Moonlight Relic, Ch 38: Dangerous Artifacts (Patreon)

The three moons inlaid into the stones of the plaza flared to life as they rose up from the ground. Night had fallen and with the moons in the sky, there was plenty of ambient energy to activate the enchantments here. After a moment, the design faded away, followed by a rumbling shift as the stones began to rise.

The entrance to the storeroom flowed upward, forming into a large doorway of greenstone that was taller than his head. At the center, there was a staircase leading down. He glanced up at the sky and checked the position of the moons before he walked inside.

Sometime in the next hour, Garild and Micas should arrive.

The stairs were more brightly lit than they’d been the first time he saw them. The greenstone and the threads of silvery metal inlaid into the walls glowed intensely, lighting the way forward as he descended, heading for the inner seal. Twining beams of moonlight flowed along the ceiling, marking out the path.

A few moments later, he reached the inner door. This one was already active. The stones that were usually here had been replaced by a shimmering curtain of light marked with the three moons. This was where the relic could monitor items moving in and out of the storeroom, ensuring that only the correct ones were taken out.

The relic’s energy washed over him as he entered the true storeroom, and once he was inside, he placed his hand on the gate. A moment later, the doorway reformed into stone, leaving no sign that he’d been there. He could still sense what was on the other side, but he had to rely on his connection to the relic that the Guardian Star was providing. Not even Crystal Focus could flow through the gate.

He glanced down at the bracers on his arms. The original Starflame Bracer was still useful, but the new Lunar Bracer was far stronger. It was interesting that its tier was listed as ‘variable.’ He wasn’t sure what that meant. Perhaps it changed depending on the phase of the moon or maybe it would grow with him.

It was an aura artifact, rather than a mana one, which might have something to do with the tier. He wasn’t clear on all of the differences, but it was linked to moonlight, rather than to general mana, which was why it could repair itself and recharge. It was also more durable than anything he’d created before. The aura-forged gemstones he’d created were hard to break.

Garild and Micas have entered the relic’s territory. The Guardian Star’s voice sounded in his mind a little later, bringing him to full alertness.

He was sitting on a table near the entrance, and as soon as he heard it, he scanned the map of the relic. Garild and Micas’s presence were glowing white and red sigils as the star marked them. They were just within the first layer now, they were moving quickly. It looked like Garild had been successful in convincing him. Now, he just needed to wait.

As he tracked Micas’s approach, he debated what to tell his father. At the moment, Jeric was in the village with everyone else, keeping an eye on the borders to make sure Micas didn’t show up. Sam hadn’t mentioned this plan to him, except to say that he was working near the peak.

Overall, it was a moral dilemma.

Micas was a clear problem, but he was still a relative and you couldn’t kill your family so easily. Perhaps the main Hastern family had a different perspective on that, but it was the way he'd been raised. He shook his head, pushing the thought aside for now. It would be simpler if he were someone else, but there were plenty of ways to deal with him besides killing him.

Your father has entered the relic’s territory as well. The Guardian Star’s announcement pulled him out of his thoughts, yanking Sam’s attention to a new sigil that was marked in his mind, part of the way through the first layer. He is about thirty minutes behind them and running quickly on the same path, which indicates he is following them.

How did he know they were coming here? Sam muttered to himself as he studied his father’s location. This will complicate things.

He’d wanted to deal with Micas alone, but the time for that was limited now. He would have to be efficient. He couldn’t exactly strangle his father’s cousin in front of him. Time ticked by as he waited, until he sensed Garild and Micas approaching the storeroom entrance. By the time they were standing outside of it, he could hear their conversation. It echoed to him along the relic’s transfer lines at the same time as the star transmitted an image of them to his mind. He studied Micas like a venomous snake as he looked for insights into his abilities.

“There’s one night until the alignment,” Garild said as he looked at the stairs heading down. “Whatever’s inside this storeroom, perhaps it will open up tonight or tomorrow. And don’t worry, the Hunter hasn’t been seen up here for a day or more. He was down in the city last night, according to reports.”

“How did you find information on this?” Micas frowned as he studied the area. His voice was tight, as if he were irritated, but he was looking around intently, perhaps to make sure Sam was nowhere around. “I’ve followed you this far only because something strange is going on with these ruins. How do you know it’s a storeroom?”

“I’ve scryed most of the records in Highfold.” Garild chuckled. “The secret ones and the not so secret ones. This one was listed in a record of the Dwarven Council, although they haven’t been able to open it. They’ve spent a long time studying the area and apparently it shows up every time there’s an alignment, but only on the last few nights.” He looked at the silver metal on the walls and the moonbeams lighting the way, and shook his head.

