Astral Threads, Ch 22: Forge (Double Length) (Patreon)

The workshops in the relic were mostly tumbled stones and empty basins, sometimes home to small blue spiders with legs like icicles that could survive in the frozen weather. The one he chose was on the first layer, not too far from his house, which made it convenient. Once, it had probably been the highest-tier crafting workshop the relic had to offer. It was nearly as large as his house and divided into half a dozen different areas.

Three ancient forges of different styles lay shattered against the walls, as well as anvils of various sizes for hammering metal, troughs and stone barrels for quenching it, and grooves in the floor to channel away excess water or molten metal that had spilled. There were broken work tables where enchantments and finer work had once been done, and storerooms for ores along the sides.

Lines of shattered silver enchantments covered the stones where they’d once supported the operation of the workshop by heating the forges and cooling the troughs. The walls were also reinforced with enchantments to absorb excess energy and contain magical disasters if a project exploded.

Sam looked over the scattered ruin and nodded. It wasn’t what it had been when the relic was new, but nothing prevented it from being so again. He needed a place to practice with Spell Forging before he left. The training rooms were too low on energy, so this would work.

He sent a pulse of thought to the Guardian Star and a squad of six green-tinted golems landed around him, their wings flaring as they stabilized themselves. They had been hard at work in another location, but it wasn’t much trouble to redirect them here for a few hours. Once this workshop was functional, others could use it, including Lesat.

With his new Runic Vanguard and Arcane Leatherworker classes, the man needed more practice with runes. The better he was, the more he could augment his abilities. He had some manuals from the library to help, but he needed to learn what he could do.

Ideally, he would use the opportunity to evolve his crafting class into something that fit his main class better, either some type of generalized Arcane Crafter or an Arcane Blacksmith. The Toa’an had left behind many heritages for him to follow, and starting as a Leatherworker wasn’t a final barrier to what he could become if he set his mind to it. He could train Smithing or Enchanting, and both would give him some main class experience. He just wouldn't have any class abilities to help. Then eventually, he could merge them all into something better.

Even if he stayed with his current subclass, he would be able to enchant the leather padding inside his armor, his clothing, his boots, and his gloves. Everything he created would be another runic pattern that he could take advantage of and the practice would open up better evolutions.

That was one of the reasons Sam wanted him to stay behind. He and Lenei were important to welcome new people and to keep his parents company, but it was also a training opportunity. Fortunately, both Lesat and Lenei could gain experience while they were here: Lesat from his crafting and runework, and Lenei from her healing. If they were dedicated, they shouldn't fall too far behind.

Jeric and Aemilia, of course, had an even larger advantage. To them, the relic was a fountain of experience. They’d already gained a couple of levels over the past two weeks. If he didn’t get a move on it, they would beat him to Level 200.

Sam grinned as he waved the golems forward. The crystal figures were massive, but they moved with grace as they immediately began to work at shifting the rubble aside, clearing out the space of what had once been the workshop. He had to wonder if the enchantments on them made them light or if it was an effect of their material. From training, he knew they were as immovable as a stone mountain when they wanted to be, but they could still take flight in an instant.

Three of the silver-tinted enchantment repair golems landed as well, and together they began to organize the workshop, rebuild the walls, and re-engrave the enchantments that had once been here. As they worked, Sam focused on the enchantments they were repairing, studying the patterns that were appearing as he compared them to the core enchantment and the work he’d done himself.

By the time the rubble disappeared and the golems began to rebuild the walls, a few differences stood out. Unlike him, the golems weren’t transferring the aura directly or carving true channels for the relic’s energy to flow. Instead, their hands cut into the greenstone to reshape the surface and when it was a clean piece of stone again, the sharp edges of their fingers chiseled into the greenstone, leaving behind a silvery crystal matrix that acted like powdered mana crystal in an enchantment pattern.

Inch by inch, they reformed the stone and carved runes and binding connections for the enchantment into it. Astral energy then flowed up through the greenstone like a wellspring and filled the lines. Their enchantments were tapping into the ambient energy in the relic rather than carving main channels, and watching them work gave him a better idea of the difference between their repair work and his.

It was no surprise that modern enchanters had never understood the relic. Not only was the system of enchantment different, operating off of aura instead of mana, and the patterns obscure, but the way the runes were inlaid was not something that people were able to copy. With the way the golems were repairing the walls, this was an enchantment that was carving another enchantment inside it.

