The Last Rudra

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Ishit laid out the parchment on the wooden table. The large scroll had every detail that he needed to forge Nadani's bow. The girl had summited all the details at the reception office of the smithy when she had placed the order. Last evening, before leaving the guild, Ishit had asked for the scroll from Nitya. 

Ishit laid out the parchment on the wooden

table. The l

arge scroll had every detail that he needed to forge Nadani's bow. The girl had summited all the

details at the reception office of the smithy when she had placed the order. Last evening, before leaving the

guild, Ishit had asked for the scroll from Nitya. 

Ishit, with knotted brows, started to read...

Hight of the wielder:      Three Hastas two vitastis

Strength --------- five aswas (spirit horses) 

Mental Force ( Spirit Sense)--- 20000 and so on. 

when she had placed the order. Last evening, before leaving the guild, Ishit had asked for the scroll from Nitya. 

Ishit, with knotted brows, started to read...

Hight of the wielder:      Three Hastas two vitastis

Strength --------- five aswas (spirit horses) 

Mental Force ( Spirit Sense)--- 20000 and so on. 

After memorizing all the details, Ishit put away the parchment and drew a mental map of the weapon like length, stiffness, elasticity, etc. Then he took a parchment and did some complex calculations to find the exact amount of various metals he needed to achieve these parameters. 

After some mind-numbing computations, Ishit was able to finish the job. Now was the time to design the core yantra, the most crucial part of an Astra. 

Commonly, one-star Astra didn't have sentience, but Ishit wanted to give the bow an insect level of consciousness which would nurture itself as Nadani would grow stronger. 

Giving it an edge over other one-star Astras.

Relief washed over Nitya's face, as he watched the boy finishing complex computations with ease. It was a really important step. Even the slightest bit of error could jeopardize smith's entire hard work. Each metal had its distinctive property.  These properties got altered when they were blended with others. Take the example of Atherium, the liquid metal that had the anti-gravity property. They said that, in ancient times, with the help of this metal, dwizas used to fly in the air like birds.

Atherium gained weight when it was alloyed with Nerium, the lightest metal in the world. Similarly, Velloriyam after alloying with colorless steel became elastic like a string.

Nitya continued watching as Ishit drew the core yantra, a complex geometrical design consisting of triangles, squares, and circles. A typical yantra of one-star astras. However, the master smith couldn't help but frown when the lad didn't stop there and kept sketching another complex pattern, a design he had never seen before, consisting of intricated flower patterns that you saw in the spirit shrines. 

What the boy was trying to accomplish? Yantras asked for a very skilled hand, an errorless hand. There was a reason for that. Even a smallish flaw in the design could cause a detonation--threatening the lives of both maker and wielder. That was also the reason, no one opposed Lucas yesterday when he had refused to let the lad claim his victory award. 

Yantras were souls of Astras, and you could not modify a soul. 

"May I know? What are you doing?" Nitra couldn't stop him from asking. "Wouldn't make it the bow hard to wield? You know they are named one-star Astra for a reason. " 

The more complex was a Yantra, the more spiritual sense would be needed to awaken it.    And an early apprentice didn't have much spirit sense. 

"Yes, I know, Uncle. The modification I've made will not use any spirit force, in fact, it will strengthen it.  The intricate design you see is called a mandala. It is what I was talking about during my debate with Viswa. " replied Ishit as he continued drawing, "If you use the correct combination of certain materials, this mandala will birth the mysterious energy, called the shape energy. "

"How long will it last? I also know some modifications that increase the power of Astras, but they also reduce their life spans. Generally, an Astra needs to be reforged after five or six hundred battles. But these modified astras last only two and three battles." Nitya said. 

Though the boy was well learned, he lacked the experience, which came after years of smithing. The master smith thought.

