[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 51: A Piece of the Past

Ducking back inside the tent, Sam’s face was lit up by the blue glow of the crystalline shard in his hand. “This is… a fragment of the [Shatterblade],” he said in awe. “Only, it’s not quite the same….”

Raiko gasped in astonishment. “It survived?”

Sam held up the fragment of the [Shatterblade], so she could examine it as well.

[Sourcestone]

(Settlement Core | Honor Type) (X-Class)

(Unique)

A font of Honor from a remnant of a bygone age, wielded by not one, but two Incarnates of War. This fragment of the [Shatterblade] lives on to protect its new master. Where a blade may fail, the [Sourcestone] can provide shelter and hope to a broken world it could not fully save. Counts as a unique Settlement Core, allowing you to take control of a Skyshard, place Tiles, and more.

“Pretty!” Komachi said, who naturally liked shiny things.

“It can’t be,” Raiko said in disbelief, gazing into the glittering depths of the Sourcestone. “This changes everything.”

“Everything?” Komachi asked. “Will I become a three brain cell genius, instead of simply two?”

Both Sam and Raiko stared in worry at Komachi, who in turn also got worried and cast [Regen] on them. That seemed to be her go-to fix for anything and everything these days. Even above the pouring rain, Sam could hear the faint musical notes play.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked Raiko, while trying to wipe more mud off Komachi. There was a growing pile near the flap’s entrance to his tent.

“This isn’t just any Settlement Core, it is the embodiment of a whole people’s future, created by your act of honor. While that sounds sappy, such symbols carry incredible potential that can become the cornerstone of a civilization.”

Sam looked at the chunk of crystal thoughtfully. “When I first saw this fragment of the [Shatterblade] back in the nexus, I figured I would hold on to it out of sentimentality. Then… everything happened, and I sort of forgot about it. Apparently, the [Sourcestone] never did.”

“A remnant of an artifact. This Core’s growth could be limitless, despite its curious rarity,” Raiko continued. “Furthermore, this boulder of a Skyshard has a socket for a Settlement Core. And the Skyshard we’re heading to already has one. Filled by the [Sacred Tree].”

Sam wasn’t sure what that meant. Would that mean they’d need to sustain two floating islands in order to have more landmass and resources? And what exactly was the [Sacred Tree]?

He looked at the [Sourcestone]. “Are you suggesting I socket the [Sourcestone] into this Skyshard? The same one that even Komachi, notoriously lazy Komachi, could walk across without getting tired? What would be the point? And what is a [Sacred Tree]?”

“You could.” Raiko shrugged. “Or we could try to find a Skyshard that has superior attributes. It’s really up to you. As for the Tree, it is a mythological—well, I don’t want to overwhelm you. It’s essentially my Settlement Core, of significant importance to Islegard’s people. One of the responsibilities of being a Sage.”

“Technically, we have two Settlement Cores then?”

“We do, one that could be put anywhere worthy of it, and another that is already sustaining a Skyshard and probably keeping me alive.”

“And I can’t put this [Sourcestone] on your Skyshard.”

“I don’t know, to be honest. A lot was going on at the time, so I can’t remember whether it had two Settlement Core sockets or just one.”

“That seems like a rather big distinction,” Sam said. “Can’t you… go back and check?”

“It’s not really the sort of thing you expect. Two foundations of a kingdom, rather than just the one. I could try, but then you’d be left alone. And I might not be able to come back.”

Komachi whimpered. She did not want Raiko to leave.

“Fair point.” Sam scooped another handful of mud off Komachi’s fur and absent-mindedly flicked it onto the pile. He wasn’t a doctor or even a medic. All he knew was basic first aid, but neither Kai nor Matt had woken up and even though Raiko couldn’t do much for them, it was better than being alone.

“Wouldn’t it be better,” Sam began, “if we had two separate Skyshards then? That’d be a lot more room, and if we could find a way to tether the islands together, we’d be able to use the full extent of their land, right?”

“It certainly sounds possible.”

His muddy cat looked up at him. “Komachi likes the small plucky island! It’s bigger than our apartment was. I think. Okay, not sure. Hard to remember the size of things when I was one brain cell genius.”

Raiko winced at that.

“Yes, Komachi,” Sam said soothingly, “but it’s not exactly… livable, is it? I mean, you do remember that my bed back home folded down from the wall. It was the only way I could have a bed in that tiny apartment.”

“I always wondered why you stayed there. Were you cursed?” Raiko asked. There was no hint of mockery in her voice. Just complete sincerity.

Even though she followed him around on Earth, and even somehow picked up his language before he had learned Common, she still didn’t understand some simple things about Earth. Hawai’i’s natural beauty probably didn’t help her comprehension as to why he would live in such cramped and poor urban conditions.

Not that it mattered much anymore.

“Raiko, I was poor.” He shook his head. “And I’d prefer not to be stuck in that situation again… but if this Settlement Core business is anything like a Job or Path here, and given that the Skyshard has levels I’m assuming it is, it feels best to have it set up earlier than later.”

Komachi nodded in agreement.

“I mean, we might have an advantage no one else does,” Sam realized. “If I claimed a new Skyshard, even this dinky little one, then I could start leveling it up—however that’s done—and by the time we arrive at your Skyshard we would have not only two Settlement Cores, but one that was already leveled up some.”