Nothing copied from here would function in another area.

The Toa’an had recorded different branches of study for enchantments that were meant to be used in the relic and those outside of it. The weather enchantment he’d given to Garild was the only one in existence that bore some resemblance to the relic and it was from a far simpler school. Even if someone understood the pattern, it was unlikely they would be able to create anything else based on it.

Humans weren’t able to manipulate aura directly and that extended to feeling the proper pattern for the enchantment. It wasn’t impossible, but it would be like a blind man suddenly painting a perfect panorama of the night sky. He rubbed his chin as he studied the glowing web of runes across the walls. As the binding patterns connected the runes together, it was starting to look like rippling wind and water in the containment enchantments and curling flames for the runes that fueled the forges.

The Toa’an had liked to surround themselves with reminders of the elements they were born from, especially in places where they were already vibrant, like the forge. If this had been an active volcano, one of the places where the giants had first appeared in the world, the patterns would have been even more elaborate and they would have erected statues to the World Spirits of Fire and Earth. In an outer ring, just like they’d done with the containment enchantments here, they would have honored the spirits of Water, Wind, and Wood as well, for balance, or perhaps Thunder and Ice, if those were more common in the area.

As the walls were rebuilt over the next few hours and the containment enchantments were carved across them, Sam realized something else. The golems were exceptional, but their enchantments were only designed to draw on the surface energy of the relic, the power that was flowing through the greenstone. That was the same energy that reacted to the Ice mana in the air here and buried the relic in snow, but they weren’t connecting to the transfer lines, the true energy paths in the relic.

It made sense now why the relic had never released these golems to repair it. If this was their main ability, they were useful for the smaller enchantments that covered everything, but they weren’t able to rebuild the core parts.

That was his job.

Sam nodded as he studied the patterns they were carving and filed them away with the other enchantments he’d learned from the relic. Then he turned his attention to the closest transfer line. It was one of the smaller arcs that cut across the first layer, part of the area that the relic had finished repairing a few days ago. In its prime, this workshop might have been one of the best that was available, but it still hadn’t touched the true power in the relic.

That was something he could change.

A sparkling arc of astral energy flowed through him as he knelt down and drove his talons through the stones that made up the floor. The connection hit him like a bolt of lightning as he touched the line, sizzling across his meridians in a comfortable rush of power. He grabbed onto it and pulled, dragging the line toward the surface as the greenstone flowed around his hands like water, releasing brilliant flashes of light.

The transfer line ran just below the foundation of the workshop, where its presence fueled the enchantments, but he intended to make the connection much more direct. A workshop with ambient energy was fine, but why not have a workshop that had full power? With the line feeding it directly, the forge would burn like the heart of a star.

He would turn this workshop into a true astral forge.

After repairing the relic and studying the Toa’an Smithing Art, he’d come to a better understanding of his own path as a smith. He’d tried out different methods as he worked on the profession before, but none of them had felt quite right. With this forge in front of him, something finally clicked.

Forging with a hammer in hand was fine, but for him there was another way. He’d always preferred to use his hands directly. From the very first time he’d smelted ore, he’d done it with his bare hands, letting the liquid metal run across his skin.

Here, he would forge like a Titan.

An arc of astral energy erupted from the greenstone at Sam’s feet as he pulled it free. His height grew to a towering twelve feet as his muscles rippled and his aura locked down around the energy, holding it in place as he pulled more toward him and let it build. Tapping into the relic’s power like this turned the area into an ocean of astral energy, until even the golems were backing away, but it ran over his skin like a warm breeze.

When he had enough energy, he turned toward the forge and began to walk, the line in his hand burning as it warped the greenstone at his feet. When he reached the central forge, he looped the energy around it in nine circles before he walked back again, his shoulders drenched with sweat, and shoved the line back into the ground. Behind him, a new path for the transfer line arced across the workshop’s floor, surrounding the forge in a spiral of light. As he released the line, a warning notification flashed at the edge of his mind, one that had been there since he started. The Moonlight Relic’s voice filled his mind.

Structural alteration detected. Command authority is required to reroute the transfer line.

Do you wish to approve this change?

