Echoes of War, Ch 21: Naming (Patreon)

The sun was rising as Sam’s hammer crashed down into a rectangular chunk of yellowish orange ore that floated among the silver flames of his forge. He was using a thin black hammer crafted from a mottled grey metal he’d found in the Void rather than his hand since this ore was for one of the relic’s elemental focuses on the third layer.

The elemental plinth it would become needed to have only one elemental aura in it, so the creation process was especially sensitive to aura fluctuations. The hammer’s material had the unique trait of channeling the Earth element far better than other elements. It was a precision tool to reduce potential mistakes.

Slowly, the ore became thinner as it took on the shape of a long, rectangular plinth that narrowed toward the point. Its sides were perfectly symmetrical and gleamed with a subtle yellow light. Sam’s hammer slowed, becoming a slow tap that barely dented the surface of the ore as he moved onto the final stage of the refinement.

Runes flowed above his hands and sank into the plinth as he held it in the flames, shifting it from side to side as he infused the necessary enchantment. The pattern was from the core enchantment of the relic and it was almost instinctive. Before long, the enchantment was set and he began to infuse astral energy as he continued tapping along the surface, letting the resonance of the hammer test the integration.

Silvery chimes echoed out across the peak of Sun’s Rest. They stirred up swirls of Earth mana that turned into miniature tornadoes of dust and stone and spun away down the slopes, crashing into trees and skipping around boulders until the energy animating them faded away into the wind.

At the center of the hall, Sam pulled the finished plinth from the flames and examined the polished surface. It had taken on a bright yellow hue with silver undertones from the astral energy. He gave it a satisfied nod and waved his hand at the forge, letting the flames dissipate. Then he was gone, disappearing in a wash of silver light.

It didn’t take him long to set the elemental plinth in its location on the third layer. As soon as it was fixed into place, a web of yellow Earth energy flowed up around it and began to flow through the newly reformed greenstone conduits all around and poured out into an ornate stone plaza that should have been filled with rock sculptures and carved stone gardens.

As the elemental energy rolled through the area, more Earth mana in the surroundings began to gather and flow toward it. Rocky projections began to rise up from the greenstone, establishing the base for what would be the new Earth focus. It would take a bit of time for it to finish, but now it was on the right track. Once it was working, it would support the growth of greenstone and structural repairs throughout the relic, boosting their speed.

Sam rose into the sky and studied the connections, making sure that everything was flowing smoothly. The pattern of the core enchantment chimed with a pleased resonance as he compared it to the new one. Then he nodded.

Right now, the most effective thing he could do for the relic was to help it restore the elemental focus points on the Third Layer, which held quite a few of them. Once they were all active, they would support the repairs and rebuilding throughout the layer. Anything extra they produced would be directed to the Fourth Layer, where they would accelerate similar repairs.

With each layer they finished, the repairs would have more of a foundation to rely on and become quicker. He just needed to make sure the core areas were ready to go and then to keep the relic filled with energy.

All around him, he could feel the subtle flow of greenstone as the Chamber of Silvas pushed it outward. The material was one vast crystalline network, all of it connected to the chamber, and as the new material flowed out, it found its way to where it needed to go. It was already sealing over old cracks on the Third Layer that were the closest to the chamber and replacing missing material. Soon, it would work its way out farther, down through the rest of the layer, and then onto the Fourth.

He just needed to keep it supplied with the stones from Silvas and enough elemental auras. Those would have to be gathered from Caelus, the Moon of the Elements, for the best effect. There was a decent amount left in the relic’s storage enchantment, but eventually he would have to visit that moon too.

As for Amaris, the training rooms and library that it supported were sufficient for now. The moon’s aura supported the skill training that the rooms offered, including the illusions that affected the mind and emotions, but the materials could be studied without it. Eventually, he would have to gather more of the aura to bring it back to full function, but it was only being used up slowly.

A few minutes later, while he was checking over another energy conduit, a message chimed through the Amulet of Swirling Winds he had on his belt. It was sparkling with Altey’s unique aura signature. He chuckled as he reached out and tapped it.

“Sam!” Altey’s voice rang out excitedly. “I’ve thought of a name for the orb! Siwaha helped! Guess what it is?”

“What did you come up with?” he sent back as humor filled his voice. Whatever she’d decided on, he hoped it didn’t reveal the protective nature of the golem. Its strength would be better as a secret ally.

“No, you have to guess!” Altey insisted. “At least one guess!”

“Is it Sparky the Silver Star Orb?” he asked with a smile his sister didn’t see. “That would be a great name.”

“No!” Altey sounded appropriately horrified by the suggestion. “Sam! It’s supposed to be elegant and powerful. How could I name it that?!”

