With two hundred sets, she can make at least one object for everyone in their Workshops if everything works out okay. Different ideas of what to make swirl in the back of her mind as she takes time to chat with friends and family.
Tara has two days of preparation before the other academies arrive. The material she has requested from her mother, who had visited her, is none other than the mysterious ores they found within ancient ruins. As they hadn't found anymore while exploring deeper, they could only spare enough for eleven sets. Tara is currently sitting at her desk, thinking of who should get one of the sets since they'd be especially strong.
"Hm," Tara pulls up the chat list and calls Aelix.
"Bonjour! I assume you have a question concerning our dear friends in the main world?" Aelix says, their eyes smiling as if they were expecting this.
"When you were giving out Soul Realm gems--"
"Did I make note of everyone's elemental affinity and later compose a list in the event that we could forge special equipment for them? Of course I did! Who do you think I am? Now do you want it according to the Continent, by the element, by Class, or in alphabetical order?"
Tara chooses by the Continent first and then by element. Aelix sends her a neatly color coded list. Of their friends, 48 are either Fire, Water, or Stone attributed; another 48 are Wind, Lightning, or Metal attributes; finally the last twelve are either Light or Dark attributed, with three Light attributed on each continent and three Dark.
Curiously, Aelix has left an option to organize it further. For instance, Tara can arrange it by Class for a better understanding of how the elemental attributes are divided up or even group melee classes by weapon preference.
With this information in hand, Tara is able to figure out a list of things she could make for each member and have it be tailored to their class and element!
As the thousand contestants arrive over the two days, Tara studies the weapons Mystics use in order to craft them. Luckily, the library had many sources on the subject despite how rare they were compared to Warriors. Similar to a Witch's Rod or Summoner's Staff, she felt more prepared.
The heads of eight different academies and the overseer of Sharost's soldiers were here to judge. They have also brought with them their best Forgers! Gathered outside the Eight Swords of Death, the Sect Master's has shifted the upper levels of the Combat rooms into Forging workshops the day before. The first floor has been expanded to the size of an arena with a thousand stone platforms lined up and equidistant from one another. On each platform lies a spatial ring.
"For the first test you must be strong and wise enough to retrieve your material sets," A tall woman wearing a naga mask and black robes calls out beside the Sect Master. She gives off a peculiar feeling but everyone present could tell she was just as strong as the Sect Master. The masked woman gives a wave of her hand and a mad scramble for several of the higher quality rings begins.
Tara faces no opposition as she plucks and pockets a rusted, dirty ring before heading upstairs to the nearest workshop. Though an inscription pattern appears to lock her in and silence the outside, she doubles down by tracing a rune to reinforce it.
Pulling out the ring now that she was safe, Tara laughs to herself. The passive ability Hidden Eyes had triggered as she was scanning with Inspect on the rings and discovered the most aura conductive metal within the worst looking ring. It was a lesson to not disregard material based on appearance and rarity.
Tara assumes that most of the more expensive rings had the least aura conductive metals. The best of the other contestants would actually check the contents instead of making quick judgements. The test continues further as a small crate full of a thousand Soul Beads is waiting.
'May I offer some help?' Oorun asks after some time as Tara begins to Inspect each bead. The worse ones give a +1, the okay ones give a +3, and the high quality ones give a +5. Since nobody but Tara could see her guardian, it shouldn't hurt even if she was being watched. They may even assume she was moving the beads with her aura. After the surprise of Oorun using her own Inspect fades, they quickly find all the higher quality and intact Soul Beads, two hundred in total. Tara takes out a large ingot of metal that was somehow translucent.
It was called Reflex Metal, a very rare metal that could channel the most aura in the least amount of time. It was also known to gather pure elemental energy easier than even Tara's weapons.
"Now, how are we going to do this?" Oorun asks, standing beside her before picking up the hammer to give it a practiced twirl.
"We?" Tara responds not looking up as she sets aside eleven sets with the mysterious ore.
"I know what you know concerning forging--actually I might know more. While you were resting the starry big sister taught me a few things," Oorun answers as she begins to heat the closest of the two forges to her, a pink-orange flame emitting from her palm in the shape of a flower.
"You keep referring to the ancient spirit very informally. Do you both talk to her often? And how long does this even last, you simply just appeared last time."
"I can physically affect the world around me to some extent for maybe about thirty minutes before I need to rest. Though the more you summon me the longer I can stay out and play." Oorun's already beginning to craft what Tara was first thinking of, a claymore for one the Vanguards.