He acknowledged it in an instant. All around him, the flow of energy suddenly stabilized as the energy line carved itself more deeply into the floor and established the new pattern. The forge brightened as silver flames poured into the opening where ore could be placed, burning away as a wash of brilliant heat exploded outward.

Astral Energy Forge established. The relic’s voice rang out as its attention turned to the area. There was a sense of exasperation in its voice, if such a thing were possible, as it seemed to be analyzing what he’d done. Then the web of enchantments that the golems had just repaired began to shift. Altering the basic blueprint of the workshop for use by the Architect. Adding security protocols.

The runes changed and the binding patterns became far more complex, spiraling across the walls and deeper through the greenstone until they tapped into the same transfer line. The runes that had just been restored to control and direct heat in the forge changed, becoming far more complex. Astral energy flooded through them, and they carved themselves into the greenstone in burning lines.

A few moments later, it was done.

The basic pattern that the Toa’an had created was still present with its representation of the elements, but the enchantment was a dozen times denser and the lines finer, covering the greenstone of the building from one side to the other. Then the lines faded away, becoming faint as the standard silvery-green hue of the greenstone reappeared.

The Astral Forge can only be activated by the Architect, the relic announced when it was finished. Safety measures have been incorporated to prevent damage to other craftsmen from the intensity of the energy contained within and to conceal the presence of the forge when it is not in use.

The forge glowed as he stood there, his hands on fire with the same energy that burned inside the opening. It called to him in a way that no forge ever had before, with a promise that it could melt the world if he gave it enough power. He could feel the potential in front of him and it made his hands itch to try it out.

Before that, however, he looked up at the ceiling and directed his thoughts to the relic, deciding to test it. Where did the blueprint for this type of forge come from and why is it familiar to you? Was there an Astral Forge here before?

No such blueprint identified. The relic’s answer was immediate and its tone was gravelly, as if warning him away from the subject. This type of forge does not exist within my memory.

Sam chuckled, but he knew better than to push. The relic had known what he was doing and helped, even if it wouldn’t admit it. He had his answer, especially since his progress on the core enchantment had just increased by two points to 24%.

Perhaps when the relic had been young and the Astral Titans had created it, they had forged its core in something similar to this, in a forge that was much more grand, maybe even in the heart of a true star. Silver flames were reflected in his eyes as he moved to stand in front of the forge.

The relic was short on energy, but he could feel that the forge was efficient. He could also channel his own energy into it and use that. The transfer line he’d wrapped around the forge in nine layers and the enchantment that the relic had augmented would intensify the energy, refining it to as narrow a point as he needed. That enchantment could also be used to carve the most precise lines he’d ever imagined, to smelt ore and burn away the impurities, and to refine materials.

The astral forge was what he’d always wanted but had never known to build until now.

This was what a forge was meant to be. The instinct for it had come to him when he’d felt the transfer line and thought about the need to improve his smithing. He grinned as he began to pull out materials from his dimensional pouches. He held them up to the flames in the forge one at a time, sensing the interaction between the material and the astral energy. He was tasting each of them, letting the flavor of possibility linger on his soul.

He continued to test items for a while as he considered what he could build, until he eventually remembered why he had come to the workshop. Even so, it took him a little while to pull himself back to the present. He’d sunk deep into the possibilities of the forge.

He’d come here to practice with Spell Forging, but he he had been pulled away by the possibilities of the forge in front of him. Now, looking into the silver flames, his attention turned to the meaning of the ability. Ever since the duel with Uncle Snake, he’d been thinking about how it worked.

It allowed him to use his abilities with runes, the elements, auras, and other things around him to forge a permanent or semi-permanent spell. It was a merger of his crafting abilities into something instinctive, and it made it easier to shape energy quickly, including while fighting. He could also probably record the result on a scroll, which would enable someone to learn it like he had once learned Aura Bolt. It was something he would need to practice with, but he could work on it later.

He had a much better idea for how to use his time now that the forge was in front of him. He'd come here to forge spells, but instead he would reforge an old one.

He pulled out the broken enchantment plate that had once held the Hall of Sorcery, the spatial formation that had trapped the Blood Elemental, and held it up to the forge. With the astral flames in the background and his aura sweeping through the plate, he was finally able to make out the design that had been engraved into it. He also had the complete version in his memory, recorded from the relic’s library.

