Moonlight Relic, Ch 30: History and Flame (Patreon)

The world fractured into spinning shards and a moment later Sam was standing on the slopes of Sun’s Rest again, looking at where his father, Lenei, and Lesat had been. They weren’t there any longer, but he found them off to the side. As he did, a silver dome around him fell away and the first thing he heard was his father’s shout echoing in his ears.

“Congratulations, son.” Jeric was there a moment later, grinning at him as he tried to Assess him and failed. The ability brushed over Sam’s awareness like a prickle of electricity, which was new. “What did you get?”

Sam grinned back at him. It didn’t take him long to fill him in. Lesat and Lenei gathered close as he explained, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be sneaking by.

“Chaos Smith, eh?” Jeric said. “Well, that sounds better than Battlefield Reclaimer! I can’t say I’m sorry to see that one go.” He patted Sam on the shoulder, although he had to reach up to get it.

“It’s full of possibility,” Sam agreed. He’d have to tell his father more about the origin of their class, but it could wait until later. “But I’ll still be making things for the shop.”

“I wasn’t worried about that, but it’s good to hear.” Jeric chuckled and patted him again. “We’d find a way no matter what you chose. You have to do what’s best and the World Law doesn’t always give you what you want. We both know that.”

Sam just grinned back at him, since this time the World Core had done exactly that. It had cost him some Marks, but it was more than worth it. It didn’t explain why it handed out broken classes in the first place, but perhaps this was how it was supposed to work. If you helped it enough, and earned the Marks, then it would help you in return. That was what an orderly world should look like.

Unfortunately, he suspected it was still broken, if maybe not as much as the seal. It was something he hadn’t considered in a while, but meeting Asenya had reminded him of it. She was the World Forger, and he’d only heard of that name once before, when the star mentioned her as the creator of the World Seal. According to the relic’s memories, she had been missing for 120,000 years, right after she made the seal.

That was a long time for things to go wrong.

He hadn’t put it all together during his Evolution, but now the parts were clicking into place. She’d said it was her job to take care of the World Core, to improve it and make sure that Aster Fall and the Nexus were stable. Something must have gone off track since she disappeared. After meeting her, he knew she would have fixed it if she could, so it was hard to blame her for that.

The question was where she had gone.

She’d told him to find the real her, which meant she expected to be around. Her lifespan probably wasn’t a problem. You didn’t get a title like World Forger if you worried about an aeon or two. So, something else had happened right after she made the World Seal.

Unfortunately, even if he’d asked, she wouldn’t have known. Her memories had probably been from before she made the World Seal. All of those archaic notifications were starting to make sense now. The class must also have been intended for whatever race she was, or perhaps anyone who could see auras. She’d clearly invested a lot of herself into creating it, but despite her power, she’d never had the apprentice she wanted.

If he could fix that one day, then in honor of her, he would.

At the same time, the problems with the World Core and the class had still ruined his father and grandfather’s lives, and that wasn’t forgotten so easily, even if it wasn’t her fault. Even if it was a small error in the grand scheme of things...it meant the World Core was slowly going off the rails.

She’d been right. He did need to find her.

Either that or he’d have to add repairing the World Core to his list of things to do, and he was barely even qualified to fix the relic, much less something like that. He glanced at his Elemental Smithing level, which was only at 24, and shook his head. He’d been called a dreamer before, but that was pushing it. Even if Asenya was lost in some strange dimension or a weird area of the seal, it would be far easier to find her than to try to do it himself.

He frowned as he looked into the distance. He’d have to return to that problem later when he had more information. He knew a bit more about the world now, but all he could do was work on the relic and deal with current things.

He checked the location of the last bounty, and then he noticed there was a notification hanging at the corner of his vision. When he opened it, he heard the World Core’s voice in his mind.

Congratulations on reaching Level 100 as a Battlefield Reclaimer and General Level 100.

You gain +1 Intelligence, +1 Aura, and have three free attribute points to assign.

He chuckled for a moment before he dealt with them. It brought him up to 276 in base Intelligence and Aura, and then he assigned the free ones to Wisdom, which raised it to 126. He glanced at the rest of his attributes too, checking on them to see if there had been any other changes.

STR: 89

CON: 155 (+2 with belt)

AGI: 59

WIS: 126

INT: 276 (+6 with bracer)

AUR: 276 (+6 with bracer)

CHA: 100

There was no attribute increase for his Chaos Smith Evolution, but it didn’t matter. It promised to give him plenty in the future. Strength, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Aura would all rise at a steady pace and he’d have some free points to use as needed. Smiths were usually Strength based and his Elemental Smith required that attribute to make materials, just like Componentless Scribe and Reclaim Aura required Wisdom.

Chaos Smith would work out for all of it.

The World Core had told him that the experience requirements were different now, like switching from using copper coins to gold. That explained why the Ice Sylphs weren’t all at Level 200. The number of enemies in the First Evolution around here was usually limited, although the alignment had drawn in a few that were trying to get to the peak.

