The item Rakna chose to forge last was a large kite shield. For the occasion, Old Wang had given him a metal called Red Mithril. It was more expensive than most common materials but lower than regular mithril, even at its lowest grades.

Mithril is known as a metal capable of both frightening flexibility and hardness. It’s also not only light but also mana friendly and magic resistant. Red Mithril was a bastardized version of it. It was made of residues during the forging of regular mithril and mixed with a material called blood powder; crystallized elemental blood ground into fine particles.

What this results in is a metal that is not a lot harder than steel but certainly lighter and extremely good as a defense against magic and as a catalyst.

“Red Mithril, just like its regular counterpart, requires mana to be drawn,” Old Wang had told him earlier. “It also cools down faster so you have to be as fast as possible without losing accuracy and power.”

Rakna grunted and put back the shield inside the forge for Karna to heat it again. After a bit more than half an hour, he had completed the basic shape of the shield. Then, instead of continuing it, he grabbed another tool that resembled an ice pick and began carving into it.

‘How many do you think?’

“{Hm, Red Mithril is rather compatible so I’d say… fifteen characters,}” Higure said. “{With a max of three runes cumulatively. You might be able to crank up these numbers to twenty and four by working on the focal points.}”

‘Got it,’ he replied and began carving the runic characters he wanted onto the shield. Of course, it was not finished yet so the characters he was drawing now would probably be erased once he proceeded to the next steps of the forging. However, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t work anymore.

Runic enchantment of an object could be done in mainly two different ways; by simply carving the runes on top of the item or doing it during the manufacturing process. Both methods would have the same results but there was one big distinction. For one of them, the runes would be visible from the outside, for the other, they wouldn’t.

This detail simply allows to hide the enchantments. If an enemy were to possess a bit of knowledge in runecraft, they would easily able to decipher what they do in a single glance. However, it does not change the fact that if the part of the item where the runes were carved is damaged, they will stop working.

Once he was done with the first part of the carving, Rakna reduced the number of focal points and added the second portion of the runes. He then proceeded to finish the item. After four days, his instinct had finally begun to help him during forging once he had gotten used to it. In the end, all he had needed was a routine to intuitively know where to hit and how.

After that, he quenched and tempered it before grinding it and sharpening the edges. He also made sure to polish it to make it into a decent reflective surface. One thing he had learned was that a reflection had to reach a certain minimum of clarity for it to become an entrance to Antanasia.

Ultimately, the finished red and silver shield was laying on the table in front of him. Soon enough, he heard a few notifications followed by System windows.

❮ ◈ ❯

Blacksmithing has leveled up!

Runecraft has leveled up!

---

Star Make has fulfilled conditions for evolution!

Star Make has evolved into Star Hearth!

---

Star Hearth (T.10 – 1): The ability to create forms and objects based on the user’s imagination or memories. By condensing Star Energy, all sorts of constructs can be made. From the smallest of blades to the most complex and biggest of objects.

The constructs will have nearly no distinction from a real object. If the user tries to replicate an item, the perks will not be unless they’re the one who made said item. Furthermore, the more the user understands the object, the less mana it will take.

Star Hearth also allows the user to alter the construct as long as they understand the process to a certain extent. This will cost mana depending on the nature of the alteration.

Cost: Variable.

Note: There is no cost for keeping the construct active and it will instead disappear after a full day. However, if the caster wishes for it to last longer, they can decide to inject mana into it. The time added will scale based on the initial cost of the construct. If the same amount of mana used to make it is injected, then it will last for one more day.

This also applies to every sub-spell derived from it. Sub-spells that were made prior to the evolution will be modified accordingly.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna hummed and extended his harm outward, he pictured a basic sword and in a swirl of cold energy tendrils, it built itself until he could see the glint of Karna’s light reflecting on the blade. He then concentrated a bit and the sword became larger until he was holding a longsword instead.

“This is what I do with Dáinsleif whenever I fire it… or when I shot Alzero while berserk,” he said to himself. “But it feels more natural now…”

“{Can you make things that don’t require forging?}” Higure asked curiously.

“I think so,” Rakna replied and dispelled the sword. He cast his spell again and he conjured a bow this time. And, surprisingly, the cold energy molded itself into actual wood before materializing a string that connected both ends of the arc.

Rakna blinked and tried pulling on the string a few times and felt nothing wrong. While he had in fact learned a bit of craftsmanship from Old Wang, mostly woodworking, for handles and such, he knew for sure that, even as talented as he was, he wouldn’t be able to make a bow so well with his current proficiency.