He spent a timeless period studying the enchantment, committing it to memory as he examined the breaks in it. Then he pulled out a sphere of crystallized Earth mana from his belt pouch, where he kept one of them. Holding them together, he examined them in the flames and set them on the ledge in front of the forge. A moment later, he added bars of mithril and ebonsteel, as well as chunks of chalcedony, wild moonstone, and several items related to dimensional space, including the remains of the metal spike that Micas had used to attack him.

The Hall of Sorcery plate still held much of its original design, but the core was shattered. That was fine, since he didn’t want to make another spatial trap. He had something else in mind, and to do it he would have to refashion the pattern. He couldn’t stay in the relic all the time and there was no better purpose for this spatial artifact than to remake it into something he could use while traveling.

Time flickered by as runes and patterns began to dance in the air in front of him, flowing through the flames as he turned the plate from one side to another. Occasionally, he set it into the flames and melted away a line of enchantment or inlaid a new one, letting the precise control the forge offered keep everything balanced. At the same time, the intensity of the forge and the force from the relic allowed him to change an enchantment pattern that was otherwise far beyond him. On his own, he wouldn’t have had the strength to alter the lines and hold the pattern stable.

When the plate was malleable and the formation was set, he began to refine the materials and merge them into the plate, one by one. The ebonsteel filled in the break in the center of the plate and the mithril became a band encircling it, concentrating the pattern as he inlaid runes for gathering energy along the edge.

The moonstone was refined into a thin line that he fused along the inner edge of the mithril, where it would attract astral energy. It would gather the energy and the mithril would channel it into the rest of the formation. The chalcedony was melted into a mixture of silver and then inlaid in a spiraling pattern at the center of the plate, where it would help to filter out impure energies.

Then he melted down the rare metals that had gone into Micas’s artifact and purified them, mixing them with the liquid Earth mana. He infused the alloy with astral energy as he fashioned a new core and set it into the center of the plate. Around it, he did his best to repair the spatial runes and connections that had once existed, assisted by the precision of the forge that stabilized his hand and mind.

When he was finished with the repairs, he began changing the inner formation that had once created the Hall of Sorcery. He didn’t need to trap a Blood Elemental, nor did he need a hall that was so big. He removed ninety percent of the area that had once been the hall, converting that part of the enchantment to astral energy gathering and storage.

For the remaining part, he engraved a miniaturized version of the enchantments all around the Astral Forge and linked them to himself, so that only he could activate it. For the very last piece, he engraved a copy of the forge itself and its nine loops of Astral Energy, as well as the enchantments that refined and controlled it. All around it, runes for the void and space twisted along the surface, their energy warping reality around them.

By the time he was done, the Hall of Sorcery was gone. What sat in his hand was something far more useful. He was vaguely aware that some days had passed while he worked, but he paid it no attention. As he sent a thread of his personal aura into the artifact, the World Core’s voice rang in his mind.

As he heard it, he noticed it wasn’t the first time it had spoken to him. He’d just tuned out the earlier words. He let the words ring through his mind one after the other as a rush of experience greater than anything he’d ever felt before roared through his veins. It felt like a star was crashing into his body, burying him beneath its weight as it tore him apart and rebuilt him. It came in waves and the first rush was more than all of the experience he had so far at the First Evolution.

Congratulations, Chaos Smith. You have successfully built an Astral Forge. Bonus experience is granted for building a forge that synergizes with your Class and Race and for achieving a cultural milestone. You have proved your connection to the Astral Smiths and shown them honor.

You gain 2,200,000 Class experience.

Your Elemental Smithing profession has gained 18 Levels. You are now a Level 75 Elemental Smith.

Your Aura Forging profession has gained 9 Levels. You are now a Level 108 Aura Forger.

Your Essence Scribe profession has gained 7 Levels. You are now a Level 98 Essence Scribe.

...

You have successfully altered a Third Evolution enchantment and fashioned a spatial artifact of your own for the first time.

Bonus experience is granted for using a unique forge you built that synergizes with your Class and Race, for working on an enchantment two Evolutions above your own, and for honoring the Astral Smiths.

You receive 2,500,000 Class experience.

Elemental Smithing has reached Level 85.

Aura Forging has reached Level 122.

Essence Scribe has reached Level 109.

...

You are now a Level 41 Chaos Smith. You are now General Level 141.

