Xane woke up in his bed in the inn. “How did I get here?” Last thing he remembered was getting so tired. His entire being felt empty beyond measure. The dagger. He was enchanting a dagger. He finished it right? Looking around he couldn’t find it anywhere with him. Not even in his ring though he had no memory of putting it in there. “Must still be with Warren then.”

He also found that he had a new notification.

Congratulations! you can choose a profession.

Professions are a way of life and ways to gain income for those who choose not to fight. They vary in strength and rarity. Choose wisely for you can only have 3 Professions and can't be changed. Unlike classes, Professions can be taken after level 10.

Professions available:

Enchanter:

Imbue objects with magical power.

“Described as ever” Xane complained. Without further thought he chose the enchanter and got the next message.

Congratulations! You have chosen the Profession Enchanter.

Enchanter(Rare): Level 1

+2% to all damage/effectiveness of enchantments you create per level.

-2% mana cost of creating enchantments per level.

+.5 to intelligence and wisdom per level.

It was also added to his character sheet. Something he hadn’t paid attention too in a while but nothing of real importance needed his attention there. +.5 didn’t seem like much. But if you looked at a profession like Cook. you would see the difference. A cook only got +.1 per level in constitution. That was a drastic difference. On top of that it rounded down no matter what. You could have 10.99 strength but the system would see it as only 10. Not that he could find out if it was possible to get .99.

He went down stairs and had a meal telling Calrin that he was going to go back to Warren’s. “Yeah, well have fun. But don’t expect me to go and drag you out of there next time.” It sounded more like a threat than a statement.

“I’ll try not to.” Xane said exasperated. The way back by himself wasn’t too bad. He did think he saw some people eying him from around a corner. And then swore he saw the same people a bit later. They had a hood the second time so he couldn’t tell by their face. Most of the poorer people had near identical plane clothing making it hard to distinguish them. He decided to just hurry up.

When he got the the checkpoint he showed his papers and was able to pass. He took a glance behind him but didn’t see anything suspicious. The rest of the way he made it to Warren’s shop and was led to the back again. “Welcome back whelp. Today you’ll be doing more or less the same from yesterday.” Two things. Xane was hoping that he was going to be learning something new. And second he was hoping the whole “whelp” thing was going to be over with.

He signed at the same time Lyenn sighed in his mind. “Of course Warren.”

“You will call me Master or Master Warren as customary for your tutelage.” She said this while another stack of paper and what looked like ink floated from a tall shelf to the table he worked at before.

Xane thought about arguing for a better name if she wanted to be called Master then he should be at least called student. He knew better and didn’t bother. “Yes Master Warren.”

“She got ruder fast.” Lyenn complained for him.

Yes but I need this to learn faster. Having her teach me is going to expedite the plans than if I were to do it based off the books.

“Well you’d have to assume that she is a high level in the profession. The books give a 25% average learning speed. But yeah she probably is giving an increase of 60% or more based off of her wares she sells.” She acquiesced. Lyenn went back to watching movies. Something he was running low on. He really didn’t watch many shows or movies. Most of them were because of either Sierra or Barnesly. Barnsley for the scifi and fantasy stuff. And Sierra for mostly comedies and reality tv shows.

“Master Warren, where is the dagger I made last night?” Xane asked hoping to add it to his weaponry.

“Disposed of.”

“What! Why”

“Didn’t I tell you? That enchantment was a test. It isn’t a true enchantment. It is mana intensive to see how a hopeful student might fair and where their skill is at. You did quite well I might add.” That saddened Xane for a mere moment till he realized he was complemented.

The day was as interesting as the day before. He worked on infusing the parchments with mana. Unlike last time Warren actually gave tips. She showed him what he was doing wrong. Which he was doing quite a bit wrong. Firstly he was making the tendrils incorrectly. The way he did it worked but was inefficient. His insane stats the only thing letting him do it. There was a much simpler way. It was a skill. Why didn’t he think that there was a skill.

You have learned a new skill!

Mana Manipulation(common): Novice Rank 1

One of the first skills any aspiring magic user gains, this basic skill increases one's ability to control their mana.

-1% to mana cost

+2% to controlling mana constructs

Apparently it was hard to learn it without being taught. Why Lyenn didn’t inform him of it was simple,”Kinda thought you already had it.” Xane just sighed and went back to his work.