He was fairly sure that crafting would still be a steady route for experience, as long as he was making items at the First Evolution, but he could test that out shortly. He pushed the thoughts away as he looked up at the sky, judging the time. There were only a couple of hours left until dawn now. His Evolution had taken an hour, like Asenya predicted.

“Let’s save the last bounty for tomorrow,” he said to his father. “We should bring Krana for that one, if it’s possible. It would be a huge boost for her. It’s too bad mom doesn’t get experience from combat.”

The stronger all of his family was, the better. If Micas came to bother any of them, he wanted them to be able to fight back. He hadn’t trusted his ability to protect everyone before, but with Essence Shield at Epic and if he added a few defensive artifacts and scrolls, it should work.

“First, we need to make sure the village is secure,” he added. “I know Siwaha is capable, but I don’t like the idea of leaving them there otherwise.”

“Aye,” Jeric agreed. “Hopefully your mother or Krana can foresee if there’s any trouble, although that’s a roll of the dice. We’ll do what we can to make sure he doesn’t find it. Do you need to go back to the peak?”

“No, let everyone fight over it.” Sam shook his head as he looked up at the peak, which was still shining with silver light below the crown. “I’ll check on it now and then to make sure no one has damaged it, but there’s no need to return until the control plateau is repaired and that will be in a week. I have to meet the governor tomorrow night for whatever he wants, but until then, I’m going to make some more defensive artifacts.” He wouldn’t mind a couple of hours of sleep, but for the most part his Evolution had wiped away his fatigue and left him ready to work.

“Let’s head home then,” Jeric agreed. “It’ll make me feel better to check on your mother and sister.”

With that decided, they gathered the last few materials from the Soulcutter Raven, including all of its feathers for Sam to study, and headed back to the village. Between these materials and the others that he’d gathered recently, he had enough to spend a long time crafting.

It was tempting to try out Crystal Passage to get them back more quickly, but even if he could get the relic to allow him to teleport within its boundaries, he wasn’t sure he could take everyone else with him. Like the rest of his subclass abilities, he’d need to experiment with it, but once he was more comfortable with it, it promised to save a lot of time.

---

When they arrived back at the village, the moons were setting. A few moments later, the crowns faded away and the hum of energy in the mountains fell silent. The silver light around the peak also disappeared, making it resemble a normal mountain peak. The dense mana that came with early dawn was already gathering there, promising new snow.

The self-repair enchantment has been reduced to 5% of its capability now that the moons have disappeared, but it continues to function. The Guardian Star answered the question before he could ask it. The timeline remains the same.

“Sam!” Altey’s voice rang out as she saw them entering the village. Her hand was around the amulet at her neck, making it clear that she’d been watching their progress.

As soon as they stopped, she ran forward and jumped into his arms. She had both heard about Sam’s new appearance, but she hadn’t seen him yet. Now, her eyes widened as her head tilted back to look up at him. She barely came up to his waist.

“Hello, little sister.” Sam laughed as he spun her around, which was what she always wanted. “How did you get so small? Did you shrink?”

Altey’s grumble of disapproval was accompanied by a thwack of her fist on his shoulder, which he barely felt, and he laughed as he set her back down.

“How is your magic going?” he asked with a grin. “Have you learned everything Siwaha can teach you yet? And did you enjoy the festival?”

“It’s only been a couple of weeks!” Altey stamped her foot. “Stop teasing me! And the festival was a lot of fun. They had tons of fireworks. But tell me all about how you got so much bigger! How did your repairs go?”

At the same moment, Aemilia and Krana arrived, walking up with a laugh as they heard Altey’s list of demands. When Aemilia saw Sam, she paused for a moment as she took it in and then she just shook her head and closed the distance.

“Boys never stop growing, I suppose,” she said as she hugged him and Jeric. “Welcome home.”

“That looks better than the last version,” Krana agreed as she studied Sam. She’d already heard about the new class name and changes. “Much better sounding class too. It has a proper crafting name. Do you want to work on Smithing then? I’m looking forward to seeing what a Chaos Smith can do.”

“I think it’s time to make a few things,” Sam agreed as he nodded to Krana. “And then we need to see about hunting down the last bounty, and maybe hunting some of the stronger monsters that are arriving in the area. I’d like to push everyone to the First Evolution as soon as possible.”

He also needed to check on Siwasir and the hunting team, now that he was back in town. Hopefully, the healing enchantment was doing its job. Raelia and Danir should be feeling better by now.

“Let’s go inside and we can talk about all of it,” Aemilia suggested as she shared a smile with Jeric and then touched Altey on the forehead to get her attention. “The village is warded, but some things need extra attention.”

As Aemilia turned back toward their house, Sam checked her level out of habit. When he saw it, his eyebrows shot up. She’d gained more than a dozen levels over the past few days and was up to Level 52 already! She must have been working constantly to record what she saw.

