As soon as the Aether Shard touched the surface, a wave of prismatic light pulsed from it and flooded the chamber. It persisted as the multi-colored starlight danced around them.

“Cudere activa. Designat petitionem.” (Forge active, designate request)!

The melodic female voice was filled with brightness and cheer, resonating all throughout the chamber. “Can you speak in Common?”

“Request confirmed.”

“Amazing,” Rose muttered. “What is your purpose?” There was no response. She sighed, “Guess it’ll listen to you, Echo.”

“Right. What do you do?” Echo asked.

“I am an Aether Forge. My purpose is to destroy Aether Shards to release the potential within them.”

After more prodding and prompts, Echo finally learned more.

The voice explained that Aether Shards were pieces of the first seven Prime gods. The shards were split off from those Prime gods to make Arch gods – one shard per Arch god. Arch gods would use these Aether Forges to shatter excess shards they had no use for.

“Why would you destroy one?” Rose asked. She grunted in frustration at the silence and gestured for Echo to repeat her – which he did.

“I do not know the intent of the user. I simply shatter shards.”

“How would that benefit them?” Echo asked.

“Gods shatter Aether Shards to gain the power within.”

“What power?” Fumi asked, finally drawn into the conversation with the promise of power. Echo relayed the question.

“The power to gain new Domains.”

Rose shook her head, “That might help a god, but it won’t help us. Domains can only be used with Heat – divine power from converted Quintessence.” She put her hand to chin in thought. “What you could do is shatter an Aether Shard, imbue one of us three with the Domain inside of it, and then activate that Domain by pushing Quintessence into the Shard to generate Heat.

“I’d be dropping versatility then,” Echo said.

Rose nodded, “You’ve been brute forcing the Aether Shard. Shoving a square peg through a round hole with sheer strength. I would say that those miniature miracles you have been doing to sate your hunger is somewhere in between a spell and a true miracle.”

Echo glanced at Fumi, “What do you think?”

Fumi undid her leg armor and pulled the Aether Shard from where it sat. “Rose could make better use of these than us.” She reasoned that because Rose had a much larger pool of Quintessence, she could make the most use of it.

Echo nodded and grabbed the Aether Shard from the forge as it powered down. He held both of them and walked to Rose. “Any idea which has which Domain? Since you’ll be taking the power.”

Rose’s face went flush. “You’d…give away the power of the gods?”

Echo glanced at Fumi who curtly nodded. He turned back to Rose, “Of course. You’re our ally. We both get new Affinities and Abilities. But you don’t. That doesn’t seem as fair.” He smiled, “Plus, if our mage can pull off divine level spells – miracles – then you can save us even more often.”

Rose’s face didn’t change from its blend of embarrassment and shock, but she put her hand over first one shard, then another, before pulling back. “I can’t tell one from the other. You choose.”

Echo nodded and went to the forge, placing the first one back on it.

“Force active, designate request.”

“Smash this shard, and infuse our friend with the Domain,” he stated, pointing at Rose.

“Confirmed.”

The stone block rose up until it was in the center of the room. Rose stepped forward as a glowing circle of pure white appeared in space, right in front of the pedestal. She stood in it as the stone pedestal rammed upwards into the ceiling.

And the Aether Shard shattered.

Sparkling, glimmering starlight shattered out in all directions before redirecting course in a stream and surrounding Rose, infusing to her penetrating her skin as she gasped aloud. The lights ceased and the pedestal lowered as Rose smiled, walking to the two, and raising her staff. “Echo, would you mind transmuting that other Aether Shard into this?”

Echo nodded and gripped her staff, “Transmute Substance.” He pushed the Aether Shard into the center of the staff-tip so that it would remain hidden. “Want it to still be stone?”

Rose smirked, “Do you have any Brightsteel left?”

Echo nodded and reached into the pocket dimension, pulling out a few ingots. At Rose’s instruction, he coated her staff in an even layer of the substance. Soon enough she had a glimmering, golden staff.

“Let’s see what that was,” Rose muttered as she pulled out her identification. She grinned and cackled maniacally, showing the other two.

Rose channeled her Quintessence into the staff embedded in the Aether Shard and felt the power swirl within her, the icy-blue coursing into the tip. “Shall we get out of here?”

Echo nodded and held Fumi’s hand.

A burst of warmth emanated from Rose’s staff as the Aether Forge exploded out of the underwater rock it was buried in. It rocketed upwards through the stone as her Quintessence billowed off of her. The trio watched through the open doorway and the covering membrane as the rock flew past them, followed by water, and finally, into the open air.

Rose released the flow and sagged forward, using her staff to prop herself up. “What a rush!” She was elated and expressing sheer joy as she stumbled over towards the doorway, looking down. “We should get more shards to smash.”

Echo smiled, “Yeah, but leaving this thing floating in the air wouldn’t be smart.”

