Astral Threads, Ch 12: Knowledge (Patreon)

Sam wandered among the steles in the cavern, his talons trailing along the cut crystal and stones, and then along the walls, brushing against every silver plaque. The others had been interested as well, their own fascination obvious, but the library didn’t call to them with the same overwhelming demand. They had time to return and study.

He didn’t, not if he wanted to leave soon.

He’d been here for hours now, long past when the others had gone to sleep. They had spent a while exploring the library as a group, but they had finally checked out the other two chambers as well.

The one direction led to the herb fields that he’d glimpsed in the vision of the past. There were still some ancient roots there, along with seeds that were nearly as hard as stone, but the enchantments that fostered growth had been interrupted. They were still intact thanks to the sturdiness of the chamber, but they’d been drained of energy long ago and the herbs had lacked sunlight and other necessary things. Some long dried leaves and other things remained, but most of them had disintegrated over the ages.

It was a great loss, since the herbs had to have been important to training, but fortunately, they had discovered several ancient chests with powerful preservation enchantments whose contents might be recovered. They weren’t planning to open them until the supporting enchantments on the room were restored and they knew what they were working with.

Once they had someone to nurture the plants and the enchantments were active, the herbs might be enough to train up their own herbalists and alchemists. The library would be essential for that and Siwaha might be able to help as well, since she was skilled with herbs. She had made them all Initiates of Ice with a cup of tea.

The other direction led to a series of training rooms that looked almost as important as the library. They were made of a translucent greenstone with threads of elemental ores that exerted a heavy pressure on his spirit, even now when they were unpowered. The only thing inside each of them was a pillar made of the same materials. He could sense the enchantments that led from the pillar to the walls like the threads of a tapestry. Even now, it felt like the rooms were waiting for him to step inside and learn what they held.

Based on a fragment his mother had seen, the rooms were designed to facilitate the mastery of skills and abilities. Once they were activated, the enchantments there would create the right scenario and trials, helping you to train from Basic to Epic. It looked like they could be used for many of the most important skills recorded here. Along with the knowledge in the library, their value was incalculable.

With everything added together, they had the resources for an academy that would shake the foundations of the world. The Chamber of Amaris was designed to train and guide, the golems were designed to protect and serve, and the origin pool for greenstone would help them to build.

For now, however, he’d only taken a few moments to see what the other two paths held and then he’d returned to the library. He’d try out the skill chambers soon enough, after making sure they worked, but the library was more important.

He was in his own world as he walked through the rows of stone and crystal. His aura billowed out around him in a wash of pure astral energy and crystal flame, turning the hall into an ocean of light that curled around the pillars like a tide. It was an unconscious choice this time, the energy pouring out as he fell deeper into a trance. A lesser library might have burned, but these stones shone brighter as the energy polished them, tearing away the dust of time.

With each item he touched, the Guardian Star flared more brightly on his hand. Its voice was a susurration at the back of his mind as it repeated the same phrase.

Record copied.

Whenever he heard it, he would move on to another stele. Over the last months, the Guardian Star’s capabilities had continued to increase and it was more of an assistant than it had ever been, including this ability to scan and record information on demand.

With his Intelligence past 300, he had perfect recall and the ability to process huge quantities of information on his own, but the star took that to another level. Even now, he wouldn’t have been able to memorize all of these pillars at a glance. Each pillar was complex, with many layers of enchantment and testing, and not even his access as a High Council member could get past the sheer quantity of information they held. He could have managed two or three, but there were thousands in the room.

The star was supposed to be a runic mark that altered part of his soul, but he had to wonder if it had changed that part into something like an artifact. Everything it scanned was perfectly preserved in his memory in an exact copy of the original, including any enchantments that safeguarded the information. They were there in his mind now, floating in an exact copy of this library.

Each record was an education of its own, an entire training plan for a skill or field of study, from combat arts like sword patterns and staff work to mana manipulation exercises, and that was only the beginning, the first layer of training on each crystal that he passed. They also contained the methods to train the skills up, which would be enhanced by the training rooms.

The higher-level things like fusing skills, evolving them, and merging them with others to set the foundation for a new class were there as well, but concealed behind tests. He would have to unlock those by proving his mastery of the methods they contained, at which point the next layer of the information would become clear. Perhaps if his Intelligence grew high enough one day, he could understand everything at a glance, but for now he was limited to the recorded method.

These pillars were the master copies that only the instructors and High Council had access to, from which lesser or simplified versions had been written down and given to students. Particularly talented students might have been granted some time in this master library, a week or a month to study at will, but it must have been a great reward and only for those who were able to make the most of it.

There were guides on how to wield the elements, train an affinity, and merge skills into stronger varieties, and as he walked, he marked those for special attention. In particular, he was drawn to the information on runes, enchantment patterns, and spatial laws, as well as elemental affinities and smithing.

Fortunately, the relic’s inhabitants had specialized in many of those fields.