“What did you choose then?”

“Siwaha helped,” Altey answered quickly, eager to tell him. “It’s supposed to be full of knowledge and connected to the relic’s library, right? She took one look at it and said that’s a compendium of knowledge, so it needed a name to fit. It also glows with this light that reminds me of the aurora, so I put the two together! I’ll call it the Compendium of the Aurora!”

“That’s a long name for a small orb,” Sam said with a laugh, but he had to agree it was a better name than Sparky. “But are you going to walk around saying, ‘Compendium of the Aurora’ all the time when you’re asking it a question?”

“No!” Altey sounded like she was glowering. “She has a short name too! I’ll call her Cora, short for Compendium of the Aurora. The beginning and end of it together, you see?”

“Cora is a great name,” Sam agreed. He was pleasantly surprised by what she’d come up with. It was better than the jokes he’d been offering. “And the Compendium of the Aurora will be a nice title for whenever you need something more formal. If someone with a Librarian class hears that, there’s no way they won’t be interested. If they act like they aren’t, it’s because they’re planning to steal it. That should open some doors if you want to explore other libraries one day.”

Her status as part of the Moonlight Relic’s ruling family should be enough for access almost anywhere, if things went well, but it never hurt to add a few more ribbons on a princess. Sam chuckled at the idea. Hopefully, his sister’s life was peaceful research and magic, far away from Flaws and Outsiders. She had a long road to be an archmage.

“Don’t make fun of me!” Altey grumbled back through the amulet, but her laughter was obvious. “Mom says I have to go to an academy at some point, after I learn the basics here at the relic, but Cora can come along. It’s supposed to be more to meet people than anything else. It sounds awful.”

“Power trumps politics,” Sam replied calmly. “Be who you want to be and take your destiny into your own hands. You’ve found a wonderful name, and whether you’re here or there, Cora will be with you. Make sure to let the starlight recharge her every night. You can set her orb by your window.”

As for power, that was why he’d given Altey a Level 325 hidden golem. If anything bothered her, it would crush them into a thousand pieces.

“Sam, wait!” Altey’s voice came through the amulet again. “Come see this! Cora’s floating!”

A grin flashed across Sam’s face, and a moment later he disappeared in a wave of silver light. When he reappeared, it was beside Altey on the first layer. She was standing in the yard outside of their parents’ house. A moment later, Jeric and Aemilia appeared as well to see what was going on.

The golem orb was floating at the same height as Altey’s head, about three feet away from her. Intricate silver and blues runes were appearing in the air around the orb like starlight ice crystals, shimmering and flashing as they drifted away. A quiet but powerful hum was resonating from within the center of the orb, accompanied by a glow of light blue mana that highlighted lines of runes that spiraled around the surface.

“I just told her what her name is!” Altey explained as everyone gathered around. “Then she started floating!”

“She’s changing to fit your perception of what she should be,” Sam said with a grin as he reached out and ruffled his sister’s hair. She shot him a quick frown for it, but her attention was instantly pulled back to the orb. “Just give her a moment.”

“Name acknowledged: Compendium of the Aurora. Nickname: Cora. Modifying internal structure and adjusting aura alignment to match,” the voice of the golem started out slightly metallic and impersonal, but it began to change as it continued, becoming more distinctly feminine and adding emotional overtones. “Displacing mass into spatial storage. Establishing initial form as the Compendium of the Aurora. Activating.”

The orb’s glow continued to intensify as the silver and blue runes around it became more dense, flashing into patterns that surrounded it in the air. Intricate circular diagrams and engraved spellforms rotated in vertical and horizontal bands that spun upright and then to the sides as they traced out radial lines in a sphere around the orb.

The glow of mana at the center of the orb became more intense until its surface was barely visible and it resembled a miniature blue sun with silver highlights that was surrounded by rotating spell circles. The center of that light began to morph, become broader and more angular as the transformation progressed.

Slowly, a rectangular shape became clear at the center of the light, although the details were still hard to see due to the intensity of mana. Gradually, they became clear, revealing what looked like a large book opened to the center, its pages flipping quickly from one side to the other.

Its backing was a black like the void with dark blue highlights and the flecks of silver stars scattered across the cover, while the pages inside were a lustrous silver that shone with an aurora of soft lights in blue, green, white, red, yellow, rose, violet, and more, each of them blending into a rainbow with the others as they brought life and mana to the pages. With the dark backing and the bright aurora inside, it looked exactly like a compendium that held the secrets of the aurora.

“Compendium of the Aurora,” the magical book announced pleasantly, her voice vibrant. “Transformation complete. Owner: Altey Hastern. Please advise on duties and core behavior parameters.”

