Chapter 61: Wraith Style
The chamber was dimly lit, the glow of containment fields casting eerie reflections over the weapons displayed along the walls. Orion traced the outline of an obsidian hybrid weapon resting on a pedestal. Its surface was dark as a starless void, with veins of crimson and gold streaking through it like frozen lightning.
Orion's gaze lingered on the hybrid weapon. He turned to Varun and asked, "What is this made of?"
Varun's expression shifted ever so slightly before he answered. "You shouldn't have heard of this before." He exhaled, fingers tracing the hilt. "Veterans only see a handful of it in their whole lives going through the Rift."
Varun turned his gaze to Orion, his voice steady. "Rapture Residue Ore. The lifeblood of true weapons."
Orion turned, watching as Varun placed a hand on the shaft of the spear. "Although not much is known about the material itself, some say it resonates in ways no ordinary metal should. What is certain is that the purer the ore, the stronger the weapon—and the more exorbitant its price. The sheer value of these weapons is staggering. With the amount people are willing to pay for a single high-purity piece, one could arm a small fleet or fund a small planetary defense force."
The sheer rarity of Rapture Residue Ore meant that entire black-market syndicates and warlords sought after even the smallest fragments. Some factions offered trade agreements worth entire planetary economies just for access to a steady supply. The Confederacy itself maintained covert extraction teams, but even they lost more lives than they gained in ore.
Yet, despite its absurd value, only a handful of weapons in existence had been crafted from high-purity ore. The forging process was as mysterious as the material itself, rumored to require technology long since lost to time. Each weapon that emerged from such a process was a legend in its own right.
Orion frowned and asked, "And it can only be found in the Raptures?"
Varun nodded, his expression unreadable. Before he said. "Extracting it is a death sentence for most. It forms in the deepest fractures of the Raptures, where reality itself warps. Many have died just trying to bring a shard of it back. That's why weapons forged from it are so valuable. But it's not just about price—it's about worth," Varun said.