“You see that design of the moons?” He pointed at the pattern on the ground, just in front of the stairs. “This area is just a flat part of the plaza normally, and that’s all that’s there. As for how I know it’s a storeroom, that’s only a guess, but there has to be something inside if it opens here.”

“Or long empty.” Micas muttered as he looked around again, but he turned back to the stairs. He couldn’t hide his interest completely. “Enchanters come from far and wide to study these ruins and there have been many fortuitous events...even if it’s something else, it should be worth examining.”

Micas pulled an ornately carved metal rod from his belt and held it up. It had an octagonal shape and each of the eight sides was carved with small runes. At the tip, a translucent crystal was embedded. He waved it across the door slowly, bringing it near the relic’s transfer lines and the moonlight at the lintel, and then he continued down the sides of the door and across the bottom.

As he moved, the crystal at the end flickered, changing from clear to silver as he brought it near the sides of the door, and then to a swirling moonlight hue at the top. As he touched the bottom, it turned slate grey. A few runes along its length lit up for a moment before fading again.

“It doesn’t seem to be trapped,” Micas muttered as he looked at the door. “The only energies here are the obvious ones from the ruins and the moons. I’m not getting any indication of a key for it.”

“If anyone is able to find out how it works, I’d lay my bets on a Tower Magus.” Garild smiled as he watched. The flattery was obvious. “Is it safe to go in then?”

“Nothing’s safe when it comes to old ruins,” Micas grumbled back. He hesitated, glancing at the rod again before he slipped it back into his belt. “But it should be as safe as being out here.”

With that, he pulled out the ruby shielding orb that he’d used before, holding it in front of him as he flicked his hand impatiently at Garild.

“You go first. It was your idea.”

Garild coughed as he looked at the entrance, his mouth twisting. But then loops of lightning began to wrap around his body, arcing from limb to limb, and he squared his shoulders as he stepped forward.

“Never mind!” Micas snapped as he saw him step forward. The flicker of greed was obvious in his expression as he reached out, blocking Garild’s path. “I’ll go first. I have better defenses.”

“As you wish.” Garild frowned, but he stepped back and nodded at Micas. He wasn’t happy that the mage had been testing him.

Micas stepped forward, holding the ruby orb out in front of him as he began to walk down the stairs. Sam could feel his footsteps resonating through the area, slowly coming closer.

“What’s this?” Micas frowned as he reached the inner door, which was glowing with the same pattern of the three moons. “Another gate or some type of inner seal?”

“It must be,” Garild said as he came up behind him. “The dwarves didn’t mention it.”

“It looks active....” Micas frowned as he pulled the octagonal rod out of his belt again and began to wave it across the door. “If this is actually something useful, I’ll reward you heavily for finding it. I’m sure I have some artifacts that would enhance your strength.”

“The Hasterns are always good allies to have,” Garild replied as a smile spread across his face. “Perhaps we could discuss those trade routes more after this.”

“I’m sure something...suitable could be arranged.” Micas gave a short laugh, but the mockery in the slant of his lips was not well hidden. “Your family deals with silver mostly, doesn’t it?”

Without waiting for an answer, he returned to examining the inner door. This time, it took him longer. The crystal on the rod flickered through half a dozen colors before settling on a dim black.

“Blocked,” Micas muttered as he stared at the rod. “The lock is beyond the ability of this rod to open, too. It’s at least at the peak of the Second Evolution, maybe higher.”

“Is there another way in?” Garild looked uneasy, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he looked around the area.

“Maybe.” Micas frowned again as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a silvery half dome. Like the rod, it was intricately carved with runes, but it looked empty, as if something needed to be slotted into the base to complete it. “Do you have any First Evolution monster cores? Outsider ones? Second Evolution would be even better.”

To Sam’s senses, the runes on the dome writhed, twisting like the ones the Outsider Shamans had used for their totems, and he rose to his feet as a feeling of uneasiness touched him. He was content to let Micas show off his skills, since it was a way of gaining information on the man, but something about that dome bothered him.

“Level 161 is the highest I have. What do you need it for?” Garild muttered as he reached into his bag and brought out a core. His hand was clenched around it, making it clear that he was unwilling to give it up so easily.

“Do you want in or not?” Micas was impatient as he swiped the core from Garild’s hand and stuffed it into the base of the silver dome. It locked into place with a click. The runes on the surface of the artifact began to glow, swirling with a reddish-black light as energy began to flow from the core.

“What is that?” Garild stared at it. “Those runes turn my stomach.”

“Outsider artifact,” Micas muttered shortly. “Uses a different magical system. A good way to break locks that are native to Aster Fall. Research into Outsider artifacts has come a long way over the last few hundred years, and this is one of them. Now be quiet.”

“Isn’t that...twisted somehow?” Garild replied before he could help himself. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“Shut up and watch.” Micas ignored him as he turned back to the door. “Power is power, regardless of the source, and these artifacts don’t have the same limits as traditional ones. All of the strongest families are using them.”

