Chapter 11: The Gatekeepers (2)

Changing a katana’s handle was more difficult than Blake had thought.

However, because his existing handle was basic and of poor quality, he only needed to be careful with the blade.

He discarded the inferior handle without much thought and fitted Pride’s Shackle’s blade into the new, superiorly designed handle.

The new handle, wrapped in black cloth with red strings crisscrossing in an intricate pattern, was both aesthetically pleasing and comfortable to grip.

It fit Blake's blade perfectly without any need for hammering.

As he held his katana, the game system displayed a message.

Smiling, Blake sheathed the blade and placed the weapon into his inventory.

He also stored his equipment there to avoid walking around the smithy in full gear—not only because it would be odd, but also to prevent dirtying his precious armor set.

He turned his attention to the icons of the empty scrolls and selected one.

As a beta tester, Blake no longer had to use his fingers to operate the game system.

He could do anything with it through his mind, from opening it with a thought to logging out.

A simple scroll materialized before him out of thin air. Blake unrolled it, holding the edges and staring at the blank sheet.

Vargar stood beside him on a small chair, peering at the scroll as well.

An awkward silence settled over them as neither knew how to proceed.

It was true that, according to their descriptions, these scrolls could be turned into any enchantment, but they didn't explain what to write or how to compose the enchantment.

“I’ll try with a pencil,” Blake said.

“Ye sure?” Vargar gave him a skeptical glance.

Placing the scroll on the workbench, Blake wrote 'Life Steal' on the white canvas. The idea of enchanting his katana with life steal had come to him after pondering the second objective of the legendary quest.

It would allow him to tackle challenges solo without frequent breaks, as life steal would enable him to regain health by damaging his enemies.

But...

“Nothing happened,” Blake said.

“Ye,” Vargar replied, stroking his beard.

“Do you know anything about enchantments?” Blake asked the old dwarf, prompting him to close his eyes in contemplation.

After what seemed like the umpteenth stroke of his beard, Vargar opened his eyes and spoke of the tense rivalry between dwarves and elves.

As Blake tilted his head slightly, Vargar quickly added that the dwarves excelled in blacksmithing while the elves specialized in enchantments.

“Many of my kin would murder anyone for saying this, but these two concepts are similar—in their essence, at least. We shape tough metals through raw strength, fire, and ingenuity, giving birth to various weapons, armor, utensils, tools—the list goes on. Depending on the blacksmith and his skills, each item gains different stats and abilities. Ye could say that ye have enchanted yer katana with three skills upon its creation.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Word has it that the elves are the opposite of us,” Vargar concluded.

The old dwarf didn't seem to know more about the elves and their enchantment principles, which was unfortunate.

Nonetheless, he'd given Blake a few ideas.

Had Blake realized how little was known about elves, he would have appreciated Vargar's knowledge even more.

“Opposite... so they enchant already-made items and use mana?” Blake mused aloud, prompting a few nods from the old dwarf.

Vargar said, “It appears The Lost King’s dynasty understood that these two concepts are unbeatable when combined and excelled at them more than we did. If it weren’t for our differences, perhaps we would have reached the Lost Kingdom’s level by now.”

Once again, the old dwarf made a statement that would infuriate both races, but he only laughed heartily.

As Blake listened to the old man, he checked the scroll’s description again.

“Is this like getting a taste of limitless enchantment?” Blake thought aloud.

Each of these skills consumed half of his mana and would either curse or bless. Neither skill explained exactly how it worked, suggesting that their effects depended on the target.

'Something like blessing a fire item would make it burn more intensely or cause flames that last much longer... I guess?' Blake thought. 'If I use Endless Curse on my katana, will the weapon debuff others or will it get debuffed?'

Initially, Blake thought he might gain permanent life steal from Endless Curse, as he considered life steal to be a debuff. But there was a chance he'd weaken his katana instead, harming himself in the process.

If life steal belonged under Infinite Blessing, then he'd regret not realizing sooner.

Although eager, Blake restrained himself from making any moves.

“Let’s forge a weapon with the wasted iron ore,” he said.

Trial and error once again!