Astral Threads, Ch 27 (Cont): Starsteel (Patreon)

Time flickered as Sam purified one aura after another until he had more than a dozen Basic-tier Auras of Ice. By the time he reached the fifteenth, the World Core sent him a notification that shivered through his mind and was harder to ignore than the others, indicating the ability had reached Advanced.

As he studied the auras, he could feel the purity in the ice. Until now, he’d never seen a simple “Aura of Ice.” The element was always merged with something else. The auras were small, but they felt rare, as if they were the meaning of one fragment of the world distilled into a sphere the size of his thumb. He had the feeling that if he released the energy inside, it would blend with something nearby and change.

Hopefully, that meant it would work for his bracer. It also gave him an idea, especially since his ability had just improved. He set most of the auras away in his storage and took one in his hands as he focused on it. He’d modified it down to its elemental origin, but since it was so volatile, he might as well push it in the direction he needed and see what happened. He focused as he sent a thread of astral energy into the aura.

The thread of silver energy diffused through the sphere in a swirl of tiny stars, causing the ice to glint as it took on a silver hue. It reminded him a bit of the ice around the Moonlight Relic when the energy there reacted to create snow, but it was more essential. He studied it for a minute, but there was no rejection, so he continued.

After a few minutes, a swirl of astral energy rotated inside the aura like a miniature galaxy, spiraling inside the ice. He could feel the aura reaching a tipping point and he wrapped it in layers of essence to keep it stable as he added a bit more. Inside the aura, the two energies began to coalesce like tiny, starry icicles and the sense of the aura changed.

Where it had been pure Ice, it now radiated with a sense of distance and the cold between the stars. It gleamed with a faint silver light that overlaid the blue.

Aura of Astral Ice (Basic).

His eyes flared with a matching light as he studied the result with a sense of boiling satisfaction. The possibilities for his new bracer had just grown exponentially. He set the aura away as he took out another and did the same. Before long he had converted all of them to Astral Ice. A row of shimmering, silvery blue spheres rested in his aura storage like miniature frozen stars.

Next, he began to merge them into one another, working to get an Epic tier version. Merging them was a combination of his abilities, requiring him to modify, transfer, and intensify them, but it wasn’t overly complicated. The main issues were energy and his understanding of the concept.

He ended up needing to purify a few more auras, but this time, when he reduced an Elite Aura of Frozen bones, it became an Advanced-tier Aura of Ice. When he applied the same effort to the Epic-tier auras, he managed to get one that was twice the size, even though it still registered as Advanced. Eventually, he managed to merge all of the auras together and the result rested on his palm.

Aura of Astral Ice (Epic).

He hummed to himself with approval as he set it aside and began to work on the next part. This time, he took out a handful of Auras of Burning Stone (Epic), which had come from some lava-like golems at one of the other Flaws in the mountains. He began to purify it and eventually the result sat in front of him.

Aura of Flame (Advanced).

He infused it with astral energy in the same way, and when that was successful, he merged it with the rest of the flame auras and intensified it until it reached the tier he needed.

Aura of Astral Flame (Epic).

Two auras rested in his hands as he held them side by side in the light of the forge. One was a bright silver-blue and the other nearly pure silver, very close to the color of the flames in the forge. It had been red as an Aura of Flame, but once he’d merged the astral energy into it, its nature had shifted.

He set the auras back into his storage as he turned to the next stage of the process. He needed to forge the starsteel to make the base for the new bracer. The materials in front of him began to float in the air as he sorted and rearranged them, and then he took the bars of mithril and ebonsteel and began to purify them.

When they were ready, he infused them with astral energy and tossed them into the forge, where they were seized by the enchantments and held in the center of the silver flames. A little later, bars of silver and iron joined them. Each of them needed a different melting point, but that wasn’t an issue. The enchantments on the forge held each item in its own area and allowed him to change them individually.

Melting the ores was a basic step, but the most important part for making starsteel was the elemental aura that fused it together. The Toa’an had used a Fire concept, or sometimes Earth, since those were the most common attunements for their smiths, but he went with pure astral energy and the attunement of his crystal flame.