A sense of necessity pushed him forward, making it impossible to rest. He wiped some sweat from his forehead as he moved to the next crystal pillar. If something attacked the relic again, there was no telling if this room would survive, which meant he had to gather everything here. At least that way, as long as he lived, the knowledge would be preserved and he could continue to study it.

If the attackers had been able to find this room, they surely would have scoured it from the earth. There was no way they would have wanted it to remain in the world. It held far too much information that could lead to power. He was fairly sure it even included ways to build lesser artifacts like the relic, although he hadn’t been able to find more than a hint of that so far or anything that resembled an artifact of the same scale.

For him, since he had never had much of a formal education except for what his father could pass down or what he’d learned from Krana in passing, much less a proper class manual, the library was heaven sent. It would take days to scan and record everything here, but he wasn’t planning to leave the room until it was done.

Time blended together as he continued from one record to the next and he kept no track of the passing days outside the library. His motions were automatic as he looked through the records of the past. Eventually, as he found himself at the end of the hall, he blinked and looked back at all the pillars he had walked past.

He let out a breath as he sat down to rest his mind, sorting through all the things that he’d found. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked around. He recalled that his parents had come by to check on him a few times and that he’d answered their questions with only a flicker of attention. There was now a squad of six black crystal Sky Guards near the door, keeping him silent company, and he chuckled as he saw them.

It looked like they hadn’t wanted to leave him entirely on his own.

A humming notification was at the corner of his mind, flashing with silver light, and he glanced at it, making it unfold before his eyes.

You have gained the Trait: Scholar.

[Your dedication to knowledge is admirable, marking you out as a true Scholar, one who can wander for days within a library without attention to the outside world. Your recall of events and ability to put together disparate pieces of information has improved. It has become easier for you to learn skills in the future, if you study them with your full attention. You gain +5 to Intelligence and Wisdom.]

The influence of the trait had already merged into him, but he felt a sudden surge of sparkling energy as his Intelligence and Wisdom rose, adding just a bit more clarity and depth to his perspective. It brought him to a base of 174 in Wisdom and 319 in Intelligence, while Aura was still 314. It unbalanced his essence slightly, but he would have to deal with that later.

When his energy stabilized again, he walked back toward the center of the chamber and looked around. The walls still shimmered with the same astral energy as before and it felt slightly stronger now, which meant the golems must have been working on the enchantments. He tapped his talons in a thoughtful pattern on top of a crystal pillar as he searched through the information he’d learned, looking for one particular thing.

Finally, he shook his head. There was plenty of material on training that would be useful to him, as well as in-depth histories of the relic, both of which he planned to study, but there was a very distinct gap in the knowledge here.

No matter what record he examined, there wasn’t a single reference to Astral Titans or to who had built the relic. All the records he’d found began after the construction, even those that were secured to the High Council’s authority and kept a careful account of the years.

There were also no references to astral energy, despite the fact that it was everywhere throughout the relic. The only energy that was mentioned for the relic was the light of the moons and the seven-year charging cycle. That had been a key feature they wanted their students to understand. There were also a number of manuals on aura and how to train classes that used it, including as a bloodline, which might be useful to his father. His talons tapped on the pillar again, giving rise to a pleasant chime that rang out through the library.

The High Council might not have known about Astral Titans, but they should at least have understood one of the core energies here. It was difficult to believe they hadn’t known what it was, since it was everywhere through the greenstone. The conclusion was that they had chosen to conceal it, perhaps as a way of also hiding the name of the Astral Titans. Either way, the gaps were enough for him to put it together.

He was more confident than ever that the Titans had built the relic.

He had a unique form of evidence, since his racial Evolution had come from the astral energy here. Whatever he had been before, the race called Voidborn, it had set a foundation that the astral energy completed. Now, like the information here, his details were obscured by the World Core, which prevented anyone from Analyzing him.

It was a useful feature, since it made people hesitate to attack him, but the real question was why everything related to the Astral Titans was such a secret. Everything he’d discovered about them suggested they were an old and powerful race, one that should have no real worries when it came to announcing themselves. All he could determine was that there had to be a reason.

Perhaps there was an even stronger enemy out there that they were hiding from or maybe they hadn’t wanted to be bothered by the problems of Aster Fall and had cut their connections here to prevent anyone from finding them.

If it had just been the relic hiding the information, that would have been one thing, but the World Core was also in on it, and there was no reason the World Core would take a side like that unless it was related to the safety of Aster Fall and the balance of energy at the Nexus.

That meant information about the Astral Titans could shift the balance. Somehow. His talons continued to tap on the crystal pillar as he strung his ideas together. Perhaps his new Scholar trait was helping him, but it felt like the trail was becoming clearer.

His presence as a Voidborn, a race that was able to handle aura and essence, had threatened the Seal enough that the World Core had censured him for a verbal threat. But when he’d become an Astral Hunter, that had shifted, as if he’d chosen the World Core’s side, even though his personal attitude hadn’t changed.

His class had never been the issue, not for him and not for his father or grandfather. They had lived their lives without any threat of being thrown into the Seal, and they’d probably cursed the World Law more than he ever had. Asenya had created the Battlefield Reclaimer class to be her inheritor and she was the caretaker of the World Core. The class wasn’t intended to harm it, only to help.

