest.

It was less than one percent of the energy in the snow, perhaps just one ten thousandth of it, a thin thread of sparkling energy like nothing else on Aster Fall.

It was unmistakable.

Hours flickered past as they rode, with Sam’s attention fixed on the snow. Whatever had caused the essence in it, it was old. That was one of the few things he could identify from it.

There was a flavor to the essence that said that, something that echoed with age.

Strangely, it wasn’t the only power in the snow.

Beyond the essence, there was some great force of Ice here that gave life to this snow, making it more real than it otherwise would have been, more enduring of the heat and the lower hills.

That was why it was constantly in the air, never melting until it touched the ground. When it did land on the grass or the road, it didn’t melt in a normal way. Instead, it evaporated completely, returning to the power that had created it.

Perhaps there was some truth to the legend that the Western Reaches were the back of a great ice dragon who was only sleeping here for a time.

The essence was something he would have to investigate. It raised the question of where it had come from. One that he needed to answer.

It was also a warning that sent a constant prickle of alarm through him.

Jesar’s mercenary group had spoken like they were familiar with Outsiders. It hadn’t seemed like they were from Highfold, but it had never come up either. Did they know what was here?

The other possibility was that there were more Outsiders in the world than he’d thought.

He shook his head. If there were an Outsider aligned with Ice here somewhere, it would be drawn to him in the same way as he was drawn to it.

He would have to set up his family in the city and live outside it himself, where it would be safer if it found him.

---

They paused for the evening in a grove of rare starleaf maples that were growing in the foothills. The trees had a reddish-gold bark streaked with silver flecks like tiny stars. Their leaves were a bright red with five angular lobes, which looked like delicate starbursts.

When everything was settled, Sam set up his work table and pulled out materials for the blank disks that he was planning to turn into message amulets, setting the ore and other parts around the table in front of him as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

His progress with the simple runes was speeding along, giving him more options for devices that could be added to these amulets. He was at 34 of 48 runes now, and several of them were related to voice and sending messages.

The original amulet had the capability for messages and privacy barriers, things a diplomat would need. He didn’t know exactly how those enchantments had functioned, but the runes were enough for him to make something intricate of his own.

These amulets would be more complicated than anything he intended to sell in Highfold, and as a result he was going to forge gem silver disks for the base material and soak them in the Earth mana to give them with an initial charge, the same as he’d done for his avoidance amulet.

The Earth mana would help to stabilize the enchantment and to add a sense of protection and defense to the enchantment.

He was also planning to add defensive shields, so that they would protect his mother and Altey, as well as a last line of defense for everyone else.

The major difference was that he needed to add a good monster core as the base, one which blended well with the gem silver and the Earth mana. An Earth or Wind attribute core might be the best.

He sorted through his available materials as he looked at what he had available, before an idea occurred to him and he paused.

He had to make six of them, which was going to take a while. That meant he needed some focused time without distractions.

He left his work table where it was and headed for the campfire, and then sat down across from parents as he raised the idea of staying here for a few days.

“If the enchantments go well, we’ll be able to communicate and have better protection when we reach Highfold,” he explained as he asked everyone to stay here for a few days. “It will be worth a short delay.”

“We don’t have any reason to get there immediately,” Jeric agreed, nodding at Sam’s words. “The festival is coming up, and we’ll want to set up a shop for it, but a few days won’t make much of a difference.”

“If you need the time, we’ll stay,” Aemilia added with a smile. She reached out and tucked a strand of Altey’s hair back behind her ear. “And if the amulet you’re describing will be as helpful as it sounds, then we should definitely wait for it. I don’t want to be separated with no way to communicate again.”

Their family had been separated enough, and none of them had any desire for it to happen again. Even with his mother’s new Seer abilities, it would be difficult to have a conversation from both sides.

“There’s plenty of time left until the festival,” Krana agreed. “Getting there early is best, but we can do this first. Do you need help with the forging?”

“I do want to ask you about a few materials to try out.” Sam grinned. There were still some ores and other things he wanted to experiment with, but he wasn’t sure exactly how they would act.
Lesat didn’t have any objections either. He was content to follow along as a guard and friend of the family, which was what he was slowly becoming.