Sapphire crystalline flames merged with the silver column, flowing through the materials as he attuned everything to his personal energy and poured astral energy into them. When the time was right, he began to blend the metals, alloying them in varying quantities according to the ancient method.

The silver merged with the ebonsteel, giving it a silvery sheen, and then the iron joined in, causing it to become heavier and denser. A series of gemstones were melted into it after that, from a handful of blue star sapphires to a rose amethyst, and then the mithril was poured into the mix. Sam constantly spun the mixture around in a rotating sphere at the center of the forge, making sure that no section was ignored.

The Toa’an had found it difficult to achieve the right heat and precision for the alloy, but with the enchantments here, it was just a matter of time and intent. It took several hours as each individual piece melted and merged, but eventually there was a liquid sphere of dark silver metal at the center of the forge. Flecks of brighter silver rotated through it, half solid and half ethereal, like stars floating in the dark.

Partway through the alloying process, he lifted a dusting of the Shards of the Aurora from the ice chest and sprinkled them into the sphere. The dark flecks sank into the mixture like ink swirling through water and as they disappeared, flecks of brilliant silver and rainbow light appeared throughout, making the sphere look like a swirling nebula. He could feel the aura of the metal strengthening as it grew deeper and reached outward to the sky.

When the alloy was ready, the Aura of Astral Ice and Aura of Astral Flame appeared in Sam’s hands and he gave them a long look before he raised them on a current of energy and slowly merged them into the center of the sphere. He could feel the nature of the nascent starsteel changing as the auras infused it. There was a moment of conflict as the ice and fire met, but then they were both swept away into a current of astral energy that pulled them into the structure of the metal. With their addition, the starsteel burned and froze at the same time, like stars separated by a vast distance.

The globe of Earth mana floated into his hand and he held it in the column of silver flames over the metal. He poured out half of it in a bright, silver-white stream of pure Earth that glowed with power. When it struck the starsteel, it merged into it, giving it a sense of weight and age, like the foundation of the world. The other half went back into his belt pouch for later.

Runes flickered out from his hands as he engraved them into the essential nature of the metal. He was granting it strength, the ability to store energy, to channel it, and to defend against it. He also imbued it with core runes for astral energy, crystal flame, fire, and ice, using the enchantments of the forge to imbed them with unerring precision deep into the heart of the steel.

Then he let the heat of the forge subside as he wrapped his hands around the sphere of molten metal and began to shape it. It was part physical and part enchantment as he manipulated the starsteel’s structure with the help of the forge, creating clean lines and intricate etchings that would have been difficult otherwise.

As the metal cooled, the outline of a dark silver bracer floated between his hands. It was forged all in one piece. The metal looked similar to ebonsteel, but it was a little brighter and it had striations of silvery swirls throughout it, wrapping around clear areas where runes still needed to be placed.

Sam stepped back from the forge as he looked up at the sky, where the moons were high. It was night again and the stars were gleaming brightly. He raised the bracer up in his hands as he showed it to the moons. Then he reached out to the threads of astral energy in the world that ran from star to star and he pulled on them, drawing them through the bracer.

The bracer hissed like hot iron that was thrown into a bucket of water and the silver striations on its surface grew brighter until they burned with silver flames, flickering like a storm from one end to the next. The astral runes that were imbued into the metal grew stronger as they were filled with energy.

He pushed the bracer back into the forge as he activated it again and began to engrave the enchantment pattern onto the bracer. Intricate, swirling runes appeared and disappeared as he placed them into the pattern. Eventually, runes covered the surface of the bracer from one end to the next in an interlocking spiral pattern that wove between the silver striations. Prominent runes for astral, star, ice, flame, and void were present.

The moons rose and set three times before he was finished. The forge was still burning brightly, its flames licking around the edges of the completed bracer that floated in it, but they were quiet now, only warming the metal instead of melting it. With a solemn nod, he lifted the bracer out of the forge and examined it. Flickers of silver fire and pale blue shimmered across the surface, twining along the inlaid enchantment and the grain of the metal. The voice of the World Core rang in his mind.

