Kai extricated the still-warm crystal from his pants eagerly, too excited to pay any attention to the scratches on his belly. He rotated the midnight-blue crystal in his trembling hand. What did I almost die for?

Heritage Crystal: Altair Sol, Starforger.

Details: Learn from a memory of the Sage of Stars, Gravity, and Space. (Limited use)

Rarity: Ancient (3)

Enter Mindscape: Yes / No

Kai rolled his eyes. No, I’m going to sit here and starve to death. Yes, enter mindscape.

Time slowed as his wet hair drifted up, the surrounding air was cold on his skin. Something deep inside him thrummed.

Kai blinked, he was floating in a sea of stars. Lilac phoenix nebulas blazed all around the mansion-sized space-island he found himself on. His eyes reflected the starlight that bathed the sparse grass, crystal clusters and a lonely tree in shades of midnight and sunset.

Kai startled when he noticed the two figures next to him, their pointed ears making him think of elves dipped in stardust. They stood at the precipice, sun-gazing, their skin shimmering purple, proclaiming an otherworldly glory.

“It is time, Altair,” the older being said with a firm voice that shook galaxies.

“I am ready, Starforger,” Altair Sol said with a reverent nod. Kai noticed the boy’s star-dusted skin was lighter than the older Starforger. He did not have more time to think as the elder spoke once more.

“There are five lessons to master. The first is to awaken your soul, only then can you harness aura. Think of your soul like a spiritual organ at the centre of your being that will house your aura, and more importantly, determine your soul’s affinities.”

Kai tried to speak but no sounds left his mouth. Next he jumped up and down while waving his arms, but they still ignored him like he wasn’t there. I’m only watching a memory of some kind?

“Many fail this step by not having a clear concept for their soul, this limits their affinities and may stunt their progression paths in future.”

Kai gulped, hoping he would understand the instructions properly. He glimpsed Altair Sol’s eyes alight with passion as he listened to the Starforger’s lecture. The elder was pacing with his hands behind his back. Seems that teacher pose is universal.

“We call this soul shaping or soul forging. Now, we have spent years preparing for this. Visualise a star, every aspect of it; the radiant heat, the vast space around it, the pressure of gravity.” He waved his hands excitedly. “You know the details, now awaken your soul!”

Kai’s pulse quickened… What?

The Starforger paused his pacing to examine Altair with blazing intensity as the young boy-elf closed his eyes with a grin.

Kai was disappointed when nothing more was said and he realised he needed to actually awaken his soul himself, or this limited-use item would be wasted and he would die in an underwater ditch.

Kai fumbled and grasped at straws as he tried to imagine a burning star inside him. How hot? How big? How vast was space? Pressure at least made sense, like deep underwater?

He was not really sure how to awaken his soul, so he started simple and closed his eyes, then imagined a blue-white spark of flame in the darkness of his being. He wasn’t sure how much time passed in this strange space while he gradually stoked the spark bigger and bigger. Eventually he felt a strange pressure in his chest followed by a pop; his mind tentatively brushed against something within him, well that was easy, he felt disappointed, so that’s my soul? Through the heritage crystal he could sense that it was incomplete and feeble, a mere speck of his potential.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

With renewed vigour he continued building a star, molten fire and rock, layer after layer. After what felt like days trapped in the mindscape he stopped to gaze with pride at a blinding inferno of molten rock the size of a planet. That’s essentially a star right?

Kai was not sure how to imagine space literally, so he focused on the concept, being surrounded by emptiness, being alone, the loss of his parents and monastery. He projected that vast hollow feeling into his soul. Let my darkest night forge the brightest star. He frowned when nothing initially changed, however the vast empty space around his soul-star gradually increased.

He moved onto the final hint the Starforger had dropped and applied the familiar lung-squashing pressure of being deep underwater. He imagined the weight of oceans bearing down on his molten planet, as he attempted to pair his understanding of water with gravity; he frowned when this suffocated the planet’s flames.

He tried reaching for his soul, but it felt wrong somehow, more than that, it seemed like they did not understand each other, his soul felt broken and malformed.

Tired and frustrated, his legs gave out from under him and he slumped to the floor, drained. There was no way he could keep going feeling like this, so he paused for a moment, contemplating all he had fought for and lost. A soft whimper escaped his mouth.

What had he done wrong? How had he failed? Was his soul damaged now?

He let out a gurgling yelp, part desperation and part determination. He had always hated the bitter taste of defeat. If I have fallen, there’s nowhere to go but up. He knew the thought was cheesy, but it motivated him all the same.

He thought back to the Starforger’s words about affinities. Was it the heat that was unnatural to him? More time passed in his mindscape, concepts tumbling through his weary brain over and over like dirty laundry that would not get clean.

Excited voices from beyond his closed eyes broke him from his nightmarish reverie. Altair had done it? That turd! How?

Kai let his rage boil and his instincts took over. He imagined a titanic palm with rivers swirling around it and slapped tidal waves into his molten planet, creating a primordial storm that looked like the dawn of creation. The frigid water hardened the hot outer mantle; he then applied the pressure of oceans to crack the surface which created stardust and flooded the insides of his soul-planet with stardust-infused water.

In a moment of clarity he remembered—‘Water breaks rocks by getting into a crack. When the water freezes, it expands; widening the crack. Repetition of this can break any rock.’—and forgot in the same breath, but it was enough.

When the water surged inside, he expanded the water—his aura he suddenly realised—as if it was ice, his soul-planet’s surface fractured and his water assaults bore deeper. He repeated this process while applying the crushing weight of oceans.

Kai lost himself in his relentless pursuit. Attack, surge, freeze, compress. Some time later, a powerful spark of connection to his soul shattered his stupor. He grinned as he gazed upon his much smaller, but highly dense planet, surrounded by a thin film of cosmic water that he suspected was his aura. Did… did I do it?

Congratulations, you have awakened your Soul!

-Soul aura-

Soul: F-Awakened (Early)

Affinity: Cosmic, Gravity, Hydrokinesis, Martial.

Sphere of influence: 9 feet

Details: Amount of aura, density, recovery, and circulation speed.

Kai suspected it probably wasn’t the same type of soul and affinities Altair Sol had created. He was not even sure he had birthed a star, but he had made something. His eyes burst open and he beamed with pride at his accomplishment.

“—Now it’s time to absorb enough aura to fill your soul, right now it’s just a hollow fragile blueprint,” the Starforger said.

Wait what? What lesson is Altair on?

Kai groaned as he hurried to catch up despite fatigue gnawing at his mind and body. Giving up was a death sentence, but more than that he desperately wanted this. He had nothing else left.