Months ago, Sam had agreed to pay him a salary if he followed him, but it wasn’t something that needed to be brought up now. Lesat had received far more in enchantments and shared loot from monsters than his salary amounted to, and so the topic had been tossed aside.

By this point, he was with them because he wanted to be, rather than as a hired guard.

When they reached Highfold, Sam was hoping that he would take up the task of guarding Altey if she went to attend a school. Wealthy families often sent guards or retainers for their children, to keep an eye on them and to keep them on task, so it wouldn’t be out of place.

It would make him more comfortable if Altey had a strong guard on hand at all times.

Sam gave the group a grin before he turned back to his work table. It was good to have his family around.

He settled in again as he looked at the materials in front of him and sorted through the auras in his specialized pocket dimension.

Aura of Swirling Wind, he decided. It was one of the few Wind-focused auras he had, which would work well for messages and shields, and he had a dozen of them. That should be enough to enchant the amulets, as long as he added some of his own essence and the Earth mana.

The auras had come from a flock of Bonewind Vultures that attacked them a week before, when they passed through a particularly barren area in the foothills.

Unlike normal vultures, they were monsters with fangs, pointed tails, and the ability to whip bone spikes at their prey, accelerating the projectiles with a strong Wind element. The auras that had come from them were a good payment for the delay.

Krana walked over to the side of his table and pulled up a camp stool to sit on as she looked over what he had available. To one side of the table, there was the dimensional bag of rare ores and crystals that he’d taken from the Dark Chryso Bloodweaver months ago.

He hadn’t used many of them yet. He knew the names of what was inside, thanks to his Analyze ability, but he didn’t have a full grasp of all their properties yet. They weren’t necessary for regular enchantments.

Krana picked up the bag, poking through it as she looked toward the silver ore and gems that Sam planned to use.

“Is there anything in there that would help augment messages, privacy barriers, defensive shields, or connect the amulets together so we can all communicate at once?” Sam asked, looking over at her with interest. “I know there’s one small piece of embradium in there, but I don’t know if it’s useful for this.”

“Embradium is a good metal for augmenting spells and defensive barriers,” she agreed, rubbing at her chin as she continued to poke through the bag. “Unfortunately, there’s not enough embradium here to use for these. Ebonstone would help with anything related to obscuring something.

“You have several pieces of argentscale quartz, which could help augment a defensive shield, and also some small blood-ore diamonds. Those could be used to create a blood bond with the wearer, so that no one else can use the amulet.”

Krana picked several small crystals and gems out of the bag, setting them in front of Sam as she indicated them.

The ebonstone was a soft, dark chunk of ore that looked like compressed shadows. There was barely a line on it and it seemed slightly larger than it was when he touched it. It was absorbing the light around it.

The argentscale quartz was a translucent silver-white chunk of crystal that had tiny, angular silver flecks in it that looked like scales. The light twisted around the scales as it passed through the stone, making the silver lines gleam.

The blood-ore diamonds were embedded in a larger chunk of dusky red stone, like blood-red stars appearing in a twilight sky. Each of them was tiny and barely visible, but they flickered intensely in the light of the sun.

“For privacy...” she mused to herself as she sorted through the bag again, before finally pulling out a chunk of light green ore that held ripples of other colors in it, like a subtle rainbow that was constantly changing as the light struck it.

“Wild moonstone should work. It may seem odd, but if you blend it into the mix, it will help the energy in the amulet be in tune with nature. It will be harder for anyone to sense what’s happening within the amulet, and that will apply to privacy barriers and the words said behind them.

“Even if a Seer pushes on the barrier, all they’ll sense is the wild chaos of the world. They would have to be very skilled and powerful to get through it. The more mana is flowing in the amulet, the more that quality will be enhanced, as well. When it’s combined with the Earth mana...”

Krana paused as she looked toward the crystal sphere of mana that Sam had set to one side of the table. She was still surprised that he’d managed to take so much of it.

Sam followed her gaze and smiled slightly, laughing at himself. He’d hidden that mana from her for a long time, only revealing it to her after they left Cliff’s End. It had been for no particular reason except a desire for secrecy, and she’d proven herself trustworthy long ago.