“Does that have something to do with the research into Outsider magic that I keep hearing about?” Garild’s mouth was set in a hard line, his attention stuck on the artifact. “Nothing good can come of that.”

“They have it, and we took it.” Micas shook his head without turning around. “Your family isn’t large enough to be in the true circles of power, but I’ll show you what this one can do. You should feel honored.”

Micas held up the artifact and it grew brighter as the core in it fractured, dissolving into a shadowy haze that flowed into the runes. A moment later, the physical shell of the core was gone, leaving only a glowing orb behind as the dust of its remains fell away. The runes on the artifact intensified until they were crawling across the surface of the half-dome like writhing red-black shadows.

Micas turned toward the inner door as he held out the artifact and began to chant. It was an ear-twisting thing with guttural vowels and crackling consonants that grated on Sam's mind. The runes pulsed in time with the cadence, flaring and falling again as they began to spread outward, stretching through the air toward the door.

On the other side, Sam growled as he watched. It reminded him far too much of the Blood Elemental and how the Iceblood Shamans had used their spells. The curseborn had also come from some magic like this. As far as he could, Micas shouldn’t have been able to use the artifact, since it ran on essence, but the core he’d sacrificed had both mana and aura in it, which was combining to power the enchantment.

He didn’t think Micas could get through the relic’s seal, but he had an instinctive revulsion toward what the mage was doing.

As the shadows reached the inner seal, they spread out like grasping tendrils and expanded, searching for an opening as they stabbed into the design of the moons. As soon as they touched it, however, a deep thrum of silver power shuddered through the relic. The moons on the surface flared to life, burning even more brightly than when Sam opened the door.

Then a vibrant voice that Sam had never heard before echoed in his mind. It was calm and grave, threaded through with a silver energy with which he was intimately familiar.

Incursion Detected: Reserve Storeroom 1.

Defined as Outsider Anomaly.

Attempting to Anchor Dimensional Space.

It felt as if he’d always known what that voice was, somewhere on the edge of his mind. His veins resonated with it. It was filled with the same energy that had reshaped his race.

Integrity of Relic: 32.7%

Stored Energy: 17%

Auric Charge: 952,018 / 500,000,000.

Defenses are pending repair.

Alerting controller.

At the same moment as the voice spoke, a brilliant spike of astral energy flared in Sam’s mind, pulling his attention to the area outside the room. Images flickered directly into his awareness, even more vivid than what the Guardian Star typically provided for him.

He could see waves of energy flooding through the area in a dozen different colors, from the heat of Micas and Garild’s bodies, to the yellow-white of Garild’s mana and the dark purple of Micas’s. There were other shades that he couldn’t identify as easily, some of which came from enchantments they were wearing or abilities they had. The walls of the storehouse also gleamed with the energies flowing through the stone.

Most noticeable of all, however, was the red-black shadows from the artifact in Micas’s hand, which looked like a mix of blood and ink had been spilled across the interior. They felt out of place, twisted in a way that was intimately wrong.

Acknowledging the relic. The Guardian Star responded immediately, as it began to intercede in the connection. The artifact that Micas is using is tearing at the local auras, including the sub-structure of the relic. It’s not powerful enough to damage it, but the relic greatly dislikes it.

Everything spun through Sam’s mind at once. The star had told him the relic would wake up eventually, but he hadn’t imagined that Micas’s artifact would be the thing that caused it. Based on the report it had just given, the relic had gained 5% more energy than it’d had before, and the auric charge was slightly stronger. The repairs must have advanced enough for it to wake up.

The relic is attempting to activate its defenses, the Guardian Star warned him. If you want to deal with Micas yourself, you’ll have to beat it there. Time until activation: 4 minutes.

It was tempting to see if the relic would kill Micas for him, but a new problem had appeared. He had to stop Micas from using that artifact and find out where it had come from. The World Core had warned him not to damage the natural auras of the world. If mages were doing that with Outsider artifacts, it was going to be an issue.

Crystal flame flared around him as he disappeared from the area and reappeared on the other side of the door, standing right in front of Micas. His hand shot out and he gripped Micas’s shirt in his fist. He roared, baring his fangs as he brought Micas up in front of his face.

“Cease at once!” Sam grabbed at the artifact with his free hand. The runes on it were still threatening, connected to the web of tendrils that were touching the door. It squirmed in his grasp like something alive as he tore it out of Micas’s hand. “How dare you bring this corrupted thing to my home!”

Micas’s eyes widened as he rose into the air and saw the Horned Hunter staring down at him. The shielding orb in his other hand exploded with light, flooding the entrance to the storeroom with a dense ruby wave.