As smoothly as we had changed into our Avatar-form, the process to release it was still jarring and more than a little confusing. Some memories of the last hour were clear, almost as if they were my own, especially the mental process of constructing my Throne, others were blurry and fading quickly, like a half-remembered dream. There was a cold sensation on my brow and I remembered creating the focus Lenore had suggested, even if we never had specified the shape, with ideas ranging from a pendant, to an earring or helmet. Or even a crown, which was the shape the focus had ended up as.

Or maybe calling it a diadem would be clearer, a simple circlet of crystal-clear Ice, shimmering slightly with both azure and silvery light, sized to perfectly fit on my head, sitting just above my brow. It even incorporated the feathers I had sprouted in my eyebrows after Lenore had crossed the second Divide, the circlet’s decorations forming a pair of wings sitting just above my brow, holding the Crystal of the Northern Wind in it’s center, right before my forehead. After making sure that Lenore had overcome the aftereffects of the Avatar-state as well, and was comfortably resting on my shoulder, watching what I was doing, I took a close look at the crown in my hands, activating Inspect to see what we had wrought.

Crown of the Northern Wind Rarity Unique - Artifact Type Headwear - Focus Special Effect Imbued - Due to the process used for the creation of this Focus, it is strongly in tune with the Ice- and Wind-Magic of the Raven’s Shadow. Ice- and Wind-Magic channeled through the focus cost 30% less. Special Effect Blades of the North Wind - The nine Blades of the Northern Wind can be controlled by channeling Astral Power through this focus Special Effect Spell Weaver - When this focus is used to channel Astral Power into Ice- or Wind-Spells, the effect of those spells is increased. A Crown of Eternal Ice, fit for a Queen. Only the most powerful of beings can claim Dominion over a primal force. This Crown was created with the intent to do so by a Mortal, but is that claim Hubris or Confidence? Only time will tell.

Blinking for a moment, I wasn’t quite certain what I was to think about the description, or the stats for that matter. There was no protection whatsoever, which was to be expected but in turn, the magical effects were rather impressive. The description on the other hand made me wonder if I was meddling in matters above my paygrade but what gave me pause was the gleeful anticipation welling up within me the moment I imagined doing so. That I had finally managed to create Eternal Ice was just the icing on the case, a thought that made me giggle, causing Lenore to look at me slightly confused.

Queen of the Northern Wind, it sounded quite impressive, even if the title would only be applicable to Lenore and myself, together. There was a grin on my face when I reached out with my magic, channeling it through the Crown in order to take control of the Blades that were placed on the wings of my Throne. They obediently followed my mental commands, though the focus needed to control all nine of them was barely within my ability to handle. Letting them float in front of me, I looked them over.

Blades of the Northern Wind Rarity Unique - Artifact Base Damage 17 Damage Piercing Base Damage 15 Damage Slashing Strength Modifier none Special Effect Imbued. Due to the process used for the creation of this weapon, it is strongly in tune with the Ice and Wind-Magic of the Raven’s Shadow. 30% lower cost when wielded by their Magic. Special Effect By Royal Command - When these Blades are controlled using the Crown of the Northern Wind, their performance is greatly increased

My earlier smile widened in size, the multiple bonus to the performance of my latest creation stacking up nicely. At least I hoped they stacked up in some way, with the Imbued-Effect taking effect on both ends when I channeled power through the Crown. I would have to try things out, especially to find out how the ‘By Royal Command’-Effect worked, as the blades would sadly be inferior to my old Weaver’s Fury without it. Only marginally inferior, proving just how powerful of a support-effect the Nexus had provided back then, but still, inferior.

A second glance wiped a part of the smile off my face, when I realized that the wording of Imbued had changed, from supporting my magic, to supporting the magic of the Raven’s Shadow, the name of my Avatar-form. In some ways, I should have expected that as a consequence of creating them in that form but it annoyed me a little. Using the Avatar-Form was something neither Lenore nor I wanted to do lightly, due to the weight it placed on both of us and now, my previously go-to equipment essentially needed that form to perform at its peak.

“Those are some interesting effects.” Lenore said, using my own voice to do so. Hearing her that way was always a little weird, similar to listening to a recording of your voice, just with the added layer of creepy that came with knowing it wasn’t you saying those words.

“Let’s find out how good they are, at least the parts that I can use on my own.” I decided, reaching out with my Ice-Magic, setting the crown aside so I wouldn’t be tempted to channel through it. The Blades floated, their performance similar to the performance of my old Weaver’s Fury, but controlling the nine blades in a fluid manner was beyond me. Grouping the blades into mental formations that moved the same way, not shifting their position in regards to the other blades in the formation, it became easier, but not easy. I would have to see what would happen if Lenore channeled her own magic in conjunction with mine, maybe that would help.

Taking the crown and setting it on my head, I tried again, carefully threading the magic through my brow and into the Crystal set as a centerpiece, immediately noticing that there was a slight roughness that I had never encountered before when using the Items I had formed from Ice. It wasn’t sharp or jarring, only my focus allowing me to notice it at all, but it was there, likely due to the focus’ attunement to my Avatar-Form.

Regardless of that roughness, there was no additional effort involved when channeling Astral Power through the crown and the moment I let the blades move, I could tell the difference. There was a distinct silver glow within them, a thin trail of glittery mist remaining where they passed by, slowly drifting in a breeze that seemed to be caused by their passage. Trying to determine their actual power was difficult without hitting anything, but just from the way they moved, I got the feeling that the increase due to the crown was somewhere in the twenty, maybe thirty percent. Significant, but not game-changing.

“Let me help?” Lenore asked, to which I nodded, curious what she had in mind.

As I was still moving the Blades, trying to get used to the mental strain, she hopped onto my shoulder and I felt her own power flow into the Crown, not trying to take control or assert influence, simply letting me wield the power she provided. The effect was immediate and obvious, azure light joining the silvery glow and the glittery mist moving with purpose in a stronger wind. Their movement changed, too, becoming faster, yet lighter, allowing me to control them as if the Blades had forgotten that inertia was a thing.

“Now, that, I would classify as a success.” I grinned, as the blades started to swirl around me in an orbit.

“How bad is the power-consumption?” Lenore asked, bringing my mind back from playing around with my new toy, to testing a new weapon that we wanted to use in combat.

“Manageable, at least if you take half the burden.” I replied, trying to get a better feel for the mix of power we were using. Without having the Weaver’s Fury, it was hard to compare accurately, but by my best estimate, the Blades took slightly more power from me to use. Fine for most battles, but if I wanted to use them in a truly protracted fight, if the battle lasted for hours, the cost would add up. So far, there hadn’t been such a fight, but the Weaver’s Fury had been my go-to attack when feeling things out, something I could use with negligible cost and the Blades of the Northern Wind didn’t fit that niche.

Letting the Crown and Blades be for now, I took a glance into my log, curious about the skill-ups I had gained. My eyes widened when I saw a single skill-up in Ice-magic, bringing it to eighty-six, two in Astral Meditation, bringing it to fifty-three but a whopping seven skill-ups in the Enchanting-Skill, bringing it to twenty and making me curious why I hadn’t gained Enchanting-skill for creating items from Hard-Ice before. A conundrum to be researched later, if at all.

“Well, they will be useful. Maybe not against the undead, but they will be useful.” I decided, bringing the blades back, letting three settle against my crown, using a tiny bit of brittle, normal Ice to make the connection, while sheathing the others in the sheaths originally prepared for the Weaver’s Fury.