“That should be enough, I think,” Krana concluded, as she pushed the four materials across the table towards him. “I’ll show you how to melt them in the best way as we make the gem silver.”

Sam gave her a grateful nod. He’d known for a long time that she was a skilled crafter, but he hadn’t realized at first that it was her subclass.

She was an Earth Seer and a Dwarven Crafter, which apparently was a special racial subclass for Dwarves. Unlike the better-known ones, it didn’t specialize in a particular type of material. Instead, it helped her to gain skills in many areas and was a platform for several future Evolutions.

It was the first time he’d heard of an initial subclass being just a foundation, and it made him shake his head. His understanding of the world was continually expanding.

“Let’s get started then,” he said as he pulled out the portable forge from his dimensional vest. He was looking forward to having some dedicated time to craft.

If he were lucky, his Smithing profession might also break through to 20 from this, which would be a good sign of his progress. At the moment, it was only 14, and it had a ways to go.

---

The dusk faded into night as Sam worked on the amulets with Krana’s help. He started with the base materials, dividing the ores and added crystals into six separate groups.

It was best to craft each item as a unique piece, rather than to try and make one crucible of ore and then divide it into six parts. It would give him more control over the process as he crafted each one, and better experience as well.

Each of these amulets was Advanced in their own right, and probably on the higher end of Advanced, since he was combining multiple enchantments into them.

There were many steps to crafting the ore, and he paid attention to all of it with an extreme focus, but the new parts were the most interesting.

To forge the initial base material, he first used his crystal flame to extract the silver from the ore, letting it pool into the crucible below his hands. At the same time, he purified it, filtering it for impurities as he burned them away.

The result was a molten pool of shimmering silver that was already imbued with some of his essence and the natural mana of the world.

To that, he added a small emerald to turn it into gem silver. The gemstone melted away into the silver as he mixed them together, giving it a soft emerald green tint as it hardened the metal and enhanced its magical properties.

Emeralds combined well with both Wind and Earth, and he was trying to keep the elemental affinities in balance. The Wind would come from the aura, while the Earth would come from the Earth mana.

The runes on the amulet would be primarily Wind focused as well. The Earth mana would enhance it with a bit of extra stability.

To that mixture, he then took a Wind-aligned monster core from the same Bonewind Vultures that he’d purified and added it. It was filled with enough energy that it wouldn’t melt in the silver.

This was the best way to get it to bond with the base.

He was planning to do the amulets in stages, to make it simpler, and so as the first pool of molten silver was ready, he set it aside in a mold. The core floated in it, a nearly invisible lump that would become the center of the enchantments.

On top, he placed thirty drops of Earth mana, letting them fall one by one onto the cooling pool of liquid. Unlike water, they were hot to the touch, like lava.

As they struck the surface, they sizzled as they melted into it, the energy flowing outward to merge with the silver. After the first ten drops, the rest began to gather on the surface, creating a silver-white layer that slowly sank lower as its energy infused into the material.

It wasn’t much compared to what he’d used in the past to forge his amulet, which had absorbed 500 drops, but Krana was already wincing by the time he went past five.

“One or two drops is enough to bless a normal item and increase its stability,” she offered, explaining some of the techniques the dwarven craftsmen used for this type of mana. It was so rare that it was almost never seen and the excess pained her.

“Past that, you’re better off just using regular mana. The only reason to use more is if it’s a very large item or it’s incredibly difficult to stabilize the forces in it.”

Sam nodded at her as he placed the mold to the side and began to melt another pool of silver for the second amulet blank. He’d used a lot of Earth mana in the past, when he’d been right next to the pool that was filled with it, so he didn’t think of it with quite the same rarity, but it was true.

He still didn’t feel bad about using thirty points of it on each amulet. Even if it only helped a little bit, they were items for his family. The rest of the mana in them and their ability to store it would come from the monster core.

He started to hum as he worked, turning the silver ore around in his hands as crystal flames surged around him.

Threads of molten silver ran down from the ore, flowing over his hands and reflecting the light of the rising moons as they fell into the crucible below.