It was weird waking up for the ancient enchanter. Not only because he had almost forgotten what sleeping felt like, but what affected him the most was the lack of a companion. He had lived to much time with the core to his side, connected to his own soul. Yet now he was alone.

He didn’t fear death. For that he was immortal. He didn’t fear the gods. For that he had befriended them. But he did fear loneliness. Even when he closed himself inside his tower, the core was always by his side. The magical computer lacked any type of ego, yet it was the best companion Nido could wish for.

“I feel like shit.” He groaned as he got up from the cold floor.

Nido got out the storage room, only to find the first floor empty. The chairs were left on top of the tables, and the windows were closed.

“It seems I have awakened up too early.” He groaned once more, lamenting the hours of sleep he had just lost. “I guess I’ll do something productive.”

An enchanter needs multiple things to do their work. Materials are important, but looking at his Spectral Staff of Minor Illusion, they aren’t everything. Tools are also a contributing factor to a better final product. Nido knew this and had crafted the best omnitool in all of the world, the Tower’s Core.

But the most important element of them all was experience. It was more of a given; every profession required experience. The more time you work in one thing, the better you are at it. As simple as that. Talent wasn’t really needed in enchanting, and Nido had proven it achieving his level with such nefarious mana properties. And yet, even after saying so, the old enchanter had a different answer.

Versatility.

Being able to do everything is the base foundation for enchanting. The more enchantments are learned, the more elements are used in an item, the better. A close-minded enchanter wouldn’t have used their own nails to carve wood to enchant an staff. They wouldn’t have combined two elements because of the sake of it. But Nido knew better. A byproduct of centuries of research.

“Alright, this is good enough.” He weighted a sizeable pebble, he had found around the inn cobblestone ground, on his hand. “I guess I should start.”

The enchanter summoned the tools from his Enchanting perk. Today the chisel and hammer would prove adequate for the job. His costumer was a bard who wanted a bonus in Dexterity, a minimum of two. But he wouldn’t be satisfied with doing the bare minimum. He had to go even beyond.

“A bard, huh.” He pondered on the usage of enchantments and elements. “An increase in dexterity can be obtained by a life or air rune. But a bard doesn’t need extra healing, I should go with Air.”

He quickly found himself in a predicament. Whilst he could enchant items with Life, Death, Light, Chaos, and Arcane without needing to waste mana or drawing power from the ether net, the basic Elemental star was another thing.

“I rely to much in tenet for enchanting.” He sighed, remembering how difficult it was for him at the beginning to find the right elements for the right enchantment. “I’ll either need an aeromancer, or…” Nido burst out laughing after fooling around. “Or I could just use the ether as always.”

Ether enchanting was superior as to common enchanting, but it was far more versatile. The local ether net always contained every element. Depending on the ecosystem there would be plentiful of certain elements, and insufficient others. In a human town the most common elements were Life and Chaos. But you could also find Fire and Death easily. If he wanted to obtain plentiful of Air-imbued ether, he needed to fly up to the sky, two-hundred meters up at minimum. Which was currently beyond him.

Yet the local Air element was more than enough. The gust of wind carried by the sea currents was powerful enough to make decent enchantments. He would have had a problem with elements like Void, Time, or Space. But he scarcely enchanted with them for a reason.

“What can I transform this pebble into, though?” Aside from the enchanting part, enchanters also were like jewelers. They needed to know what the best item for the job was. “A ring? No, none would like a ring with an incrusted rock. A bracelet? Better, but it could bother her whilst she tries to play the lute.”

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For the moment, he decided to first enchant the pebble, and then think in what to transform it into. With the help of the ether, such basic enchants required no effort at all. Carving the rune into the small rock with the chisel was the hardest part.

He hadn’t kept count of the time, but it was long enough for the inn mistress to wake up.

“Ah! You scared me!” Matilda’s sister exclaimed as she noticed Nido. “What are you doing in the counter?” She began opening the windows at the inn. The enchanter had totally forgotten he was working in partial obscurity.

“Enchanting.” Nido told as a matter of fact, not bothering to look at her as he finished the air rune.

“Are you enchanting a rock?” She asked once she opened every window. The tavern was drowned by the early rays of sun.