What really mattered to the World Core were the auras that made up the Seal, since they were part of Aster Fall’s core, not the life on the surface. Outsiders consumed those auras when they broke through. That was the crux. Monsters had been created as a way to reclaim them and to slowly eliminate Outsider influence.

Just by existing, his class helped the World Law to reclaim those auras and restore them to their natural place, even if it was as an enchantment. So, being a Battlefield Reclaimer would never have bothered the World Core.

The issue all boiled down to his race.

He reviewed everything he knew as he set the full force of his attributes to work. His mind spun like a crystalline inferno, refining the information into something purer.

Voidborn and Outsiders consumed aura, using it to strengthen themselves, so Astral Titans did what....created aura?

He looked down at his hands as he considered his Chaos Smith class, Aura Forging, Elemental Smithing, and his abilities like Modify Aura. They had all come from his work on the relic. Perhaps he’d unconsciously chosen to follow the path of creation and that was why the astral energy had changed his race.

If he’d chosen differently, could he have consumed it? And what would have happened if he had?

Voidborn might have just been the nascent stage between two extremes, waiting for him to choose a path.

At any rate, that was where his analysis stopped. He could make a guess that there were more Voidborn out there, perhaps the Three Demons, and that they would come running if they learned about Astral Titans. The two races seemed like opposite sides of the same coin.

Perhaps the information about them was concealed simply as a precautionary measure to keep war from breaking out between the two sides. Unless something else appeared, however, he would have to collect the marks that the World Core required and find out that way.

At any rate, there was training to do now that he had both the library and the training rooms. The bigger questions could wait until he’d repaired the Seal.

“How long have I been here?” he asked as he turned toward the golems that were waiting by the entrance.

“Reporting to the Architect,” the Sky Guard at the front crossed his spear across his chest and bowed respectfully as Sam turned his attention to him. Unlike when they’d communicated with Eldest, this one chose to speak aloud. Perhaps they’d needed to update their language to the present day. Its voice was a deep and reassuring rumble.

“It has been eleven days since you entered here. Efforts to gain your attention until now have failed, so the Commander believed you should have company until you were finished. This half squad was assigned for your protection. The Guide also hopes that you will return for a meal.”

“Thank you.” Sam nodded to the golem as he took the opportunity to study its reactions in more depth and compare it to what he’d discovered in the library.

There were two detailed records on the golems here that were accessible only to the High Council, one on the methods of their creation and one on the subsidiary enchantments they could be endowed with. Unfortunately, the materials to make more of them were in short supply.

They required magically-dense ores, intense auras, and high-level monster or beast cores, which the elemental pools were able to refine. Most of the materials would be better spent on the relic itself right now. He also didn’t have access to Level 200 monsters at the moment, even if the golems could help him fight them.

“Is the survey complete outside?” he asked instead, as he turned his attention to more immediate matters.

“Affirmative,” the Sky Guard replied immediately. “The Sky Guards have spread out to strengthen the defenses and deal with intruders, while the Elemental Orders have begun working to repair the first layer, starting with the most critical buildings, including this one. A half squad of Sky Guards has been assigned to each of the High Council, as well as to other critical persons.”

“Good.” Sam nodded. “Make sure to protect them until they can protect themselves better than you can, and then you should take a ceremonial role to remind visitors of the High Council’s status.”

“Confirmed,” the Sky Guard acknowledged. “The High Council is currently below the intended level for their position. A training regimen suitable for each councilor has been created based on the relic’s memories and resources are being diverted to prioritize it, including the reactivation of several training rooms. Do you wish to begin after the meal?”

“Excellent!” Sam laughed as he took in the Sky Guard’s perfectly stoic features, which didn’t carry even the trace of a smile. They were artistically handsome and shaped from smooth black crystal that might be mistaken for skin if you only caught a glimpse of it, but the golem’s expression would always give it away. “I didn’t realize you were capable of all that.”

“The Moonlight Relic’s security requires the High Council be at the highest level possible for Aster Fall,” the golem replied flatly. “Defense, trade, and internal affairs will benefit once that is complete, resulting in a more efficient expenditure of resources and increased local order. The speed of repairs is also projected to improve.”

“I see.” Sam chuckled again, but he didn’t disagree. The golem was right. It would be much easier to repair the relic once that happened, not to mention negotiating with allies or dealing with enemies. “Did the Moonlight Relic tell you that?”

“Affirmative,” the golem replied, but it didn’t add anything else. Apparently, that was enough.

If you read between the lines, it was easy to see that the relic was impatient to be working again. It had been built for a purpose that it was currently unable to achieve.

“Let’s head to dinner then,” Sam said as he glanced upward and felt for the position of the moons. “It’s almost time. After that, I was already planning to take a look at the training rooms.”

There was a lot of material to master now that he had the library saved in his mind and he’d already selected the first things he wanted to learn more about: runes for spatial teleportation and his crystal flame.

They would help him to explore the world.