Class Experience: 6,022,000 / 6,160,000.

General Experience: 6,078,250 / 6,160,000.

You gain 58 Strength, 58 Wisdom, 58 Intelligence, 58 Aura, and have +116 free attribute points to assign.

It was a massive amount of experience that raised him 29 levels at once. He was lost for a moment in the torrent of power that was pouring through his veins. However, as soon as it began, he felt the enchantments of the Astral Forge wrap around him, buffering him as his meridians toughened, his mind and his muscles expanded, his aura grew denser and more powerful, and his height grew by another foot.

His attention wasn’t on the experience, however. It was on the spatial plate and the miniature Astral Forge he’d created with it. When the rush of energy faded, the spatial artifact rested on his hand, humming with astral energy. He could feel how much larger it was on the inside, a match for the forge around him.

It was as dark as the night sky, a disc just a bit bigger than his palm that hummed with the resonance of the void. The mithril and other materials inlaid into it sparkled like the purest silver stars as they rippled with aura. The whorls of enchantment lines looked like astral threads cutting across the surface.

It felt like home. Like he was walking among the stars.

It was strange to think that, but the void called to him. It was a comfortable, vast dark expanding beyond the limits of everything, fading away into the night where stars burned and worlds spun on their orbits. The thought nearly pulled him away and the world around him shook as his aura resonated with the void. He had to stop himself from activating Crystal Passage.

He let out a slow breath as he looked down at the artifact in his hand. He had succeeded in copying the enchantment of the Astral Forge here and placing it in the spatial artifact, with some help from the relic. It wasn’t as powerful as this one and it would take time to charge with energy from the stars, but the enchantments on it were the same.

It would work for his travels.

Portable Astral Forge. Unique Item. Bound to Sam Hastern, the Horned Hunter of the Moons. Status Hidden: Item Unidentifiable to Non-Authorized Entities.

[Spatial Artifact: It passively gathers astral energy from the void and can be activated to create a temporary Astral Forge that is inscribed with an array of enchantments to assist with control, precision, and refinement. Requires 50,000 essence to activate. Duration is dependent on usage. Current Charge: 500 / 50,000]

He tucked the plate into his vest, into the most secure dimensional pouch he had. It entered without trouble, apparently unbothered by being placed in another spatial artifact. He had to wonder what would happen if the pouch holding it were destroyed. Would the formation plate float through the void, gathering astral energy in the dark as it waited for an Astral Titan to find it?

He pushed the thought away as he studied the changes from the levels he’d just gained. He’d never expected to get that much from building the forge. He’d just followed his instincts in the moment. He looked at his experience total as he figured out how much it took for each level at the First Evolution.

He’d received 4.7 million experience just now. The first 10 levels took 100k each, and then it jumped to 150k for Levels 111-120. After that, it leveled off. Levels 121-130 were 160k each, the next ten were 170k each, and then 141 was 180k. It matched the pattern he’d read about. The next sets of ten were 190k each, and then 200k. The 170s were 225k, the 180s were 250k, and the 190s were 300k, except for Level 200 itself, which was 1.05 million.

The total experience to reach Level 200 was 20 million. It was a much flatter curve than the first 100 levels. Normally, it should have been hard to find experience at the First Evolution, but with his crafting, he had a significant advantage. Almost everything he created was rare or unique, which came with a bonus. His Heroic abilities were finally showing their worth.

A query to the Guardian Star told him it had been nine days since he entered the workshop. He’d been lost in his crafting. No one had come to interrupt him, so things should be moving along well enough. The repair golems had left long ago, leaving the workshop around him sparkling with fresh greenstone and the bright tracery of repaired enchantments. In their place, his squad of Sky Guards had taken up watch.

The building had a long central hall supported by tall pillars and an arching roof thirty feet above that kept a fresh breeze flowing through it. The forge he’d built was at the end of that hall, and the two lesser forges were to the left and right, each with their own individual area for smiths. The rest of the hall was divided into sections where leatherworking, smelting, and various other muscular crafts were possible. There were other workshops that dealt with cloth and crafts like weaving or embroidery, which for all of its delicacy was an excellent medium for enchantment, but this one was for metals and harder items.

Leatherworking was an exception, since it was often used with armor and smithed items. It was wrapped around sword hilts, bolted on for belts or fastenings, and so on. Fortunately, the area was for working with the prepared leather. The tanning workshop was somewhere else.