“The correct terminology is pebble, but yes. I’m enchanting a rock.” He didn’t need to use his skills for the job, but stone engraving required a lot of precision and concentration.

“Isn’t that a bit counterproductive?” She asked, now putting the chairs in place. “I mean, I’m not an enchanter, but I haven’t seen my sister never enchanting rocks.”

“It’s not the best. But it’s far from the worst.” Nido started imbuing the empty rune with ether. “There used to be stone armors because they were easy to enchant with Earth. Heavy, but extremely resistant.”

“Why would someone use such cumbersome armor?” The innkeeper ask, now sitting before him in the other side of the counter. “And most importantly, how?”

“As for the why, geomancers could craft a full set of armor and enchant it themselves in a matter of minutes. Giving a solid defense at a cheap price with fast production.” Nido cracked his neck and let the pebble drop in the counter as he finished the air rune. “As for how that was possible, enchanters would either supply the armor wearers with strength rings or add weight reducing enchantment to the stone itself.”

“Huh, makes sense?” She shook her head side to side in order to convince herself. “How is it that I’ve never heard of such armors?”

“Because metalworking and metal enchanting has progressed far over the ages.” The ancient enchanter told. “Stone armors are a thing of the distant past now.” His explanation was disguised with a bit of melancholy.

“Would you like something to eat?” The wench asked a minute of uncomfortable silence.

“I have no money to pay it with.” Nido remembered her the fact.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a downer.” She replied with a laugh. “Consider it a gift for the story. And either way, food taste much better when eating with someone.”

“Well, I’m no one to refuse the courtesy of a woman.” The enchanter accepted.

“Alright, wait for a minute, honey.”

Honey? Oh, right. I forgot I look young again. This is maybe weirder than the whole Arcane Records thing. Matilda’s sister came back with bread, a wheel of cheese, and a couple of fried eggs after five minutes.

“This are fresh eggs, so you better not leave a spec on the plate.” The woman joked.

“I didn’t intend to in the first place. I could eat a whole cow right now.” It was a sweet lie. He wasn’t even hungry, but his stomach would appreciate the food.

“What a shame that I only brought you eggs and cheese.” The woman cut a loaf from the brick of bread. “Better than going back to the guild with an empty stomach, right?”

“Sure, ma’am.” Nido cut a piece of cheese for himself.

“Please, call me Marta. Something tells me you will spend a few days here.”

“Only if you call me Nido.”

“An acceptable trade, Nido.” She tried to imitate the voice of a merchant. Tried being the keyword.

“Wait a second.” Nido suddenly asked. “Your sister is Matilda, and you are Marta? Your parents weren’t the most creative bunch.”

“It’s not the best. But it’s far from the worst.” Marta replied with the enchanter’s phrase.

“Yeah, sure.” He scoffed after having eaten his eggs. “They could have called you with the same name. Imagine, Marta and Marta.”

“Oh, it would have been funny.” Marta laughed.

“And chaotic. Pretty much chaotic.” Nido added.

“Anyways, shouldn’t be on your way to the guild?” Marta asked him after they had finished their breakfast.

“Wait, it’s already open?” It was pretty early in the morning, after all.

“Not yet, but my sister is a morning person, and will open the guild soon. You should get on your way.”

“I’ll trust you then. I’m rather new to the city, and well, everything.” Nido stood up.

“What, where were you living in a cave or something?” The innkeeper joked.

“No, but I was certainly aisled from the outside world. I recently got out, but… it didn’t really end well.” He pointed at himself. “I suppose I will run some commissions on the guild until I gather a decent chunk of money.”

“So, you won’t stay in the city?” Marta picked up the plates and left them in the sink.

“I need to search for someone and staying in the city won’t help in that regard, I’m afraid.”

“What a shame, I could do with more of these accompanied breakfasts.” Marta feigned a sigh. “Either way, I shouldn’t entertain you more. Come on, you wouldn’t like to be late.”

“See you later, Marta.” Nido grabbed the pebble and his staff and made his way to the door.

“You too, Nido. I expect you to pay the dinner tonight.”

“I will!” He replied and left the inn.