Fumi grabbed her two allies and flew them outside. She raised her hand towards the stone structure. “I’ll store it. Create Space.” A rip the same size as the Aether Forge appeared, and Rose gestured as the object – still apparently under her gravitic control – floated in the pocket dimension. Fumi released the spell as space snapped shut.

“You two are amazing,” Echo said as he looked at his two female companions.

An explosion caught them both off guard and they looked to the East as an enormous plume of smoke and ash ascended into the atmosphere. The volcano to the Northwest must have erupted.

"Curious," Rose commented.

---

“Help us!”

“Oh goddess! The volcano!”

“It can’t be this time of year.”

“Damnit, run!”

Aqua felt millions of voices crying out for her. “Forge’s Fall,” she whispered. She stepped into one of the deep pools in The Deluge’s throne room and transported her vision to the Inner Sea near Alliaria.

The volcano had, indeed, exploded. The rifts in the earth had cracked once more and lava spewed up and out. But there was more. She could not see it from the angle she was looking at, but something thrashed within the crater. This was one of the times she could violate the Divine Pacts, to protect this city. Annually she performed this duty. But it was out of the permitted time.

There’s no water closer.

Another sight caught her eye – a trio of humanoid figures flying from Dragon’s End. She shifted her perspective to the ocean underneath them and followed their flight.

They match the description.

It was Umbra’s monsters.

They could stop it.

---

The Undying flew at incredible speeds. Echo and Fumi were going at top speed, and Rose through her new gravity Domain was able to fly at equivalent speeds.

“Umbra’s Monsters,” A voice came from below them. The trio stopped and looked down as they saw a pair of grey eyes staring from the surface of the ocean. Spectral, similar to how Umbra’s appeared to them in the glade. “It is not my permitted time. My water elementals are on the way to protect the city from the flaming rivers. But there is something in the crater.”

Echo nodded, “We’ll check it out.”

“Hurry.” The stern, calm voice was tinged with apprehension.

Echo looked to his companions, “What do you think?”

Rose shook her head, “Forge’s Fall erupts annually, so being out of season is highly irregular. Causing a volcano to erupt is not an easy task.”

Echo nodded and activated Bulwark on his allies. “If we’re fighting fire, then something to protect against it should help.” He closed his eyes and focused on creating a spell, “Wave Barrier.” A shimmering, silver-blue water coalesced around himself and Rose.

 

The trio arrived at the volcanic island. To the North, a shimmering picturesque city akin to those of Ancient Greece mixed with Venice stood on the coast. An enormous trench carved its way to act as a firebreak, and several enormous, bulging creatures made of water stood in front of the city as lava reached them. Several enormous gusts of steam obscured any further vision.

Forge’s Fall was an enormous stratovolcano. Ten kilometers across at the caldera. And within, some creature was thrashing about. The trio flew to the Eastern rim and looked down. Ten feet below the lip the searing hot magma bubbled and exploded upwards in plumes, wending through cracks to the North where the caldera lip was slightly lower.

In the center of the expanse was a half-submerged monster – the black eyes gave that away instantly. But the creature was akin to a turtle. The enormous, crackling red and black shell vented out superheated plasma. It’s mouth was the size of a four story building, and Echo estimated from tip to tail it was probably around five kilometers in length. It had several pairs of legs and bristled with spikes that glowed red.

“Tiberius was quite busy before he died,” Rose commented. “He’s found a bunch of Colossus class creatures and monstrified them.”

The creature turned towards them and let out an ear-shattering roar that forced Rose to cover her ears. Fumi grinned and unsheathed her blade, diving down to the magma and submerging herself within. Thanks to her Blessing of the Flames, she could survive in any heat or flame.

The monster spewed an enormous stream of magma at Echo and Rose. Echo activated Achronerate and dodged, dragging Rose with him, as the tidal-wave sized blast of lava exploded where they just were. Rose shook Echo’s hand off, “I’m going higher. I’ll prepare my strongest spell.” She began to ascend.

Echo looked down and barely made out Fumi, slicing away at its legs. It was as if she was using a tiny chisel against a mountain. He dashed down, dodging more blasts of lava and skimming the surface of the magma – the heat not quite searing him thanks to his Wave Barrier spell. He deactivated Achronerate.

Kill…

Consume…

Evolve…

He pulled his sword out and passed a hand along it, “Transmute Substance,” increasing its length to the equivalent of a zweihander that a giant would wield – the weapon dwarfed him in size and would have been ludicrously impractical against the same sized foes. He flew to the same leg Fumi was hacking away at and joined her in trying to carve it in half.

---

Rose gathered her Quintessence. She could not make out Echo or Fumi down below, but knew the former was still alive due to his spell still upon her.

What is it doing?

The creature had begun to rear back.

---

Fumi dashed under the creature and activated her Rift Strike, the green and crimson blaze of energy surging upwards directly into the middle of this enormous creature. The beast began to raise itself up out of the magma, roaring in pain, as it tried to get away from her.

She flew up and brought the blade down, carving down its middle.

Where the reality-severing blade cut, several globules of magma fell towards her. She deftly dodged them even without Alacrity active.