Tara catches Oorun ignores her first question but simply watches as the spirit--is that what she would classify still?--with a steadier hand and cleaner technique than she's capable of. Still, Tara can easily see the influence of what she has been taught in how Oorun handles everything. It's suddenly clear to Tara that her thoughts and abilities were shared and honed through her guardians with their Animus forms.
Tara begins her own work on a bow for an Infantry, a long bow that can turn energy into arrows. Instead of adjusting her body through combat, Forging requires more focus and finer use of her aural energies, which is why she did not turn down the invitation. Having to adjust her new physical strength and balance how to use her new amount of spiritual energy so continuously was just about the best training she could ask for.
Just before it's time for Oorun to first rest, Tara stops working on her first when she feels the fire energy present surge. Oorun's hammer starts to hum and the metal practically sings a tune as the energy harmonizes between the two objects.
The weapon shines startling bright as it absorbs fire energy with the temperature dropping for a second as Oorun quickly and accurately uses her right hand to write a dozen patterns with her aura-coated pointer finger. Tara knows that the difference between making normal weapons and Soul Bead embedded weapons is writing inscription patterns on the item before finishing.
However, the melodic accompaniment due to energy resonance and the fact it was covered in multiple inscription patterns, means something very different is about to occur for Oorun! Oorun whistles as she wipes her forehead despite not having shed any sweat. She holds up the finished claymore, a glistening silver blade with black and white handle. It radiates a gentle heat as the patterns shine on the blade for a moment before fading.
"And to complete it, I'll use the Cinder Hawk Soul Bead!" Oorun announces as she places the red pearl-like Soul Bead. It fuses within the center of the guard and the entire sword flashes with light as if going through a transformation. When the light fades, Oorun tosses it to Tara, who immediately uses Inspect on it. A +5 appears almost immediately.
[Cinder Hawk Claymore, Minor Artifact]
"Y-you know how to make Minor Artifacts?!" Tara had been bewildered at Sun Claw, and potentially Moon Fang, being Minor Artifacts. Tara's daggers, however, were created under strange and mysterious circumstances as a Novelist, making them a level below true Artifacts from the beginning.
Tara can only assume that every Novelist's weapon was similar. In truth, though not as powerful NPC Artifacts-- personal weapons left behind by Legendary or even Mythical figures within Renovel--player created Minor Artifacts were in some cases better.
Bound and Growth properties on Equipment in previous games were considerably rare and valuable enough to start Guild Wars. However, in an effort to seem more realistic, NPCs boasted an additional trait called Compatibility.
With it, faster casting time and higher damage could be dealt by a Craft or an Art with even less effort. With that in mind, player-made Artifacts would boast the highest Compatibility because they were specifically crafted for the players in mind.
"It was one of the things drilled into my being," Oorun visibly shudders at a memory before fading to ash and rejoining Tara to rest. 'I'll handle Fire attributed ones, you just focus on the rest. Now I need a nap.'
Tara attempts to repeat the process she had witnessed on the longbow she was making. While not flowing as neatly or as quickly as Oorun, Tara finds her body almost moving on autopilot. The resonance is proving difficult, however. The balance of energy between tool and product, as well as how precise the energy needs to be, forces her to sharpen her control over her aura unlike any time before.
Tara feels a little pressed for time when she finally accomplishes harmony thirty minutes later. Little did she know the majority of her competition, outside of a select few, had only just begun sifting through Soul Beads. Having made one item and almost finishing another within the first hour was unheard of even among blessed Forging geniuses.
[Tempest Mantis Bow, Minor Artifact]
"Oh! Good work! That's much better than even my first hundred tries." Oorun compliments as she stretches. Her guardian can last 45 minutes this time, finishing a glaive and shield, before resting once more. During this, Tara finishes another bow.
Tara swears she feels all of her aural ports expand slightly as she focuses on controlling the energies properly. Quickly the first day passed by. By the end of it, Oorun is able to spend an hour working alongside her and turn out four weapons while Tara mangages two for now.
"Staves and Rods take more time because an array needs to be etched onto the weapon," Oorun answers the unsaid question as Tara wonders later that evening why only melee weapons were the focus, "That means three dozen patterns and more Focus per item. You should be more curious about what to make your friends who are Tome users instead of asking the obvious."
"Easy! Jeweled bookmarks!" Tara says with a smile, knowing that Oorun has some inkling of the other realm Tara came in contact with. Oorun merely scoffs, rolling off the bed to sit at the desk but Tara senses pride and recognition emanated from her. The thought had crossed her mind when she had studied mystic weaponry.