He walked from one end of the hall to the other as he studied the various sections. Some of the work tables and required items here had been repaired by the golems, like the forges, but there were no materials to work with, nor any tools like hammers or tongs. All of that would need to be forged or brought in. In time, crafters would fill this hall, or at least the lesser versions of it. He would probably keep this workshop to himself, or at least limit access to those he trusted and liked to work with. One day, he would look into combining crafts with others to see what they could create together.

The Astral Forge was still glowing with silver flames at the far side. He could extinguish it with a thought, letting it settle back to its standard alignment, but he didn’t. It was pleasant to see it burning away like a star at the end of the hall. Even if someone else saw it, however they would manage that, it was unlikely they would understand what it was. He would let it go out before he left.

Feeling satisfied, he turned his attention to his attributes and the points he needed to assign. The duel against Snake had proved he needed to increase his Agility a bit, even if he wasn’t going to keep up with the assassin. He also needed to keep his Constitution up for defense and his Charisma high enough to maintain control over essence.

After a moment, he sorted out the possibilities and assigned 58 points to Constitution, 37 to Agility, 5 to Intelligence to bring it back in balance with Aura, 10 to Strength, and the last 6 to Charisma. Then he glanced at the totals.

Health: 2,370

Essence: 388

STR: 200 Base (+10 with Amulet of Mountain Strength)

CON: 235 Base (+20 with Belt of Emerald Vitality)

AGI: 100 Base (+20 with Boots of Elemental Gliding)

WIS: 232 Base

INT: 382 Base (+6 with Starflame Bracer)

AUR: 382 Base (+6 with Starflame Bracer)

CHA: 120 Base

The changes swept across him as an ocean of energy flooded his body from the World Core. His skin toughened and became denser, his muscles swelled with power, his tendons and awareness sizzled as the world seemed to move a little more slowly, his sense of meaning in things deepened, his mind accelerated, and his connection to natural auras became more comprehensive. He also became just a little more handsome, his skin glowing.

He’d hit several good benchmarks. After passing 226 Wisdom, his passive essence regeneration had reached the maximum at 50% per hour, his physical attributes had all greatly improved, and his Charisma was high enough to handle almost another hundred points of essence.

Everything was important and linked to something else. Wisdom, for example, supported the quality of materials he could repurpose for Componentless Scribe, the effect of his Purify ability that he’d gotten as a Trait, and several of his aura-based class abilities.

More than anything else however, he had to chuckle as looked at the Sky Guards who had appeared to guard him. He was as tall as they were now, looking at them perfectly eye to eye. The Toa’an had been even taller than this, but he had to wonder who had set their height. With his battle aura active, he’d probably be even taller than before.

He cracked his knuckles as he adjusted to the changes and tested it out, his height expanding in an instant until he reached 14 feet. The golems looked like children who only came up to his ribs. He chuckled again as he let himself return to his previous height. At least he'd had the foresight to enchant his clothing with Epic adjustment runes. He really was going to have an issue finding a bed to sleep in at this rate.

Battle Aura Manipulation might let him adjust his height more easily once he improved with it, including shrinking his normal height, so that was something he would have to work on. The skill linked into what the Guardian Star had told him once after he evolved, that his body was more like an enchantment than flesh and blood. With enough mastery, changing his height should be possible, just like that titan in his vision who had shrunk down to meet the other people.

There was one final notification waiting for him, which he’d been saving for last, and he read it as he felt a thread of astral energy tingle across his skin.

Through altering what you found, you have created a spatial artifact beyond your tier.

You have gained the Trait: Spatial Artisan.

[You will find it easier in the future to attune your creations to the energy of the void. Spatial items are more stable in your hands and may exhibit special properties. As you already have the ability Spatial Awareness, it gains an additional tier. Spatial Awareness is now Epic.]

He felt his sense of the void around him expand, becoming richer and deeper. It was only the standard ability and not Astral Void, but he had the feeling that one wasn’t going to be upgraded so easily.

With that, he turned toward the exit of the workshop. It was time to see what his family had been up to and then to set out for Runekeld. Behind him, the Astral Forge shimmered with a brilliant silver light, like a star calling him through the night, whispering of endless possibilities.