Congratulations, Chaos Smith. You have forged an astral artifact. Bonus experience is granted for creating an item aligned to your Class and Race. Do you wish to give the item a name?

Sam ignored the experience notifications as he agreed. A moment later, the name of the bracer changed to match.

Starforged Astral Bracer. Aura Artifact. Epic. Unique.

[This bracer was forged by the Chaos Smith to link the stars to the earth. It burns with the fire and ice of the void, which are visible on its surface and capable of entrancing the viewer. It holds enchantments to clear the mind and to orient oneself among the stars. It also strengthens the connection between the user and the current dimension.

Enchantments:

Adaptive Stability: The enchantments on the bracer can be altered at will and it changes size and shape easily. Due to the Earth mana that was used in its creation, if new materials are found that suit the bracer, they can be safely merged into it.

Astral Focus: Focuses astral energy, allowing it to act as a conduit for spells, including runic formations. Repairs and recharges itself in starlight.

Clarity of the Void: Stabilizes the mind and protects it from outside influences. It also enables the bearer to anchor themselves in the current dimension.

Starfire: The bracer holds the flame of a star within it. It can be summoned for attack or defense.

Astral Ice: The bracer contains the ice of the void. It can be summoned for attack or defense.

Earth-Blessed Bonuses: Adaptive Stability, Increased Attributes.

Attributes: +40 to Intelligence, Aura, and Charisma.

Charges: 5,000 / 5,000.]

When he finished studying the result, he smiled as he slid the bracer onto his left arm. It settled into place with a slight nudge on his essence as it connected to his spirit. Then he felt his mind expand as his essence pool and charisma increased.

He waited for the sense of overwhelming essence from increasing his Intelligence and Aura, but it never came. His essence was exactly as stable as before, with the same slight edge of warning that told him he needed to increase it. That was a confirmation what he had suspected. If the Charisma on his bracer mattered, the stability would have increased, but it hadn’t.

Only his base attributes affected essence stability. It meant he could use any equipment as long as he kept the base balance. As he turned his attention back to the World Core’s announcements, a flood of experience hit him.

For forging an Epic-tier artifact, you gain 250,000 Class experience. You gain an additional 500,000 bonus experience for forging an item linked to both your Class and your Race.

Congratulations, Chaos Smith. You have gained five Class Levels and four General Levels. You are now a Level 53 Chaos Smith and General Level 153.

Class Experience: 8,189,500 / 8,360,000

General Experience: 8,271,500 / 8,360,000

You gain 10 Strength, 10 Wisdom, 10 Intelligence, 10 Aura, and have 18 free attribute points to assign.

For reaching Level 150 in your First Evolution, you may choose one new Ability that suits your Class. The following options are available based on your progress to this point: Aura Merging, Aura Regeneration, Aura Fusion, Material Enhancement, Runic Stability, Aura Strike.

Make your choice now.

The World Core’s announcement paused, waiting for his decision. Before answering it, however, Sam immediately took the 18 free points and added them to his Charisma, which raised it to 168. That would be enough to manage his Intelligence and Aura stats until they reached 672, but he didn’t plan to stop there.

With the new levels, his base Strength rose to 324, his Wisdom to 256, and his Intelligence and Aura to 588. With the new attributes, his essence pool was at 628.

Then he turned his attention to the Level 150 ability choice, scanning over the options. Some of them had more information than others, like Material Enhancement, which was similar in some ways to Elemental Smithing. It allowed him to increase the quality of a material with time and energy. He shook his head at that one, however, since it wouldn't add anything critical.

Runic Stability promised to improve his use of runes, giving him an innate ability to stabilize an enchantment, which would help with using them quickly. It might be useful, but he set it to the side as he looked at the other options that fit his class better. Up until now, everything for his class was aura based, and he didn’t see a reason to change it. If he chose that, he might destabilize something or take a step on a divergent path that would pull him away from auras.