By the end of the day he had gained an astounding 5 levels in his Profession. Warren told him that she wasn’t amazing at Runesmithing but would teach him the basics later. He didn’t mind learning this was hard enough. This went on for 2 more days and another 8 levels until finally something changed.

“You will notice that you aren’t gaining as much levels as before. Similar to classes and personal level you will get less experience from doing the same thing over and over again. I needed your level to be higher though to start doing true enchantments.” This exited Xane until she spoke again,”You still aren't high enough so I will have you imbue books instead. Similar to a single parchment you need to imbue it with mana. Unlike a single parchment it is more expensive if you mess up. About 25 books should give you enough to get to level 15.

It was more than level 15 when he finished the 25 books he was asked to do. He also only messed up 3 times which seemed to please Warren. However this was a full days work taking 16 hours with breaks to regen. Something he noticed was that his regen was higher than before. Not just because of the stat boost. Lyenn told him the room he was working in probably had a mana condenser and it was turned off the first time. That was on top of the natural higher mana density of the city which boosted mana regen by over double the speed just by being in the city. Xane could tell more and more why they would risk living right above a giant hole in the ground.

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The best part was that he leveled up his personal level. He shoved the 6 points into agility seeing as his next 100. Lyenn said this was normal but getting experience from Professions was a slow way to level as it barely gave anything.

The 4th day was a better different. He learned actual enchantments. “The work you have done for me will pay for 2 enchantments.” His face must have said it all. “Even being a friend of that rascal Calrin this ain’t free. Now come closer whelp so I can bestow them upon you.”

He did as told and the memories were inserted into his mind. He learned 2 new enchantments. One he kinda already knew. But could now tell the differences. It was the true version of the durability enchantment. The other was to add a slight protection that would be able to more easily absorb blows. Both were lesser. He was confused about the difference and asked. “If a piece of armor was more durable wouldn’t it be able to protect better?”

“Yes and no. The durability enchantment just makes the piece last longer from natural wear and tear. And minor protection against acids and the like. While the protection enchantment actively tries to block blows magical and unmagical. Remember enchantments are technically living.” That explained it mostly but what truly did it for him was comparing the two. While the durability one strengthened what was already there the protection enchantment added another layer that was invisible. “Now get to work. You’ll need to supply your own gear but anything you don't want I'll buy from you to sell.” She said the last part with a merchant's grin.

Xane had already purchased a bunch of basic things to enchant. Cheap weapons and armor. With gusto he went to work. The durability enchantment was easy with the way harder one he had down allowing him to breeze through them. It also didn’t cost nearly as much mana as before. It was still up to 70% of his mana pool but not the insane amount as the test one. Xane didn’t mess up any of the ones he put that enchantment on.

The protection enchantment was another story. He destroyed 2 pairs of gauntlets, 1 pair of boots, and 3 leather chest pieces. Why? Warren told him a bit angrily. “You need to be more careful about what you choose to enchant. Cheap leathers and poorly crafted things are much harder to enchant due to instability. You’ll need to purchase better gear to test on. Lucky it isn’t metal or it might explode, tossing shrapnel everywhere.” Leather just dissolves after a small pop similar to paper.

He still used what he had even though the smell of failure was really bad. He also didn’t have a lot more liquid currency. His supply of coins was dwindling. Which is why he sold his enchanted things for a pittance. It was way more than a farmer would ever see in their life but was nothing compared to what he needed to spend on this.

Warren again helped him out a bit later. In the end he was able to make 6 weapons, and 14 pieces of armor with enchantments in a span of 8 days. Which was fast. But not really. Since they were such low ranked enchantments he was able to churn them out. Plus the increased mana regen and help from Warren. He sold them all for a hefty amount. It was only a small profit from what he spent on it all.

He also made it to level 21 in Enchanter. He was now higher level than his actual level in only 2 weeks. This was fast and Xane thought maybe his faster learning speed from his ability helped a bit. Even still for most people their Profession was higher if they weren’t fighting constantly. Since you had 3 professions and they didn’t do much, people believed the system deemed it to be a less rigorous task. Professions were also very hard to upgrade since they didn’t just do so by leveling like classes. There could be a level 180 cook that never upgraded to something better like royal cook or chef.

For example a royal cook was someone with the cooking Profession that then was hired as a royal cook. Sooner or later they will randomly be offered a quest to upgrade it from cook to royal cook. It was usually cook something insanely hard to make for their king or whatever.