"I don't know exactly how long it will last, as it is my first time installing it. But I'm sure it will easily surpass six hundred battles," said Ishit smiling. Ishit didn't want to reveal his secret.  In reality, the bow would never need a complete re-forging. After some time, Nandni only needed to bask it into the energy field. Of course, if she wanted to upgrade its properties, she got to reforge it. 

(Note: Energy field or so-called Briga field was a mysterious field generated by burning nearly all metals using Mazada fire. This field revitalized the depleted metals.)

Nitya shook his head, but he didn't say anything.

In all these years, he had trained more than five hundred apprentices. He had seen many young men, filled with the notion that their ideas were unique and would revolutionize the smithing world. However, after working two or three years, they accept the hard truth, new concepts were not so easy to come by. 

After yantra, it was time to design the bow. However, Ishit didn't have to do anything. Nadani had chosen a pre-designed bow. Therefore, Ishit told the bears, who were waiting for his instructions, to bring the different metals. 

(for those who don't know. There was a basic spirit path, which enabled wielders to talk to spirit beasts, even without forming bonds. ) 

The two bears, one black as night and the other white as snow, were really obedient. They drooped the metal chunk in their respective furnaces, made of nagati stone and heated by the fiery breath of the dragon. Though cosmic bronze was very hard to melt, the enchanted furnace turned it into water within a blink. 

Once the metal got liquefied, Ishit took out the measured quantities of each metal with the help of a ladle Into another furnace equipped with a pyrometer, and stirrer.  He first mixed (light blue metal) atherium and Nerium(violet metal). Using the pyrometer, he adjusted the temperature to get perfect crystallization. When the color of the alloy turned green with a golden hue, he added three drops of mortal iron essence(glass-like metal), and one drop of spirit gold (smokey gold metal). 

He again adjusted the temperature and stirred the burbling liquid, while keeping an eye on the chronograph (a stopwatch, which could be turned on-off using spirit sense). 

After fifteen palas ( 1 pala=24 sec) he emptied the shimmering alloy into the casting mold, with help of telekinesis. He hurriedly took out the vial of Nandani's blood. And before the puzzled eye, he dribbled one drop.

The smithy asked for three drops of wielders, at the time taking orders.  These drops of blood were used during installing the core yantra so that Astra could identify its master's aura. 

Therefore, Ishit's action had puzzled the master smith. 

"What have you wasted away one drop, lad? Don't you know the hot metal would burn away the blood essence?" Nitya said. He could understand the modification of yantra. But this ... He saw no explanation of the boy's stupid action. 

"No. it won't.  The spirit gold will see to it. As you know spirit gold has another name in pali 'Pishach-Kanaka '(the gold of vampire). Because It has the unique ability to absorb blood. and with mortal iron essence, it can preserve it for epochs. "

Nitya cursed his stupidity. How could he forget, the boy had just poured one drop of spirit gold. 

What was the use of it? Nitya wondered. But he didn't voice out his question, for he had no desire to make a fool of himself before his apprentices, who had gathered around them after finishing their chores. The boys were as curious as him. From the puzzling looks, Nitya could make out that he would have to think of an explanation of the boy's odd action. 

After making sure that the alloy had filled the casting mold perfectly and there was no air bubble, he adjusted the cooling rate to get the desired microcrystalline structure. 

He continued to check the mold's temperature by the pyrometer and microcrystal with his spirit sense. After a few 30 palas, he dropped the remaining two blood drops and curium mercury ( a colorless liquid metal), and with help of telekinesis, he guided the two to form the planned yantra. It was a very crucial and difficult step. Because the slightest mistake could result in a blast.  The whispering of apprentices hushed up, as they watched Ishit with bated breath. 

Sweat drops appeared on Ishit 's forehead, as he continued to trace the memorized path in the solidifying metal. 

Nitya was ready to help out if any misshapen occurred. Of which he was sure. First the complexity of the yantra, and then this new experiment of the boy, adding blood using spirit gold. 

As Ishit approached the end, an invisible pressure bore down on him, as if some power wanted to stop him, warning him not to finish the yantra cum mandala.