But, mid-air, the globules changed course and slammed into her. The heat didn’t bother her, but the substance was dense, bludgeoning her – transferring the hits to Echo. She activated her bracelet – but to her horror, saw that the magma-dip earlier had melted the metal. The same went for her two greaves. She felt her weapon begin to warp from the intense heat.

---

Echo dodged the monster as it fell back into the magma, flying up to dodge the enormous waves of magma that sloshed around. He felt thuds impact him and scanned the caldera for Fumi, seeing her being attacked by sentient lava blobs. He raised a hand to her, “Wave Barrier,” and recast the spell to include her.

To his relief, the lava blobs instantly recoiled and fell away – instead hovering around her. Echo dashed next to her and glanced her over. Her armor was barely holding together and her non-Divine Metal items were all gone.

Echo growled. “Those were really difficult to make!” He shouted at the lava blobs that kept their distance from the two water-shrouded monsters.

Kill…

Echo traced his palm along his blade, “Water Blade.” A silvery sheen covered his weapon, and he repeated the spell on Fumi’s blade. He charged forward, his spectral wing-tendrils arcing behind him as he took long, sweeping slashes at the blobs, slicing them in half as they fell to the magma below. More kept coming as the wound of the enormous monster kept dripping.

---

Fumi dashed through the sky – leaving Echo to hold off the sentient lava blobs as she flew closer to the gash she had carved. She channeled her Quintessence and activated her newest Ability. “Aurora Blade.” Her katana glimmered with powder-blue sparkles, and she flew up to the wound of the turtle monster, carving through the wound and continuing to slice it, lengthening the gap even further as more lava blobs spilled out.

The monster roared and began to bring its mass directly down on her. Fumi took a deep breath and plunged into the creature. Swinging blindly, she carved her blade back and forth as she attempted to move forward.

---

Echo was exhilarated, carving through the blobs with ease. But too late he noticed the enormous mass coming down on top of him. He activated Achronerate and dashed to the side, barely clearing the creature’s torso as it slammed into the lava.

“Fumi!” He shouted, looking around in panic for her. He didn’t hear a response or see her. No damage had transferred, either.

Don’t be dead.

He looked to the lip of the caldera, flying up just high enough to see the ocean. He reverted his sword and sheathed it, pointing his palm to the sea. He pulsed all of the Quintessence he could manage without cancelling his current spells as he prepared to cast the largest spell he had ever performed. “Control Water.”

---

Rose finished channeling her Quintessence for the massive spell and prepared to unleash it – but paused. To the East, the ocean was climbing up the side of the volcano. With her Detect Magic, she could see the silver threads connecting Echo to the ocean itself.

She was taken aback. That large of a spell should have taken much longer to prepare for.

I’ll wait until you soak it. That will make my spell more potent.

The question still lingered as she held her spell. How could he cast such a large spell without preparation?

---

Aqua couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A mortal was controlling the ocean and pulling it up the side of a mountain. Not just a small stream, but an enormous volume of water.

What in The Void did you let out into the world, Umbra?

They were her sister’s servants, after all. As far as she understood it. But they were pulling off feats of magic that were impossible for Umbra to do. Only the most powerful of mages, priests, or clerics could replicate the feat that was being performed. Or, a god.

Who are you?

---

Fumi eventually broke the surface of the creature, popping out of the topmost part of the shell as she gasped for air. She looked around and saw nothing but bubbling magma as the creature had partially submerged itself to escape the pain inflicted upon it.

She saw the enormous wall of water climb over the Eastern side of the caldera, and also spotted her Echo who was floating in place, shaking and trembling as his silver Quintessence billowed all around. She flew over to join him, putting her hand on his as he tapped into the Quintessence stored in her ring.

---

Echo was puffing in breaths just like he had run a marathon. Sucking air in and out, his body cramping and struggling to keep going. But Fumi’s hand on his gave him access to more than enough Quintessence. He pulled up the water with a monumental final heave as a torrential tide of ocean splashed into the crater. The magma sizzled and released steam, bursting upwards as the whole area was saturated.

The turtle creature roared when the sea water hit it, the water bubbling and erupting around it. Its shell cracked and steam escaped from within it, the lava globules spilling out and attempting to fuse the shell back together.

Echo released the spell and sagged in Fumi’s grip. From above, only visible because of its mass, an enormous ice spike the size of the Empire State Building crashed down into the creature, impaling it, and piercing deep as the ocean water froze over.

He grinned as Rose floated down next to them, alighting on the lip of the caldera with the two monsters. The entire volcano interior was frozen over. Echo cancelled his spells and breathed deeply as the crisp, cool air was much easier to breathe than the volcanic heat.

All three jumped slightly as an icy form appeared next to them. Rising from the brand-new glacier was a figure with clear, pale skin, white sea-foam hair, wearing a deep blue dress and quite well endowed. The same eyes that stared at them from the ocean.

“What in The Void are you?”