Astral Threads, Ch 17: Motives (Patreon)

With his aura active, Sam was twice as tall as Uncle Snake. His essence attributes were also infusing his physical ones and after his study in the relic, he was able to tell exactly how much.  It was the average of his Intelligence and Aura, rounded down. His Strength and Constitution had risen by 327 points each. The aura also boosted his Agility by a quarter of that.

It pushed his Strength to 469, his Constitution to 524, and his Agility to 164.

This was how he had ripped a Terror in half with his bare hands and carved through stone like it was butter. His muscles flexed as the essence constellation in his blood spun like a vast galaxy, sending bright spikes of essence through every fiber of his being. Lenei’s Holy Armor boosted her attributes, but that was completely outclassed by what was happening here. His battle aura was the result of his essence rotating, sending its strength outward rather than keeping it within.

It felt like the heart of a star had ignited.

Unfortunately, no matter how powerful his racial advantage was, it wasn’t going to be enough to make a difference against Snake. The assassin outclassed him by hundreds to thousands of attribute points in every physical area, especially Agility.

But it did give him a chance to do something dramatic.

The boost increased his melee abilities, but he had the feeling that wasn’t the aura’s true purpose, or at least not its best one. Just like how Astral Smith was a higher rarity class than Astral Warrior and had better attributes for the First Evolution, his battle aura happened to be exactly what he needed to make the most of his Aura Forging and Elemental Smithing abilities.

A flash of memory glimmered in his mind, of his first dream of the Nexus and the First Contact between Astrals and Outsiders, something that he had remembered while searching the relic’s library. In that memory, an enormous golden titan had descended onto the stone continent where the Nexus had formed. His size had been incredible, as tall as a moon or a star, and then he had shifted, shrinking to more normal proportions. He had been one of the first to meet the Outsider demons there.

Sam hadn’t put it together at first, but the comparison between his own golden skin as an Astral Hunter and the way he could shift his size had finally clicked with that memory. He wasn’t certain, but he felt like that golden figure in the stars was an Astral Titan.

The memory combined with the fragments he’d learned about his race and his practice in the relic, and he began to see another path forward. The size of a titan was an expression of their inner power, and there was a reason the Astral Smiths were stronger than the Astral Warriors, as well as a reason that Elemental Smithing required both mental and physical strength.

Crafting was more than just creating artifacts. It was about reforging existence to match your will, to shape the stars into weapons and to build a world from ashes. If you towered high enough, you could hold the world in your hands.

If Snake was waiting for him to do something impressive, he was happy to oblige. He slammed his palms together as a tidal wave of essence roared out of him and combined with his physical strength. The air between his palms folded in on itself as he pulled at it with Elemental Manipulation and crushed it between his hands, condensing it hundreds of times.

When it was the density he wanted, he reached into the center of the energy and sought out its elemental signature, the aura that made it what it was. This was the basic concept of Aura Forging, to take what was and enhance it, to change it with his will. The theory resonated with his new elemental domain and the phrase that was at its heart.

The Stars Encompass All.

He infused the sphere of air with essence as he inscribed runes of augmentation and sharpness into it. At the same time, he flooded it with essence, altering its aura. Then he added the rune for void. The mass of air changed, turning sharper and thinner, from something ephemeral to a force that resonated with the natural runes for space. After a few moments, it was ready.

The sphere turned into a silver-black arc between his hands, a line of brightness that cut through space like the call of the void.

Then he threw it at Snake.

The assassin had been watching with great interest as Sam worked, but as the spatial blade flew toward him, his eyebrows rose with the first sign of shock that he’d shown so far, even if he still didn’t look concerned. The blade was an arc two feet wide and it tore through the air in an eyeblink, faster than an arrow could fly.

Snake sidestepped in an instant, gone before the spell could hit him, and then he was suddenly there again, standing where it had passed. Behind him, the spell traveled faster than sound through the air as it sliced into the distance. Two lines of displaced air ripped apart on either side of it with a loud hiss, like a molten blade sinking into the ocean.

