Astral Threads, Ch 14: Astral Void (Patreon)

The Void stretched out all around him. The rune he’d learned from the World Core while watching his friends evolve shuddered in his mind as it began to resonate with his essence constellation and the astral threads.

Energy poured in from every direction, not just from the relic but from the void beyond Aster Fall, as if the training room had opened the gate to something endless. It rang through his body like exploding stars that sang in tune with the heavens, each of them an instrument in a celestial chorus that stretched to the end of existence.

Before he could do more than feel the truth of the energy and start to orient himself within the current, it suddenly disappeared.

Two hours have passed. The limit for this training room has been reached.

The relic’s voice rumbled in Sam’s mind as the void faded away and the walls suddenly returned to their standard green. A moment later, the World Core’s announcement joined it.

Racial Ability Identified: Astral Void (Basic).

Ability cannot be classified according to standard categories. Adjusting parameters and assigning clarifying ability.

You have gained the Racial Ability: Spatial Awareness (Elite).

Synergy detected with Trait: Dimensional Navigator. Spatial Awareness at Elite triples the effectiveness of this Trait. Bonus: +300%. You will find it easier to orient yourself while teleporting in the future.

Additionally, an unknown benefit has been gained from Racial Ability: Astral Void.

For your race, navigating the Void is as easy as breathing.

The World Core whispered the last line like a memory that was only half present before its voice faded away, leaving behind a sense of weight that pressed down on the area. Then that also disappeared and Sam let out a breath as he felt a new rush of information suddenly flood his senses.

He could feel his position in the world, the exact location where he was standing and the flow of a dozen different energies that were cascading around him. Some of them came from the sun in the sky, the winds blowing across the surface, and the alignment of mana veins in the heavens and in the mountains below his feet, which created a unique tapestry of place. Others came from more distant origins, from the moons and a thousand or more different stars that he could feel far beyond Aster Fall.

The sensation came with a bone-deep awareness of exactly where he was in relation to them: the distance to the moons, to the surface of the mountain and the valley below, to the open air beyond the peak, and other things beyond. Existence pressed in on his awareness with brilliant landmarks, each of them part of a bright silver thread that connected him to the stars in the void.

The threads were so vivid that they cut through reality, bisecting lesser material without any trouble on a wavelength of their own. Lesser threads were there as well, linking material things in the world, but they were much fainter than the ones that reached to the stars.

With barely an effort, he suddenly disappeared from the training room and reappeared on the mountain slope above. Crystal flame flickered around him with a faint disturbance, barely needed here to move him from place to place. A moment later, he reappeared in the training room again. He looked around as he studied the greenstone walls.

There was no sense of imbalance from the teleportation, no more than he would have felt from taking a step on a grassy field. It felt natural and the essence used was almost nothing, far less than he’d spent on a short teleport before. He wasn’t sure if he was traveling along the threads or just using them as guides, but connecting to them made his efficiency shoot through the roof.

His attention was pulled away from the room around him as he continued to comprehend the information that was all around him. Far above, he could feel the limits of Aster Fall’s energy where it met the void. The transition line was as clear as day in his mind, as unmistakable as the difference between fire and ice. He didn’t have enough energy to reach it, but he knew it was there.

Time passed as he grew accustomed to his extended senses, but it felt natural instead of disorienting, as if his eyes had simply opened to something that had always been there. It came with an increased sense of stability and an improved awareness of what was around him. There was no longer any question of how far away he was from a particular location, as long as he’d been there before or there was a thread connected to it.

The Storm Plains began 431 miles to the west, at the base of the mountains, and Cliff’s End was 1,276 miles from his current position. It felt as if he could reach out and touch both of them, as if they were as close as the door to the training room.

The moons were different. He didn’t have a scale that could describe the distance to them easily, but he could feel their presence outside of Aster Fall at a short separation beyond its border. It felt as if it would take him a little while to reach them, but not too long...perhaps as long as it would take to walk to Osera, Krana’s old city that was east of the Abyssinian Plains. He just needed enough energy to bridge the gap.