It didn’t take him long to eliminate Aura Merging and Aura Fusion from the list, since he was already able to do those two things with a bit of extra effort. The first one was basically what he’d done when he mixed two Auras of Ice together to get a higher tier, and the second would allow him to merge auras of different types with increased efficiency and stability, like blending Ice and Fire to get something in the middle.

It was tempting, but he could figure it out for himself.

His attention settled on the last two: Aura Regeneration and Aura Strike. Both of them offered something he didn’t have currently. Regeneration would allow him to effectively repair a damaged aura by feeding it energy to replace the missing parts, and he could already see the application. It might work for rebuilding enchantments or the World Seal, or even for healing certain types of damage, like from the curses the Outsiders used that were eroding auras.

Aura Strike was different. It promised to help him turn his aura skills into a direct attack, one that was something like his Flame Strike. It would be a foundation for a range of aura-attacking spells, which would be hard for people to guard against.

After considering both of them, however, he made his choice. He didn’t really need another attack option. If he wanted to use aura in a spell, he could figure it out with the right runes. The World Core’s voice rang out in his mind.

Congratulations, Chaos Smith. You have gained the Class Ability: Aura Regeneration (Basic).

A whirlwind of energy poured into his body as a crystal blue flame for the ability appeared in his mind, joining all of the others. At the same time, strangely, he felt his understanding of the core enchantment for the relic deepen as a new area in the self-repair section suddenly flashed into clarity. His progress on it jumped from 24 to 28%.

The changes from the new attributes crackled through his body as he looked up at the stars and let out a low rumble of greeting. They sparkled there like distant beacons. With each advancement he was forging a path to them, step by step. One day, when the time was right and it was on his terms, he would visit them.

After he gave it time to settle in, he stored everything away in his dimensional pouches and touched the central plate as he deactivated the forge. The sphere and the runic circle flickered as they faded away, the enchantments disappearing, and the plate sat quietly in his hand. It had been three days, but it still had more than half of its charge, at 31,000. Forging beneath the stars had helped to keep its energy high.

His new bracer gleamed on his wrist as he turned toward Krana. The vast energy contained inside it was a quiet hum in his awareness, and he could feel the Clarity of the Void around him, like a mantle across his shoulders that helped him to stay in place. It should help to keep him from jumping into one of the astral threads.

On the other side of the chamber, Krana was waiting. He had expected that she would be full of questions, but he was surprised to find that she was frowning. All of her equipment was packed away and there was a message scroll in her hand. It looked like she’d been waiting for him. As soon as she saw he was finished, she turned toward him with a serious look.

“Ayala sent me a message,” she said immediately. “She needs help and she’s on her way to Highfold now. I’ve been speaking with her and told her to head toward us instead. If we set out now, we can meet up with her in two days.”

It wasn’t what he’d been expecting her to say and it took him a moment to reorient himself as he stored away the forge plate. He remembered Ayala from their time in the tunnels and escorting her to Osera, and he knew how much she meant to Krana, but he hadn’t been expecting to hear from her again.

He’d intensely disliked Ayala the first time they’d met, mostly because she had seemed spoiled and privileged, but he was a lot more mature than he’d been back then. It wouldn’t be right to abandon her when she needed them. Not to mention, Krana would likely go on her own if he didn’t agree and he needed her to help him find things in Runekeld.

“Of course we’ll help her," he said as he finished considering the idea. "What's wrong?"

“Something strange is going on with her father,” Krana replied as she shook her head. “She’s run away, and that’s not something I ever expected to hear. For all her impetuosity, she felt her duty to the church and her family as keenly as a blade. She didn’t say what it was exactly. She wants to do it in person.”

“Then let’s go see what she needs,” Sam agreed as he checked the area for any remaining things and put them away. “She fought with us and it wouldn’t do to leave her alone. She’s always welcome here.”

The decision was simple. For all their earlier strife, Ayala was an ally and he wasn’t going to abandon her if she needed something. It sounded like she was between them and Runekeld, so perhaps it wouldn’t take that long.

He held out a hand to Krana, who took it with a grumble, and a moment later, the wind lifted them both as they shot through the roof and into the open sky that was just brightening to a new dawn.