Before the forged spell left the kilometer-wide radius of Sam’s awareness, he forced it to unravel, the condensed air blade dissipating until it was nothing more than a dense breeze.

He’d experimented with similar things before, but it was the first time he’d used one in a fight, even in one as staged as this. The spell had taken a full ten percent of his essence and it was one of the most complicated things he could create. It wasn’t wrong to say it was his best attack. The voice of the World Core rang in his mind as a bright silver notification unfurled at the edge of his awareness. Its tone was warm and approving.

Congratulations, Chaos Smith. You have taken the first step onto a crafting path that is suitable for your Class, forcing it to develop along a trajectory that was not recorded until now.

It is rare for an individual to develop their Class in this way. Doing so is the first step to making a unique Class. If you push this ability further, you may one day be allowed to record the Class in the World Core’s memory. Your Class status has been updated.

You gain the Class Ability: Spell Forging (Basic).

Sam only glanced at the notification for an instant before he pushed it away. His attention was on Uncle Snake, who seemed much smaller from his increased height, but no less deadly. The assassin was a sharp blade ready to strike, but he looked puzzled as he studied where the air blade spell had gone.

“Was that a spatial tear?” Uncle Snake asked, looking surprised. “I didn’t think those were possible on Aster Fall. The World Core doesn’t like disruptions to this dimensional space. If it was, it will probably be annoyed with you.”

The question interrupted the pressure of the test and turned the dueling field into something more conversational. At least the spell had done its job and grabbed Snake’s attention.

“Not exactly.” Sam shook his head as he explained. He was happy to turn the focus to something besides him eating dirt. “It was a compression of air and the natural energy that makes it up, its aura, along with some runes to shape it. It didn’t tear at the dimension. It just looks like that. It’s basically an advanced air blade.”

“Interesting. Perhaps that will be enough...if you have more things like it.” Snake looked off to the side, rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a moment, and then he returned to studying Sam. His attitude suddenly changed as the combativeness in it dropped away and was replaced by curiosity. The sense of danger around him also pulled back, until he seemed almost friendly, like a serpent sunning itself in the morning rather than coiled to strike.

“You do live up to your reputation,” he added, “but I don’t think you know what you’re getting into with those artifacts. That’s the real reason we’re doing this. I wanted to see if you could survive the questions you’re asking. If you have more things like that up your sleeve, you might, but that was a little slow. You’ll have to get faster with it. I can feel your Strength has increased with that transformation too. Interesting.” He looked across the field at the pits he’d made, and then he shook his head.

“Garild, don’t mess up my snake! We’ll finish it tomorrow.” Snake’s voice shouted the warning over his shoulder. From Sam’s perspective, it was obvious that he was grinning. “And send those three home.” He nodded at the other three combatants before he motioned for Sam to follow him.

“Let’s find a more secure area to discuss the future,” Snake said as they walked away. He was heading toward one of the smaller guest houses attached to Garild’s mansion. “And let me see that clan plaque the fire brat gave you.”

Sam fished the plaque out of a dimensional bag and handed it over with curiosity, but all Snake did was rub his hand across the surface and then press his thumb onto a space at the bottom. When he lifted it away, there was a white sigil there that looked something like a snake.

“I officially invite you to the Bloodline Clans as an honored guest.” Snake said drily as he handed it back. “The kids can hand these out, but it doesn’t have quite the same weight as if I do it. This certifies your welcome in the clans and a certain amount of help, as long as you are polite about it. If you need more than that, you can use my name to get a reaction. Try not to abuse it.” He passed the plaque back to Sam, his tone flat. “Now let’s go.”

Before long, the two of them were seated inside the guest house and Snake activated a fist-sized wardstone, placing it on the table between them. It was an interesting piece of enchantment, deeply etched with patterns that were just barely visible in Sam’s sight, and it glowed with a bright white light that reminded him of the Church. All around them, he felt a hazy shroud obscure the area, stretching for perhaps twenty feet.