He also used up pretty much all the crystal powder he had in the ring. That of which half way through Xane was yelled at for using way too much. As Warren said, “Using more does nothing but waste money. Make sure you are portioning correctly.” Xane didn’t like wasting money and took it to heart. It was a little late though and he purchased more from Warren at a ‘discount’. It took a chunk of his profits to do so.

Xane complained to Calrin about the money problem and Calrin stated that they had a gig coming up and was hoping Xane would come along. Xane said yes more to take a break from work more than the desire for the funds. That however was another 4 days away and he really wanted to get things right so he could get his gear enchanted before then.

Something he didn’t tell anyone was that he had started runesmithing in his off time. With a high constitution he didn’t need as much sleep as before. Just 5ish hours a day instead of the old 8. With being barely active he could push it even further. However the mental drain of enchanting stopped that. He did though take an hour or two before sleeping most nights learning from his book.

He had already read both books completely and memorized them. However, it was weird. It felt like he barely learned without actually referencing from the book. Lyenn had told him it was part of the magic of the book and how the system worked.

Something he hadn’t done was learn the few rudimentary enchantments from his enchanting book. It was different than just being taught it though. He had to actually try to learn it. Not just memorize it. There were only 4 with 2 he just learned. They were however stronger at minor. That of which he didn’t think he would be able to pull off anytime soon.

Back to runesmithing. It was completely different. He needed to carve into things for them to then do something. Both books had notes written in them by the previous owner. Giving better advice. One of those was to use a special set of carving tools made from rune enhanced bone of something called a derciny. He had those in the set and followed the designs in the book that would make it to where two pieces of metal would spark a flame when touched together.

The metal was only three by one inches and he had to cram in a lot of delicately carved runes and symbols in them. He much preferred this over enchanting. It was calming if intensive in concentration. It wasn’t draining however like enchanting. The worst part was that a single mess up had him needing to restart. A misaligned line or too oval of a circle could cause it to not work or as Xane was starting to fear, explode upon use. Mana was dangerous. Who knew.

He didn’t let it get to that stage though and within the few days of doing this he had a pile in his ring of 47 mistakes. The metal was really cheap, just iron. Iron was one of the most common metals in this world. He could also take them back to be resmelted. The many forges in this city all knew what an aspiring runesmith needed and told him so the moment he asked for the things. The metal rectangles were useful for many runesmithing crafts so he bought a lot.

To get the Profession he needed to at least finish one project. There was an easier rune he could do but he would need to finish 50 of them and it was a short lived glow rune. He first thought that he didn’t want to do repetitive things again like with Warren and her paper. Of course he should have known it was going to be repetitive in his mistakes.

It was his final try of the night when he was able to get both pieces done. The hardest part was the second one. It had to be the antithesis of the first. And when both touched each other it would create a spark to light tinder and the like. He thought about testing it immediately but instead put them away as he looked over his new message.

Congratulations! You can choose a Profession.

Professions are a way of life and ways to gain income for those who choose not to fight. They vary in strength and rarity. Choose wisely for you can only have 3 Professions and can't be changed. Unlike classes, Professions can be taken after level 10.

Runesmithing(Rare): Level 1

+2% to all damage/effectiveness of runes you create per level.

+1% to stability per level.

+1% mistake variable per level.

+.5 to intelligence and dexterity per level.

That was useful and he was double dipping into intelligence. He knew that it didn’t directly relate to true intelligence but liked the idea of it going up. Big number nice. And it was his highest stat and he liked it that way. Lyenn had told him that it helped with eyesight as well and he assumed that is why it was given for this profession. Even with such a high stat pool of intelligence his eyes strained to stare at the intricate lines for too long.

He managed to go up to level 5 in the profession. And get enchantment another 3 making it 24. The boost to stats was minor but nice. This did take up the remainder of the days before Calrin’s plan to go on a mission. Xane finally risked his armor giving it all the protection enchantment. With skill and a bit of luck he managed to get all pieces he wore with the enchantment. Something he knew was possible was dual enchantments but lacked the ability to do so. If he did he would have tried to make them more durable as well.

What he also managed to do was raise his wisdom above 100.

Congratulations! You have gained a new feat.

Wisecrack: Gain 100 points in wisdom

Have a chance to innately sense when a spell or skill is being cast on you.