“Well, it takes more mana for sure, so that’s probably the compensation. It will probably be the same for more complex constructs like Dáinsleif.”

“{What an interesting spell… Star magic truly has unique properties. While it would be possible to make constructs with others, I have no element in mind that could possibly replicate real materials to such a degree. Perhaps expect Creation, Tracing, Image, or Word Magic.}”

“…that’s sort of a lot.”

“{Not really, in the grand scale of things. They’re special kinds of magic. What you have to know is that your Star Magic is several times more potent than any of those.}”

“I see,” Rakna responded thoughtfully and dispelled both the bow and an arrow he had just tried to conjure. He then looked back at the shield he had made and opened its description.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Defense/Kite Shield

Name: ---

Rarity: Blue

Attack Power: 20

Physical Defense: 400 | Magical Defense: 600

Durability: 100%

Perks:

- Near-Dimensional Structural Stability: The technique used during its forging has heightened its dimensional stability to make it remarkably robust. Due to the lack of experience of the maker, it is not as strong as it could have been but close to perfection.

- Cold Guard: Due to the very irregular and special mana used during its forging process, the shield has gained faint traces of enchantments making it more defiant against magic and fire in particular. It is also cold to the touch.

- Rune Carving: Two individual runes and a double rune have been carved into the shield with seventeen characters.

Manipulation Rune => Object, Mana, Motion, Control, Wielder.

Allows remote control of the item through the mind; costs mana.

Redirection Rune => Force, Motion, Absorption, Contact, Land.

Redirects a portion of the incoming force toward the ground if the item is in contact with it.

Restoring Rune + Structure Rune => Object, State, Reverse. + Object, Read, Material, Creation.

The shield will fix itself over time at a slow pace due to the low class of the runes used.

Description:

A shield forged by an intermediate blacksmith and rune user, Rakna Xiorra, with mid-grade Red Mithril. It is an item with incredible potential to defend against physical and magical damage and whenever it is rooted in the ground when receiving a blow, part of the force will be dispersed into the ground to a certain extent.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna connected his mind to the shield with a strand of mana and watched it float up. He squinted his eyes and waved his hand to the left and it followed his movement.

“Hm, this is more or less good compared to GHB. It’s not nearly as fast or responsive, it takes mana to maintain aerial, it’s a bit harder to control, and I can’t change its shape or size. But it’s stronger and by sacrificing mana, I could summon several and it wouldn’t cripple my mind.”

“{Indeed. GHB is more versatile and flexible but this is more reliable upfront. It’s good to have one of each to match the situation,}” Higure remarked as Rakna grabbed the shield and severed the mana link before putting it in his storage.

Rakna nodded and took off his gloves. He grabbed his jacket back and walked to the door. “See you again, Karna,” he waved over his shoulder and the Celestial Kindle gave a short burst to answer.

When he was out, he conjured a hexagonal barrier and stepped on it. The second he put a foot on it, the form suddenly changed and encased him entirely into a three-dimensional hexagon. It then shot into the sky at high speed. As he was being transported, Rakna simply leaned back, watching scenery pass from the inside without feeling the air resistance.

“{It is just as Old Wang said; you truly are a show-off, aren’t you?}” Higure jested.

Rakna shrugged. “This is faster than using Flash Step or Artzpul and I can’t really use my wings in the middle of Black Steel now, can I? It’s not like I can teleport… or… some…thing… oh.”

“{What’s wrong?}” The lioness asked then thought of something. “{Don’t tell me…}”

“Higure, do you know how fast stars can be?”

“{…I’ve heard that regular stars on average go at 100 km per second. Hypervelocity stars can reach 1000 and some very rare ones can go up to near 10% the speed of light,}” Higure responded and grunted.

“{I know what you’re thinking, Rakna. But to do something like that, you would need to push your Cold Star Reinforcement to the limit and it would put a massive strain on your body. Even if you just use it for the split of a second, the consequences would be severe. Never mind crippled state, you’d die before even realizing it.}”

“Well, it wouldn’t be too bad if I limited myself to a shooting star perhaps. Those can go as low as 10 km per second,” Rakna retorted and landed in front of the Pavilion, the barrier dissolving into mana that re-entered his mana pool.

“{You’re a piece of work, you know that?}”

He snorted and sat down on a couch of the private section as usual before preparing to use Soul Breath. “I’m joking. I will at least wait for after getting to the Tenth Plateau. Since I will be fully healed, I’ll meet up with everyone and do the Trial in the morning.”

“{…you’re still a piece of work.}”

“That, I am,” he quipped with the ghost of a smile.