PART IV: AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 13: Astra Sub Weapon

(A/N: The Astra Sub Weapon is a special secondary weapon similar to the Genesis and Destiny Weapons in the sense that it requires special conditions to liberate and unlock its true potential. Similar to how the Genesis Weapon requires Traces of Darkness and the Destiny Weapon requires the Adversary’s Determination, the Astra Sub Weapon requires Erion Fragments and Battle Traces in order to unlock each stage of its full potential. There are a total of three stages to the Astra Sub Weapon, meaning that you need to liberate twice in order to get from the first stage to the third.

The Astra Sub Weapon storyline is set between Hotel Arcus and Karote, and it introduces a brand-new Ancient God named Erion, a master craftsman who was responsible for creating countless artifacts and relics during the Ancient War, such as Mitra’s sword Azor. Something that you’ll see in the Grandis storylines, especially after the Assemble and Crown updates, is the distinction between ‘artifact’ and ‘relic’. Relics, first mentioned in the Cernium storyline, are objects imbued with divine power that have special criteria required to activate them. Meanwhile, artifacts, first mentioned in the Karote storyline, are man-made objects imbued with mortal magic. This distinction is fairly important across the Grandis storyline as a classification system regarding the power of various objects that pop up across the lore.)

Soon after the expedition to Hotel Arcus, the Adversary was contacted by Neinheart about an urgent matter. The Adversary traveled to Ereve’s prison, where they found Neinheart, Ollie, and Gardin standing near a pile of weapons, with a strange small-winged cat angrily protesting behind bars for the knights not to carelessly pile up his weapons. He demanded to be released from his cell, claiming that he was a genius, with Ollie telling Neinheart that it was the fourteenth time the cat had said that. Gardin agreed and noted that the cat’s testimony still hadn’t changed about being a genius weapons maker and not being a cat.

Neinheart then turned to the Adversary and began explaining that Gardin, who had been posted in Azwan, had recently received reports of strange weapons circulating in Ariant. Gardin told the Adversary that he had quickly discovered that the seller had been Karcasa, who managed the transportation system between Ariant and Victoria Island. Karcasa had been hounded by the people who had bought weapons from him, with Gardin explaining that after he had confiscated the weapons, he had discovered that they exhibited strange functions, citing a training sword which could analyze and correct the user’s technique, knuckles that automatically unleashed a barrage of unwanted blows after a single strike, and a bow that was harmless to the target and instead caused the wielder to vomit.

After questioning Karcasa, Gardin had learned that the cat had given him the weapons as payment for his transportation service to Victoria Island, after which Neinheart had dispatched Ollie to track the cat down. Ollie explained that she had followed reports of more unusual weapons being sold in Henesys to find the cat selling them at a stall, claiming that his creations were the latest artifact-grade weapons available. Though the cat had been fiercely resistant, Ollie had found that it unusual that he had almost no physical strength whatsoever when she had arrested him. Neinheart added that while the cat seemed to behave like a typical scammer, he had claimed to be an Ancient God, which was why Neinheart wanted to investigate his claim further, as such a story wasn’t something that an ordinary person would say.

The Adversary decided to speak with the cat, who once again furiously claimed to be a craftsman who had created countless relics during the Great War – known in the present day as the Ancient War – and demanded that the Adversary verify his story by speaking to other gods who could attest to his story. He cited Mitra, for whom he had crafted the holy sword Azor, as well as the calamity god Tynos, who had stolen the cat’s relic wares, though the cat insisted that it spoke to Tynos’s faith in his skills. He also cited Archelon, whom he claimed would be able to immediately recognize his weapons when he saw one. Though the knights had no idea which people the cat was citing, Neinheart recognized Archelon’s name and tasked the Adversary with traveling to Hotel Arcus and verifying the cat’s story.

Together, the Adversary and Neinheart escorted the cat to Hotel Arcus, where Archelon immediately recognized the cat as Erion. Erion was confused upon seeing the robot, and so Archelon explained that his friend had created a robot form for his consciousness to inhabit while his true body lay dormant. As Erion expressed his shock at Archelon’s new body, Archelon finished processing and confirmed that Erion was indeed a craftsman who had fashioned equipment, relics, and weapons for the gods during the Ancient War, with his skills being deemed as exceptional. He noted that Erion’s techniques had been lost to time, though Erion had nevertheless produced masterpieces such as Azor, Nemer, Rahad, Astrion, and Zephas.

Archelon then revealed that Erion had been a crucial target for the Adversaries because of his prowess in crafting powerful weapons for the gods. Though Erion himself had no martial skill, his status as a weapons maker had made him the primary target for elimination by the end of the war. However, there had been no records of his movements by the latter half of the war when he had been declared missing, with Archelon adding that it was a miracle that Erion had managed to survive. Erion was shocked to learn that the war was over, and that he had been asleep for so long, while Neinheart realized that Archelon’s story added up with everything Erion was saying. Erion noted that it seemed as though quite some time had passed since he had woken up and asked whether it meant that there were no more Adversaries, to which Neinheart revealed that the person standing beside him was an Adversary.

Erion was immediately terrified and begged the Adversary not to kill him, claiming that he had done nothing wrong besides making a small mess, with the Adversary noting that Erion seemed to believe things quite easily. Erion noted that he had indeed crafted weapons which to thwart the Adversaries, though he quickly realized that his boasting was producing the opposite effect and asked them to forget what he had said. He then promised to never make another weapon again, though upon realizing that the Adversary would perhaps want a weapon, he offered to make them any weapon that they wanted. Seeing an opportunity to gain a powerful weapon from the Ancient War, Neinheart decided to take advantage of the situation by escorting Erion back to prison, where he made a deal with Erion to give him his freedom in exchange for creating a powerful weapon for the Adversary, hoping that it would give them an advantage during their expeditions to Grandis.