The problem, in Sam’s mind, was that there was no telling what that did. Sure, leveling up a Settlement Core seemed like a good idea. But he had no clue what that would do, and Raiko seemed a little less informed than he was.

Even though he didn’t want to bind himself to this small spit of land… he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was oddly appropriate, given his origins.

Sure, he could wait until he found the perfect place to put the Core on. But he was already on one. And it was hard to believe that it wouldn’t enhance or progress in some way. Maybe it would even be better to grow it from a blank slate, a seed of sorts, than to fight with an already established Skyshard.

Or am I just trying to rationalize a bad decision?

“I like this plan,” Komachi said. “Feel good ‘bout it.”

Raiko smirked at Komachi, and then him. “Why not really?”

Wiping mud on his pant leg, Sam looked at the pair of them, “How about this: if we don’t pass another Skyshard in the next day or so, or if said Skyshard isn’t better than this place, I’ll put the [Sourcestone] into this tiny, dinky, laughably small Skyshard. Okay?”

Both of them nodded.

The storm continued to rage throughout the day, making it even harder to tell the time. Not having a clock to rely on sucked. Too bad he never found a compass.

Sam had taken a tour of the Skyshard in the pouring rain, if you could call walking in a small circle a tour.

With a particularly tooth rattling peal of thunder, a giant shape cut through the downpour, pulling a trail of dark clouds behind it.

Lightning lashed, striking its building sized horn atop its flattened head. One of its many lazily moving fins was wide enough that Sam could have strolled down it like a street.

[Rhino Skywhale (Level 38 - Copper)]

Everyone went silent, staring at the great fish-like beast. No one wanted to attract its attention.

Least of all because it was large enough that it could have swallowed their tiny island whole without bothering to chew.

It slowly flew by and into the distance, taking no notice of them. Apparently, it wasn’t in the business of eating people, cats, or rocks.

“I’m going back into my tent,” Sam said, dragging a soaking wet—but now clean—Komachi with him. Once inside and out of the rain, Sam held up the handful of [Storm Crystals] he had gathered for his own uses.

Wishing he had a towel, Sam slicked his sodden hair out of the way and sat cross-legged on the damp bottom of the tent. He scooted toward the fluttering flap, tying it partly open.

When the wind decided to shift direction, he would get soaked, but seeing as he was already soaked, it wouldn’t change much, and he wanted to make sure his experiments with Void mana didn’t cause the tent to explode like a balloon.

Focusing on what he did with the ember fruits, of which he had managed to save a couple of husks that contained seeds, Sam tried to replicate the effect.

He found it strangely easy to do. The Void mana flowed through his veins—or wherever it was that it flowed—and came out in a steady trickle that practically begged to be controlled.

Using it first to encapsulate the mana within the [Storm Crystal], and then push it out, was another matter entirely.

With the Fire mana, Sam could sense roughly where the mana was and at what concentrations. He could adjust the strength of the Void mana’s encasement to account for areas where the Fire mana was weaker or stronger than usual.

As Sam shook out his numbed hand from the silver-black spray of mana that burst free from his Void shell, he realized that not having an affinity for the mana he was trying to extract was going to make everything a whole lot harder.

That didn’t stop him, but it did annoy him.

Mana, Sam was beginning to understand, was a living substance. It flowed, it breathed, and it never was the same twice.

Trying to scoop out the Storm mana was like trying to fish with your hands, blind.

He could barely sense that there was some sort of mana there, but not where, or at what concentration. And considering the absolutely vast catalogue of mana types, it wouldn’t be possible to have an affinity for each and every one.

And so if Sam wanted to make the most out of his Void powers, he needed to be able to do this with any mana, not just the types that he was familiar with and had an affinity.

So Sam tried again, and again, and again.

He wiled away the hours, blowing up crystals, picking shards out of his skin and clothing, and zapping his fingers more times than he could count.

Certainly more than Komachi could.

Tired and weary, with only two [Simple Rations] left, Sam took his latest haul of [Storm Crystals] and set to work again. He didn’t even bother with going near the entrance flap. There were dozens of little holes in his tent by now, and besides, he didn’t mind the rain anymore.

Placing his Void mana just so, Sam cradled the mana just outside of the [Storm Crystal]. It was, to a degree, a simple enough process. Create a shell of Void mana, which was unique, in that it was basically inert. It neither interacted (aside from replacing or displacing) with nor mixed with other types of mana.

And that meant he could use it like a physical force to scoop, manipulate, and hold other types of mana without befouling them.

This was the part he understood best. And since he was learning as he went along, naturally the first step would be something he was beginning to master.

With a slight pulse of Void mana, the shell pushed on the bottom of the [Storm Crystal] and met its first resistance of Storm mana. A mixture of Wind, Water, Lightning, and some sort of kinetic force that Sam didn’t understand, Storm mana was about as chaotic as he could have asked for.

It was the perfect element to train on.

While it made the process of extracting the Storm mana incredibly difficult, if he could successfully perform the extraction on [Storm Crystals], then he would have a much easier time with other types of mana.

And for what Sam was preparing for, he would need to possess mastery over mana extraction.