“The priests made it,” Snake confirmed as he waved his hand dismissively. “If you duel a bishop or two, you can force them to hand over one. It’s a good way to get Church artifacts, at least for the ones that aren’t too secret. Shaking them down is practically a rite of passage for my younger family members.

“But to the real point—those artifacts. There’s a few things you need to know before you keep asking questions.” Snake’s voice was serious as he looked across the table at Sam. The sarcastic attitude of the assassin was still there, but this time there was a look that almost bordered on concern.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked with a sinking feeling. If Snake was warning him and pulling out this wardstone, then whatever he was about to say couldn’t be something good.

“I don’t know who makes those artifacts,” Snake said with a frown, “or at least, not the real origin, but I do know they’re people even I wouldn’t go after, and that should tell you something. They’re dangerous, powerful, and well protected. So, why do you need to track them down?”

“They threaten the dimensional space here,” Sam said after a moment of consideration. There was no reason to hide the main details from Snake. He should understand once it was explained to him. “You know how a Flaw tears through from outside and damages the World Seal? It’s like that. Those artifacts are Outsider things, no matter how they’ve been rebuilt, and they work by tearing holes in Aster Fall.”

Technically, the artifact Micas owned was able to erode natural auras, but that was basically the same thing. They couldn’t be allowed to keep doing that. He added a few more details to help Snake understand what was going on, and when he was finished, Snake studied him with narrowed eyes. His frown was even deeper than before.

“So you have an ancient relic that is supposed to help protect Aster Fall and you’re trying to rebuild it? And you’ve decided you have a personal mission to fix the World Seal?” He barked out a laugh, looking truly amused for the first time since Sam had seen him. “Even if you are from some powerful race or bloodline, you’re one person! What do you think you’ll be able to accomplish against half of this kingdom?” He shook his head as he pointed at the wardstone.

“Do you know why I’m using that? Because the people you’re after are that powerful and there’s not just one of them who’s barely at the Second Evolution like you.”

“At least tell me where they are, so I can look into the problem,” Sam growled at him. Snake was trying to be helpful, but the idea of powerful opponents was nothing new. “Where are the artifacts coming from?”

“It’s your funeral,” Snake muttered, shaking his head slightly as he saw Sam’s conviction. “Just try not to drag the Bloodline Clans into this mess.” He looked up at the ceiling of the guesthouse, falling silent for a moment. “The last I heard, the artifacts were coming from the capital at Veritan, and they were linked to an organization of the great houses, the ones who control more than half of the kingdom. The oldest nobility, the highest classes, that type of thing? That’s who you’re dealing with if you want to track down the artifacts and destroy them.

“There’s even a nickname I’ve heard for them. They call themselves the Boundless Alliance. A few others just call them the Cabal, since they aren’t above murder or extortion to achieve their goals.”

“Why boundless?” Sam frowned as pressed Snake for more answers. “What are they bound by?”

“By the World Core, of course!” Snake threw his hands up in disbelief as he looked at Sam. “How long have you been around? 19 years should be enough to learn about the World Limit. They want to break past the Level 399 barrier and leave Aster Fall! They’re tired of fighting the Flaws, the Outsiders, the threat of the Breakings, and the constant supervision of the World Core. They want freedom! Everyone does!”

Sam was silent as he took in what Snake was saying, and then he grimaced. From the way Snake was acting, he really should have realized that sooner. He hadn’t known anyone over Level 300 before, but if he had been in their shoes and looking at a limit on his future advancement...well, suddenly things began to make a bit more sense.

Who wouldn’t want to seek greener pastures if they had the option, where they could continue to grow? A higher Constitution gave you more years and if you couldn’t get new levels, you couldn’t add to your Constitution.

