Last of the Fae Chapter 105: Crafting Session Pt. 2

With flask in hand, Thane's mana poured out of his body, but this time, he directed the magical energy down towards the mithril rod which held the mana-producing seed. 

The moment Thane's mana grazed the metallic rod, it was immediately absorbed. At first, there was no visual difference, but as Thane continuously channeled mana into the rod, it began to glow with a cyan light. 

Then a switch seemed to flip as Thane felt the rod actively pull mana from his reserves, even from several feet below him. But that was what Thane wanted. Without having to direct his mana into the mithril rod, Thane moved on to the next phase of the ritual. 

Holding out his hand, Thane watched as the bloody gash across his palm began to bleed profusely. But instead of the blood pooling in his hand, it streamed through the air in a crimson river, bending and swirling until it funneled directly into the seed. 

In a morbid sight, Thane poured his lifeblood into the seed, but it had seemingly no effect. Liter after liter vanished into the seed, but instead of stopping, Thane held the flask of blood restorative draught to his lips and started to drink from the glass bottle. 

The heavy medicinal taste, due to the high alchemical efficiency, was nauseating, but Thane had no choice. After a second, He achieved a form of balance by regenerating as much blood as he was losing. But Thane only had a limited amount of potion and could only hope he had gotten the amount right. 

Thane continued to pour his mana and blood into the ritual while observing the seed and mithril for any sign of something going wrong. 

But the procedure was surprisingly anti-climatic, with little of anything happening besides the mithril rod glowing a bit brighter every few minutes. 

That all changed, however, when Thane's reserves reached fifty percent. By that point, the mithril rod was glowing like a miniature sun, and there was a slight charge to the air around it. 

Thane forcefully cut his mana off from the piece of mithril before it could siphon anymore and focused as he manifested his remaining mana. However, Thane shaped it as he utilized his intrinsic magic instead of letting it flow freely from his body. 

After a second, two streams of magical energy poured from Thane, one a dark brown, almost black, with a metallic sheen while the other was a shimmering green with silver flecks dispered through out. 

Both streams of magic reach the mithril and seed at the same time and Thane watched as everything was set into motion. 

With the intense surge of life attributed mana the mana seed sprouted with an audible crack as the shell spit and stark white wood started to grow over the mithril rod. 

At the same time, the earth attributed mana poured into the mithril which started to grow crystal like branches. 

Sweat beaded up on Thane's brow as he found his focus split in multiple directions as he poured his blood, life, and earth mana into the ritual. Then scrapping together every remaining shred of his willpower Thane activated the formation inscribed into the ground.  

The metal runes glowed with a blinding light as a stifling presence descended on the area isolating everything inside from the surroundings. Which of course included Thane, his blood, mana, and the wooden metal amalgamation growing beneath him. 

With the stifling pressure, the massive amount of mana floating through the air found itself restricted unable to move freely. 

Thane breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the massive mental toll of controlling his mana so precisely lessen significantly. 

Reaching out Thane connected himself to the formation and winced as his mind experienced a sensory overload. He could feel every single mote of mana and Thane knew that he could control them. 

With a heavy exhale Thane began to shape the mass of wood and mithril ignoring the stabbing pain that seemed to grow in intensity with each passing second.

At first, there was no noticeable change but slowly, ever so slowly the metal and wood started to fuse. Not only in appearance but in attributes as well. 

The rigid mithril became more supple and flexible, while the softwood hardened and became more dense. 

The transformation was painfully slow but eventually, Thane lost himself in the details as he moved each individual mote of mana mixing the life and earth-attributed energies into one homogenous blend all while his blood and mana continued to pour into the ritual. 

Thane didn't know how much time his passed when he felt his mana reserve run dry, but he had finished the last of the blood restorative draught what seemed like eons ago. 

Thane was in a bad state, physically mentally, and magically. All of his resources were in the red and just staying conscious proved to be a struggle. But his efforts had been worth it. 

Thane smiled as he stared down at the fruits of his labors. A gnarled wooden staff hovered in the middle of the formation circle, the previously stark white wood had turned a dark brown almost black hue with streaks of glowing green sap visible across the uneven surface. 

But as startling as the staff's appearance was, its sheer size was also awe-worthy. The length of wood was nearly seven feet tall, with the bottom ending in a sharp point while the top was a curved hook. Even more impressive however was the magical aspects of the staff that only those with experience crafting magical artifacts could appreciate. 

'Living elder wood for the base, a core of perfectly forged mithril, and my blood as a magical catalyst.' Thane ran through all the magical logistics in his head. Each component had its nature and strengths so making them work in tandem was the accomplishment of a lifetime. 

'Only one more thing to do,' Thane muttered with an exhausted smile as he pulled the flaming silver vapor still contained in a shell of his mana. 

Taking the shell within his hand Thane lowered himself to the ground and stood for the first time in what felt like days. 

Placing his hand on either side of the shell it only took a slight extortion of pressure for the mana to crack. 

The moment the shell's integrity was compromised the silver vapor ignited into an inferno of silver flames that engulfed Thane and the magical staff. 

Of course, Thane wasn't affected but his own flames, but the same couldn't be said about the staff. 

The wood ignited like dry tinder but instead of being reduced to ash, the staff absorbed the flames gaining silver glowing streaks in addition to the green sap. 

In a matter of second the flames vanished leaving behind the staff that Thane finally reach out and wrapped his hand around.