The Adversary spoke with Erion, who assured them that just as Archelon had said, he was capable of producing relic-grade weapons like the ones that he had created during the Ancient War. However, he revealed that he couldn’t make such weapons anymore, as the materials that he used could no longer be found anywhere in the world, which was why all the weapons he had recently been making were so useless. Nevertheless, he believed that fragments of the weapons which he had made – which he called Erion Fragments – could be found in small quantities across the battlegrounds of Grandis, which could be gathered and reformed into a weapon that resembled the structure of a holy relic. He also explained that the vessel of the weapon would need to be filled with Battle Traces from powerful beings, as even during the Ancient War, his weapons had grown stronger by absorbing the waves of energy from powerful opponents on the battlefield.

(A/N: Similar to Traces of Darkness and the Adversary’s Determination, Battle Traces can be gathered in varying amounts by defeating level 260+ Grandis bosses. Meanwhile, Erion Fragments are gathered through doing mobbing dailies, which give various amounts of fragments depending on the region, with higher-level regions yielding more fragments than lower-level ones.)

At Erion’s request, the Adversary began collecting Erion Fragments from the battlefields of Grandis, as well as Battle Traces from the powerful enemies that they faced across Grandis. They brought the materials to Erion, who was shocked that they had managed to obtain everything. Excited to be able to craft a powerful weapon once again, Erion promised to fashion a weapon tailored specifically for the Adversary’s skillset. Using his divine power, Erion fashioned a star-like crystalline anvil and forge, engulfing himself in a fiery aura and shocking the Adversary with how much power was contained inside the small cat. After rapidly hammering away, an exhausted Erion finished creating the Astra Sub Weapon, with Neinheart approvingly noting that Erion had indeed proven himself to be an Ancient God.

Erion excitedly told the Adversary that they couldn’t imagine how pleased he was to be able to put his skills to the test after so long, explaining that his creations resonated differently when they were put together well. However, he revealed that the real fun was about to start, as the Astra Weapon hadn’t yet reached its full potential. He explained that the relics and weapons that he had crafted during the Ancient War had grown stronger by absorbing more and more energy on the battlefield, which would require more Erion Fragments and Battle Traces.

The Adversary once again set out to collect the necessary materials and brought them to Erion, who used his divine power to enhance the Astra Weapon into its second stage of potential. However, he revealed that there was one final stage that they were yet to achieve in order to harness the weapon’s full potential, though he warned that doing so could risk the weapon’s destruction. Nevertheless, he explained that successfully enhancing the weapon once more would make it no longer classified as a modern-day weapon, but a true relic-grade weapon from the Ancient War.

The Adversary then gathered more Erion Fragments and Battle Traces, which he brought to Erion for the final resonance. As Erion unleashed his divine power, he noted that even at the end of the war, there had only been one case of such energy being infused into one of his creations, noting that amidst so many failed creations, there had at least been one perfect masterpiece. Resolving to exceed even that creation, Erion thanked the Adversary for allowing his weapons to come back into the world before completing the final resonance and presenting them with the perfected Astra Weapon.

Soon after, Neinheart reached out to the Adversary and explained that after the completion of the Astra Weapon, he had intended to keep his promise to Erion and free him. However, he revealed that Erion had refused to leave his cell, insisting that he would remain in Alliance custody. At Neinheart’s request, the Adversary traveled to Ereve’s prison, where an angry Erion insisted that he loved it in his cell, despite Ollie and Gardin telling Erion that he was free to leave. (A/N: Like all true cats, Erion throws a fit whenever you want him around, and then refuses to budge when you don’t.)

Though the knights told Erion that he could restart his stall at the marketplace, Erion told them that he refused to sell anything to uncivilized people from an uncivilized age, as they would be unable to recognize the greatness of his creations. When Gardin asked him why he had been selling weapons in the first place, Erion retorted that he needed money to eat, noting that even geniuses like him could starve to death. However, he noted that his experience with crafting the Adversary’s weapon had helped reignite his passion for creating things, for which he declared that he would offer his services to the Alliance and the Adversary, who had wielded his masterpiece, resonated with it, and even provided feedback on it, which was something that hadn’t happened to him since the Ancient War.

Ollie then told Neinheart that since Erion was refusing to leave, forcibly ejecting him from Ereve would only result in him circulating more strange weapons that the Alliance would need to deal with. Gardin agreed and believed that it would be safer for Erion to work in a more controlled environment. Because of this, Neinheart decided that they would instead give Erion his own workshop in Ereve and employ him to aid the Alliance. Erion was thrilled with being given his own space, noting that he hadn’t been treated so well since the war. He resolved to work as hard as he could to help the Alliance and begged the Adversary to keep coming to him for anything they needed. Though Neinheart noted that it would be infeasible to have Erion mass-produce weapons, he instead decided to appoint the god as the Alliance’s special weapons expert, noting that Erion’s skills would be crucial in arming the Adversary on their missions across Grandis.

(A/N: Erion’s introduction in the story does create certain plot holes in the lore. Originally, we knew little to nothing about the Ancient War until Karote and Odium slowly revealed a lot more information about how the war between the Adversaries and the Ancient Gods went down. The writers even made it so that Archelon’s memories were hazy at best, so that we couldn’t just ask him to infodump everything he knew about the war right then and there. The introduction of Erion as a god who survived the war and joins the Alliance does create a bit of a weird issue, since he was around for a good chunk of the war and could have easily given us information that we somehow don’t ever learn until way later in our Grandis missions. However, this could also be explained away by Erion being on the run and not knowing much about the war besides information about the gods, which is data that we already have available thanks to Darmoor restoring the Cernium library.)