“I’ve been keeping a record of key events in the area, including the bounties you eliminated and what they did to deserve it.” Aemilia smiled as she noticed his attention. She spoke over her shoulder as she continued walking. “You’d be surprised how much experience that’s worth. Being the first to write about the death of a bounty is worth a million by itself. Apparently, the World Law regards them as important. It favors that type of thing, along with accuracy, level of detail, and the impact of those events on the world.

“Just writing down the simplest thing about the Moonlight Relic is significantly boosting my Historian class. I have the feeling that as soon as I add your latest repairs and your new race and Evolution, there will be a big jump there. We live in interesting times and you are at the center of key events.”

“That’s wonderful!” Sam said instantly. He hadn’t thought about how her class would work recently, but her family had been fools to think that the Historian class was weak. When it was used correctly to level, it looked completely overpowered.

If she hadn’t written about the repairs to the relic yet, he imagined there was going to be a lot more experience for that, since it was a divine-grade artifact that had a critical role in the world. His new race was also something the World Core considered to be a secret, so that should be worth something. She would probably get even more if she was able to spread her work around to the public.

Even with all of the experience, however, there was still the matter of Marks. He’d like to get her some to improve her chances at Evolution, so he needed to figure out how her Class earned them. Maybe spreading the information around would be enough, if it affected the world positively. His mind spun with possibilities of how to accelerate her growth, including what she might be offered for Evolution.

If she wrote about the real details of the relic, the history of the World Forger, his Chaos Smith Evolution, and the wards on the moons...or even the timeline of the relic and the World Seal that the star had put together, how much experience would that be worth? Maybe one day, once the defenses were working, she could distribute it.

He needed to have a long talk with his mother today and make sure she had plenty of material.

---

The sun rose toward noon as Sam broke out his workbench and tools from his dimensional vest and set them in front of him. The morning had been spent in discussion with his family, laying out plans for the future, and considering how best to put his new abilities to work and protect the village. Now, he was finally going to see what he could do with his Evolution.

There was a comfortable heft to his tools as he arranged them to the right. It was the first time he’d been able to craft whatever he wanted in a couple of weeks and it felt like they were humming with possibility. He set a row of dimensional bags on the left that were full of materials he’d gathered from the mountain and some other things that he’d had for a while. He was low on silver, but he still had some chunks of ore and a few coins.

“Low...meaning ten pounds or less of refined material,” he chuckled as he spoke aloud to himself. “It will be enough for this.”

Highfold should have a good supply of the materials you need, the star spoke up. Its points were flickering as it analyzed the materials on the table. Your Elemental Smithing ability also needs to be tested. Perhaps you can make something that will work better than silver.

Sam hummed in agreement as he laid out the last few things and cleared the center of the table for his sketches. He cracked his knuckles and a piece of chalk appeared in his hand.

I’ll visit the town soon. Maybe before I see Garild tonight. That leaves me with about six hours right now, which isn’t a lot. I’ll need the rest to travel.

You should attempt to use Crystal Passage. It will save you time.

Sam rolled the chalk between his fingers as he tilted his head to the side. Then he set it down as he stood up. He wanted to make his father a better defensive item in case Micas showed up, but the star was right, and the bright flame of the ability was burning in his mind.

Time spent practicing now might save him hours of travel in the future

He closed the door to the workshop as he walked outside and glanced up at the sun. Then he checked to make sure the area was clear, since he wasn’t sure what would happen. The ability had only come with a rough outline of instructions. The main thing he knew was that he needed a dimensional map and a clear picture of the location.

For the most part, that meant he needed to have been there before and to have got a good impression of the area’s dimensional signature, including the mixture of aura and mana that flowed through it. In the future, he’d be able to leave a dimensional marker for quick transportation, but not until he’d used the ability there at least once.

The Dimensional Navigator trait was going to be useful for this ability, which he’d got after visiting the Hall of Sorcery that had trapped the Blood Elemental. Perhaps the Guardian had known that. He glanced at the description to remind himself.

[Dimensional Navigator: You will be able to better navigate the primary dimension in which Aster Fall exists, and be more able to find your way home should you become lost. +5 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom.]

It should help him speed up his teleportation and keep his bearings more easily.

The broken spatial artifact that the Three Peak Sorcerers had used to anchor the hall would also be useful. Maybe it would give him some ideas for dimensional anchors and how to craft dimensional bags.

Crystal flame began to rise up from his skin and spiral around him as he looked at the field that was dotted with flourishing grass and wildflowers. There were two primary ways to use Crystal Passage. One was a short distance teleportation for him alone and the other was a larger and more stable gate, which took longer to form, but it could cover longer distances and accommodate other people.

It was time to try them both.

With a flick of his wrist, the crystal flames expanded, swirling higher until they formed a translucent sphere around his entire body. They were a deep, cerulean sapphire hue, as if the deepest heart of the ocean had turned to flame and been trapped in a gemstone. As he focused on the area on the other side of the field, currents of undulating energy began to cascade through the flame, making them swirl like a storm. The outer edge of the sphere rippled, as if it were being struck by the wind. There was a flicker of will at the center of it.

Then he was gone.

The only thing left behind was a swirled mark on the grass where the flames had kissed it.