Clearly, his sense of distance was different than before. He knew the moons were much farther away than Osera, even though they felt almost the same, but he decided to just accept it. The void was endless and in the vast scheme of themes, the moons were right next to Aster Fall.

“Right,” he muttered as he scrubbed his hand through his hair and let out a breath. He turned his attention back to the Moonlight Relic as he evaluated the amount of energy it had remaining. “Let’s finish up here.”

There was only a fraction of a percent left that he could use, about a quarter of what it would take to train a new skill to Basic, but that might be enough for crystal flame. He had several abilities related to it, but the most important one was his racial ability for Aura of Crystal Flame, which was a foundation that everything else relied on. His subclass abilities used crystal flame in various ways, but it had altered his basic Fire affinity when he’d gained it.

These days, even if he changed his subclass, he was fairly confident that it would have no effect on Aura of Crystal Flame, at least not unless the new class held something that was a higher grade to replace it.

What he needed right now wasn’t energy to upgrade his abilities, but rather an opportunity for insight. And fortunately, he already had an idea for that. It had come from his understanding of the Toa’an Elemental Domain and the Astral Void. He spoke aloud to the relic as he framed his thoughts and explained the direction he wanted to explore.

“I want to train my crystal flame insights, bringing them in line with the foundations of my elemental domain. Can you orient this training room for perception only and display a pattern for a stellar essence that incorporates both ice and flame?”

Crystal flame had always had principles of both hot and cold in it, from melting stone to sealing things in a crystalline pattern. With his Blessing of Ice from Siwaha, he’d come a little closer to understanding the frozen part of it, and he was hoping that he could take the final steps now, at the same time as he brought it all under his domain concept for The stars encompass all.

There was a moment of consideration as the relic listened and then the walls began to change, turning to a crystalline sapphire blue that felt both hot and cold. A moment later, its voice sounded out in the chamber.

The training room has been oriented to the signature of your Aura of Crystal Flame and the principles of fire and cold in the void from Angtarel’s Treatise on Origin Forces. Effect is limited to perception only. You have an hour before the room will revert.

Sam’s attention locked onto the wall as a surge of crystal flame poured across it. It was a wave of energy from a star, so hot that it burned the void. A moment later, that energy passed outward into a dark expanse and turned cold, but it still burned, its nature unchanging.

Something in the flame transcended simple heat and cold. There was a sense of will that kept it going, as if it would use whatever was necessary to continue forward. Fire and ice were two of the primary forces of the universe and crystal flame drew on both. Where one was missing, the other existed.

The image filled his mind as he studied it, letting the sense of the transition flow through him. Whatever the Astral Guardian had given him, it wasn’t normal. The relic was at its limit, so he might not be able to fully understand how it worked, but an hour was more than enough to make some progress.

---

When Sam finally left the training room, he felt like he’d come to a better understanding of crystal flame. The core principle wasn’t in the heat or cold, but the will at the center that could burn either one. To him, perhaps under the influence of the elemental domain that he’d chosen, it felt like the will at the heart of a star. He had a feeling that his Starfire spell would see a noticeable improvement, as well as his crystal flame arrows that held star runes at the tip.

The study of fire and ice had also benefited him in another way. His Initiate of Ice trait had upgraded to Apprentice of Ice, which came with a 25% increase to the effectiveness of all his Ice abilities. The improvement would apply to some forms of crystal flame, as well as his rune formations or scrolls that drew on Ice as a primary force.

He was feeling pleased with himself as he walked past the golems at the door. He’d been down here for a while, which meant the defenses on the first layer should be finished. He planned to check in with his parents to make sure everything here was settled and to say goodbye to Altey. The thought of departure left him with mixed emotions.

He would miss them, but they should be safe enough now. This was a better place for Altey to grow up than they’d had before, especially if more people arrived and helped to turn it into a real academy again.