“Follow me around and tell me everything you know!” Altey said excitedly, grinning as she reached out to grab at the book. “You’re a compendium! Teach me about the aurora and magic! Make sure to take good notes!”

“Initial orders acknowledged,” Cora said. “Assigning them to core parameters. Personality adjusting.”

Sam had to hold back a laugh at what his sister had just done without thinking about it, but he didn’t interrupt. The golem would be what she wanted it to be. She was just going to have to be prepared for it to do exactly what she’d asked as part of its core behavior now.

“Take good care of her,” he added, his voice touched with astral energy as he reached out and patted the book that Altey was holding. He’d long ago added his own instructions for the golem and how to keep her safe.

“Affirmative,” Cora replied, her voice rising up from between Altey’s hands without any difficulty.

The runes around the golem were flowing along Altey’s arms and dissipating into the air about a foot away, making it look like enchantments were pouring over her as she held the pages open. There was a fountain of magic rising from the inside. It was the golem's core enchantment interacting with mana in the air. He hadn't expected that in a book form it would look so arcane.

A moment later, Cora slipped out of Altey’s grip and began to float in the air. Her open pages flipped more slowly now as the book settled open at the center. A light silver glow rose up from the spine.

“Assessing ambient mana and searching for information sources to gather,” Cora announced. “Accessing the archive of the Moonlight Relic. Compiling instructional plan for magic and the concept of the aurora.”

“It looks like it knows what to do!” Jeric said with a laugh as he watched it. “Now what’s your plan?”

“She can actually teach me magic?” Altey’s eyes were wide as she looked at Cora and then to Sam. “Is that true?”

“Of course,” Sam agreed. “She’ll help to teach you rune patterns, spell forms, and more, including all types of general knowledge. She has access to all the records in the relic, as well as whatever else you can find to add. Think of her as your assistant and an intelligent spellbook. That’s what you asked her to be. It won’t be so easy to change that. Even if you tell her not to now, she’ll probably still try to teach you things.”

“This is fantastic!” Altey laughed as she hugged Sam and then her parents. “Thank you so much!”

Then she grabbed Cora out of the air and ran off with the black and silver book shining between her hands. Runes left a mystical trail behind her that glimmered like fading stars as they began to dissipate into the air.

“I can already see the lectures that book is going to give her.” Aemilia laughed as she watched her go. “She should have been more careful with her words when she told it what to do. But it will be a good companion.” Her smile toward Sam was warm and approving, as if she knew more about the book than she planned to tell Altey.

“It’ll keep an eye on her,” Sam said with a grin as he refused to admit anything. “And if need be, it will defend her. It should be able to do a decent job of it.”

He looked toward where Altey was disappearing down the street and a trace of puzzlement flashed across his brow as he saw the book struggle out of her arms again. It was dragging a piece of parchment behind it that must have been in Altey’s pocket. It took to the air, its pages flapping as it began to spiral around it, staying just out of Altey’s reach.

“Hey, give that back!” Altey turned to chase it, reaching up to grab at the parchment that was dangling between the pages, but it was swiftly disappearing as the book pulled it in farther. “That’s an invitation to an academy in Highfold when I turn 14!”

“A good note has been taken,” Cora said cheerfully as she swooped away, the folded parchment finally disappearing between her pages. There was a ominous crackling sound that suggested it would not be appearing again. “Information acquired. A record will be available upon request. The letter begins, ‘Dear Miss Hastern...’”

Altey and Cora’s voices trailed off into the distance as the two of them disappeared around the corner, with Altey still trying to grab the book out of the air.

“Did that book just eat her letter?” Jeric asked hesitantly. The same puzzled look that was on Sam’s expression was mirrored on his.

“Yes, dear,” Aemilia agreed calmly as she moved to stand beside him. “It did. She told it to take good notes. That’s why she should have been more careful with her instructions.”

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t build it to do that,” Sam said as he looked at after them, “but it was designed to adopt traits that suited her, once it analyzed her aura. It should be fine. It looks like that’s all Altey.”

“Of course it is,” Aemilia said, her smile growing. “She needed someone to make her laugh. She's too serious for her age. I think the two of them will get along wonderfully.”

“If you say so,” Jeric just shook his head as he watched his daughter go. "I'll keep my important papers away from it, myself."

Sam chuckled and, with a wave to his parents, he teleported away. There were a couple of immediate repairs he needed to do and then there was another destination on his mind, one that would be less fun than naming Altey’s compendium. It was time to keep another promise, one that was on the way to the other ruins the Bloodline Clans had mentioned.

It was time to deal with Ayala's father, if he could figure out what the Cabal had done to the man.