Interstellar: Exploring The Cosmos With My Anomaly System
Chapter 58: Shells

Chapter 58: Shells

"Here!" Astra announced, her voice ringing with triumph as she strode into the heart of the village. The clatter of shells spilled from her arms, cascading into a haphazard pile at her feet.

Sunlight caught the iridescent edges of the shells—fragments of clams, oysters, and scallops in pearly whites, seafoam greens, and muted pinks—scattering prismatic flecks across the dusty ground.

Behind her, the village lay in ruins, splintered wooden beams jutted like broken bones from collapsed huts, the acrid tang of smoke clung to the air, and villagers moved sluggishly through the debris, their faces smudged with ash and exhaustion.

"Shells?" Belk questioned, his gaze filled with skepticism at her logic

Vagnis squinted at the pile, his brows knitting together. "What’re we going to do with shells?" He gestured toward the wreckage, where a child’s tattered doll made of hay laid half-buried under a collapsed roof.

"We need stone, timber—something solid. This?" He kicked a shell, sending it skittering. "This’ll barely patch a crack."

Astra ignored his skepticism, her eyes gleaming as she snatched a wide, shallow bowl carved from porous volcanic rock.

"We’re making concrete," she declared, sweeping the shells into the container. Sylvi, a girl no older than ten with dirt-streaked cheeks, looked on with curious eyes as she walked to her side. crouching beside her, clutching a gnarled stick.

Together, they began crushing the shells, the rhythmic crack-crunch echoing like brittle music. Flecks of calcium sprayed upward, catching the sunlight like glitter.

"Concrete?" Sylvi whispered, pausing to tilt the bowl. The powder inside shimmered, fine as desert sand, as if Astra had bottled starlight.

"Sort of," Astra said, ruffling the girl’s tangled hair. "This is calcium carbonate. Humans used it for centuries—to strengthen soil, build roads, even craft monuments that outlasted empires."

She sifted the powder through her fingers, letting it cascade back into the bowl. "Mix this with sand, heat it, and it becomes mortar. Stronger than clay, harder than dried mud. And when it sets?" She grinned.

"It traps warmth like a hearthstone."

Belk, lean and sharp-jawed with arms perpetually crossed over his chest, edged closer. His calloused fingers brushed the bowl’s rough edge as he took it, skepticism etched into his frown. "So... we burn sand and magic dust, and poof—our huts stand again?"

Astra chuckled. "No magic. Chemistry." She tapped the bowl. "The shells bind the sand. Fire transforms them. It’s alchemy, magic, but predictable."

Vagnis snorted. "And how long until this ’predictable alchemy’ actually works?"

"Long enough to gather more shells," Astra shot back, nodding toward the gates of the village. "Take the others. They’re tons by the rivers. If you find an open beach let me know."

Belk hesitated, his gaze lingering on the powder. For a moment, his stern mask slipped, curiosity flickering in his eyes. "And what’ll you do?"

Astra straightened, wiping her hands on her cargo pants before planting a hand on his shoulder. "When you’re done showing them you’re with me. We’re making other stuff. Time you learned the difference between guesswork and science."

"Huh!? I know real science!" Belk bristled, though his ears flushed pink as he pulled his shoulder away, his voice growing defensive. "I fixed the ironmill didn’t I?"

"That’s true," Astra said, her laughter warm and unyielding. Belk’s scowl deepened, but he didn’t pull away as she steered him toward a cluster of clay jars, her voice softening. "Though science is more than just hitting stones together and knowing what happens,"

"Science isn’t just sparks and stones—it’s asking why to turn what you see into what you know." She said softly, her Belk’s hand looking to her hand then her eyes, the technician smiling softly. "Plus I’ll need you to help me fix Sky Piercer when we’re done gathering everything we need."

Belk’s eyes lit up as she mentioned the ship he prematurely named, a new wave of excitement washing over him as he nodded.

"Right!"

Astra grinned and turned to Vagnis, her eyes filled with a silent apology. "Sorry man you’re gonna have to lead this one,"

"No problem," Vagnis nodded and smiled, hand waving off the mention as if it was no big deal. Sylvi looked up at him, her big doe eyes filled with confusion but played along with it.

"Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask," she continued, her voice carrying a slight lilt of intrigue. Vagnis raised an eyebrow at her prolonged thought, watching as she briefly hesitated before continuing. "Did you notice anything weird? Like a sign that said you ranked up or anything?"

"A sign?" he repeated, tilting his head slightly as he processed her question. His gaze drifted downward to his hands, fingers curling slightly as if trying to grasp a fleeting memory. He remained still for a moment, his eyes narrowing in concentration before suddenly darting skyward as if the answer might be written in the clouds. The moment passed, and he shook his head with certainty. "No, not at all, but I did feel different, better even!"

"Better, huh..." she mused, tapping her fingers idly against her arm as her mind wandered through possibilities. Just as she started to piece together a theory, a sharp, crystalline chime rang through the air, yanking her from her thoughts.

[Stats!] the system’s familiar voice echoed, its directive firm as it highlighted Vagnis. Astra hummed softly in acknowledgment, unphased by the sudden feature. She had long since grown accustomed to its unexpected intrusions. Her eyes flicked to the cascading list of data that unfurled beside him, glowing with an ethereal sheen.

[Vagnis: age 20 [Class: Craftsman!]:

Level: 6

HP: 100/100

Energy: 45

Dexterity: 58 +15

Intelligence: 12]

Craftsman role adds a proficiency with anything that can be made, making them stronger than the materials they’re made with, this roll is not natural to this species.

"Then how did you learn it..." She pondered to herself, her brow furrowing with confusion "Weird..."

[Where are you?] Celi chimed in her mind, snapping her out of her thoughts, she almost forgot she’s meant to go to the forest again.

"Right, I’ll leave this to you for now," She muttered to a portal opening up by her side, looking at Belk who watched as she left. "Don’t take too long, kay?"

Belk smiled softly and nodded watching as she disappeared into the pulsing portal soon closing behind her.

"Sorry! I’m here now!" Astra announced when she got to the other side, just stepping out of the portal to the spot they were previously. Celi beats her tail against the earth impatiently before standing without a word, her glazed over eyes staring down the forest as if checking for any new signs of danger. Before sitting right in front of her, her tail swinging behind her in an almost annoyed expression.

"You’re acting strange," Celi pointed out, her gaze fixed on the slight smile still lingering on Astra’s face—a stark contrast to her usual resting bitch face persona.

"Strange?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side in a clueless expression, the mere sight of it catching Celi off guard.

"Well..." She sighed, getting up on all fours, padding around in a sense of urgency as she spoke. "No matter. We need to focus."

"Right," Astra nodded.

Celi turned to her, her eyes glowing a light blue hue that soon illuminated the area around them.

"I’ve been near to their base, sadly that’s as far as I could go." It showed the two peaks that reached for the vast sky on the other side of this forest, the clouds curved around them as if drawn to it, its tip showered in ice.

"They’re nestled in the twin mountains," Celi announced, the projection zooming in to show their village between the cracks of the two mountains, and their blindspots covered by a wall of steel and iron. "If we want to get in, we’re going to have to do so by having an inside man."

"How we gonna do that?" The technician pondered, sitting crosswise as she listened to Celi’s plan, the neowolf raised her head as if to process for a mere moment her eyes widened for just a moment as the idea came to her.

"We use the captive you brought back." She muttered, as if testing the idea on her tongue before she said it aloud, her eyes darted back to Astra. "We’ll use Lailla,"

"Like a hostage?" Astra asked, her arms crossed as she considered the hostage route, only to be cut off by Celi who shook her head.

"No, She goes in for us." She corrected, the outlandish question caused Astra to blink twice, not knowing whether to laugh or be concerned, but Celi looked at her with a serious gaze that she couldn’t play off as being from somewhere that isn’t logical.

"How will we even get her on our side..." She groaned, her hand digging through her back hair as if scraping for ideas, her brow furrowed in fatigue at the hoops they’ll have to go through.

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