As he teleported back up to the first layer, however, a message from Garild flashed into existence in front of him. The runes were shimmering in an obnoxious shade of orange and red and chiming occasionally, which meant that it was urgent, but they were also dimmer than they should have been. The message must have been trying to find him for a while, but it wasn’t able to enter the Chamber of Amaris. He glanced at it with a sigh before he reached out and tapped on the voice rune at the center. As soon as he did, Garild’s voice filled the air.

“Horned Hunter, the envoy from the Pale Family and the Bloodline Clans has arrived with information about the Outsider artifacts that you requested. Please come as soon as you can.”

A moment later, a second message flashed into existence and hovered next to the first. Then a third and a fourth arrived. Each rune circle was slightly brighter than the one before it and glancing at them told him that it had been at least three days between the first one and this latest one. Sam muttered under his breath as he reached out and activated them in order.

“Horned Hunter, the Bloodline Clan envoy is waiting eagerly to meet you! I’ve arranged a dinner in your honor at my home tonight. Please attend if you are able....

“Honored Hunter, the envoy is deeply impatient to make your acquaintance! I have told him that you are a busy man and your duties are important to this entire region, but he does not know how majestic you are! Please hurry to meet him....

“Honored Hunter of the Moons, I beg you, please come at your earliest convenience! The envoy is from a powerful family and I cannot make him wait too much longer! His mood is not good!”

Sam sighed as he reached up and tapped on his horns in thought. With each tap, a dull boom of impact resonated through his skull. His strength wasn’t small these days, but it didn’t harm him.

It seemed he’d taken longer with his training than he should have.

“I suppose I should go see him,” he grumbled as he came to a decision. “I wonder what level the envoy is to make Garild feel that panicked.”

With a brief flicker of crystal flame, he was gone.

---

Sam stood on the cliff at the edge of the first layer, looking down at the hundred foot drop to the next level. The edge of the cliff shimmered with a faint moonlight radiance now, even in the daylight. The energy was nearly invisible, its presence felt more than seen. If he hadn’t been able to see the flow of aura in it, he wouldn’t have even noticed it.

The defenses on the first layer were complete.

He could feel a light thrum of astral energy running through the greenstone. At need, a shield would spring up here and cover the first layer. This shield was the final stage, something that could take the full brunt of a Third Evolution attack without even shaking. From his study of the relic, it was clear that its builders had far surpassed that stage. The only issue now was energy and repairing it, as well as the problem of whether any remnants of its old enemies would return.

A Fourth Evolution opponent wouldn’t be able to attack the relic without breaking the World Seal and causing a disaster, but they might have lower level servants still on Aster Fall, ones that were keeping an eye on it even after all this time.

The shield wasn’t the only effect of the repairs. The relic felt awake now, its signature more vigorous than before. When he turned to look back across the layer, he could see the web of energy lines that connected to the cliff edge.

Now that the relic had full control of the first layer, things were already changing. Enchantments that had been broken were slowly fusing back together, greenstone was merging together where it had shattered, and ice was beginning to disappear as the elemental interaction in the environment was balanced.

Here and there, golems in various hues could be seen as they moved rubble or repaired an enchantment. Above, the distant forms of the Sky Guard made slow arcs in the sky as they kept an eye out for trouble.

The relic was coming to life again.

The changes would accelerate even more as the ancient weather runes were repaired, making this a warm and sunny peak. Snow would still remain on the neighboring slopes, but not here. This mountain would once again be covered in a layer of greenstone and vibrant growth, the inhabitants settled among towering buildings of arches and elemental pools that reflected the light of the stars at night.

Sam grinned as he ran his hand over the stones of the cliff, and then he disappeared in another ripple of crystal flame as he teleported away again, this time to his parents’ home. Garild could wait for a few more minutes. He was more interested in how his parents had been adjusting to their roles and new classes.

Before long, he suspected his mother would be the one telling him about the relic’s history, and his father would be the one giving him updates on the reconstruction. He would have to work hard to make sure the repairs kept up with their dreams.