Someone at Level 399 had probably already spent their life in battle, hundreds of years or even more, forcing their way up to that point. Even if they had a few hundred or a thousand more, that meant the World Limit was a blade waiting to fall on your neck, a hard stop that would kill you before you achieved your full potential. It was easy to understand what this Boundless Alliance was up to, even if he didn’t agree with their methods.

“Is there any way to reason with them?” he asked at last as his expression grew darker. “Do you think they even know what they’re doing?”

“Of course they know what they’re doing! And have you ever tried convincing a Level 399 mage to change his experiments?” Snake asked pointedly as he looked at Sam. “First, you’d need to be just as powerful as him to get his attention and not die when he looks at you. Then you’d need to be even stronger than him to stop him, and that’s practically impossible, because everyone stops at Level 399 and people at that level have nothing left to lose.

“They’re usually ancient, long past caring about family or friends, and are focused solely on their concept of the future. They are madmen. You don’t get to that level without having a few screws loose, and you definitely don’t get there without wading through a sea of corpses.

“Then the World Core comes along and suddenly tells them one day, at the height of their achievements, that they’re done and it starts stealing all the experience they earn. How do you think they’re going to react?” Snake shook his head, practically glowering at Sam.

“And that is why you should stay far, far away from them if you know what’s good for you. Power? They have it. Money? They have it and don’t care about it. Levels? No one has more than them. Sympathy? Half the kingdom agrees with them or is at least willing to let them try. Stopping them? Not a chance.”

Sam grimaced as he thought over the issue and listened to Snake’s ever-increasing litany of what he was up against. It was ironic that the people who should have been the strongest defenders of Aster Fall, the ones who probably had been the best defenders of Aster Fall up until they reached the limit, were the ones who were now threatening to destroy it.

He wanted to believe they didn’t know what they were doing and they would stop if he explained it, but Snake’s emphasis and his own common sense were telling him just how unlikely that was.

“That means I either need a way to make the artifacts not work or to force them to stop,” Sam muttered the words as he considered the best approach.

“Haven’t you been listening?” Snake asked as he shook his head. “Don’t even think about trying to oppose them. They will disintegrate you without blinking and then get back to work, and they’ll probably use your ashes to try something else, just in case it has a chance to succeed. My best advice to you is to forget about it. Leave. Them. Alone.” The last words were said with the staccato emphasis of Snake’s finger leaving dents in the hardwood table.

“The artifacts and anything else like them have to be stopped unless we want the entire world to erode and the World Seal to shatter,” Sam said as he shook his head. “The mountains would rest in a sea of blood if that happened. Billions of people and all life on the planet would be overrun by Outsiders. They can’t be allowed to continue, but perhaps there’s a different way.” An idea was slowly forming in his mind as he considered his memories of the Nexus and the clear view of the void beyond Aster Fall.

“What if we could send them all away? Help them to escape Aster Fall without breaking it in the process?” The words burned across the space between him and Snake as he looked for the middle road, for something that might actually work.

The relic was a spatial artifact that could lock dimensions, but it also had teleportation circles built into it where the ancient inhabitants had traveled to distant parts of the world. The Astral Titans and anyone else who had built it must have also come from outside of Aster Fall. If it could work one way, perhaps it was possible to use it the other way, to send things out of Aster Fall, just like how he’d once been teleported by that Outsider ruin beyond the limits of the world.

“You think they haven’t tried?” Snake was already shaking his head and his words were a hammer crashing down on Sam’s hopes. “The World Core doesn’t give up a Level 399 so easily, not with all the energy it’s invested in them. Any attempt to teleport past the dimensional edge of Aster Fall is redirected back to their origin, along with a warning about becoming Defiant. They feel chained here for a reason. From their perspective, once they reach Level 399, the World Core is the one who betrays them. They’re only trying to live. No matter how many years they have left, they feel the end approaching.

"So, whatever you do, don't get in their way."

Uncle Snake's words rang out across the room like the Harbinger bell itself, a solemn warning of the eventual end of Aster Fall.