---

Stars stretched out in front of Sam as he teleported down from the mountain, gating across the intervening miles to Highfold. Crystal Passage was different than before. He still couldn’t use a short teleport over this distance, but the gate had come more easily than ever, forming three times as quickly and with less of a burden on his essence. He also knew that it was exactly 57.3 miles from the peak to Garild’s home.

As he passed through the gate, he once again felt the void stretching out around him, but it was no longer a confusing blur. Instead, he felt his movement through it as he followed the astral thread that led from the peak down to the city, but some things were still the same. All around him, stars called to him from the distance, tempting him to cross onto another path, but his destination was clear in his mind as he pushed the thoughts aside and stepped out of the gate into the backroom of their enchanting shop.

One day, he would find out what the stars held, but as tempting as they were, he didn’t have enough energy to walk their paths yet. What was even more difficult to ignore was the call of the void just beyond Aster Fall. It felt like a peaceful ocean that was waiting for him to jump into it, to return to his origin where he could bathe in the light of the stars and drift away.

He shook his head as he brought himself back to the present and pushed the feeling aside. The time between the transition felt much longer to him now than it had before, even though it was a single step between the two points.

Runes lit up across the walls of the room as he appeared, adding ambience to the area that he’d claimed as his own. This small space doubled as his workshop when he was in the city. He didn’t come down here very often, but it had a small forge, worktable, and wards, as well as enough clear space for him to teleport.

With the relic under repair, they could have abandoned the shop, but it was still useful, especially for teleporting. It also gave them a place to call their own in the city, if they wanted to stay here for the evening and join in on the flow of life. It was nice to have a way to meet people and visit restaurants while the relic was empty.

Part of his time over the last months had been spent stocking the shop with small and useful enchanted items, most of them a result of his continued practice in upgrading his crafting skills. The display cases here now held everything from personal wards that could be set up around a camp to protect adventurers, to weatherproof cloaks that would shed the rain, to healing scrolls. There were also fire crystals, water crystals, some defensive amulets, message scrolls, mana training tools similar to the ones he’d made for Altey, belts that were enchanted to ward off the cold, and more.

He'd used most of the materials he had to practice his rune patterns and principles of enchanting, solidfying the foundation he'd built for himself in the field. He'd had quite a bit of material from Epic-tier monsters and below, much of which had ended up here. The First Evolution materials he'd kept, as well as the ones he created from Elemental Smithing, since they were both stronger and far more useful to him. As a result, the shop had become an excellent place to dispose of things he didn't need.

Everything here was a tier or two lower than what he’d made for his family and the effects were simpler, which meant they were easy to produce, but people still came to buy things. Not only was the quality superior to most things that could be found in the city, but it was well known now that Jeric Hastern was an ally of the Horned Hunter, thanks to Garild’s rumor-mongering. People came to shop here purely for that connection.

There were also copies of his mothers’ books for sale here very cheaply, at barely more than the cost of the materials. They had begun to include them for free with a purchase as a way of spreading the word and attracting people to the relic.

He checked over the display cases and racks at the front of the shop, confirming that everything was fine, and then he spent a few moments reinforcing the wards on the walls and the counters. All of the items in the shop were valuable, even though he’d refused to make weapons for people he didn’t know, which meant it needed some protection against thieves.

Making enough gold to cover the rent here was no longer difficult for them. It had already become a specialty shop that was well regarded in the city and a single sale was enough for a month or more, especially since all of the materials that had gone into the production of the items here were things they’d gathered themselves, which meant there was no real cost to anything except his own time. He added a few new runes to the ward on the door as he finished his updates, strengthening it just a touch more, and then he stepped out onto the street.

At the highest point of the city, the Ice Palace soared into the sky, its towers a reminder of the Harbinger bell. He scanned the area quickly as Crystal Focus spread out, and once he was assured that everything was normal in the area, he teleported away again, heading for Garild’s mansion.