Phila, the 2nd 10,391
Six had taught people before, training new groundsmen at work and even teaching people some of his hobbies, this coven of enchanters were to serve the community but Six soon realized an unforeseen benefit. Enchantment was something Six was interested in and teaching the basic concepts allowed Six to recontextualize the information personally. What he had gained with the skill book was expertise and knowledge but not experience or perspective, reviewing from the ground up solved that.
Charles and Tavi both proved adept at enchantment, but in different ways. Charles apparently had an affinity for earth and dark magic while Tavi had affinity for fire and air, all in the high eighties. Charles assured Six that anything above an eighty percent affinity meant that the person could reach master rank in the skill. Tavi’s enchantment affinity was 91% but Charles unfortunately did not know his.
“You don’t know yours?” Tavi asked with the snarkiness of a privileged youth.
“I don’t know mine either,” Six said diplomatically.
“Yes but you are some weird ignorant guy.”
“Rude.”
“Well that’s what Charles said.”
Six placed a hand on his chest and gasped in his most offended voice.
Charles cleared his throat. “I did attend the academy but no, I don’t know mine.”
“Why?” Tavi asked.
“It’s something personal.”
“Come on.”
“Don’t be insubordinate.”
“Pssh, in here we’re student peers.”
“Well, it's still personal.”
“Bu-”
“Eh, leave him alone.” Six broke in. “What I want to know is why you don’t know any magic, Charles.”
Charles sighed. “It's personal.”
Six shrugged. “Aight, no problem. I can teach you a few earth magic spells if you want.”
Charles hesitated.
“Empire’s dead kid, you might wanna take the power.”
The boy nodded. “Fine.”
Tavi gasped. “You can’t do that Charles. You’re an imperial and that means no magic unless by royal or guild permit.”
“What royals? They’re all dead, and the guild are clearly traitors. What exactly would I be betraying by strengthening myself?”
Tavi pouted but stayed quiet.
Six grunted. “Ok, I think I can show you a few but later.”
Instead, Six brought them and a few others through the basics of enchanting. Feeling the mana within you, drawing and condensing it, and projecting it out, through one’s body. He made sure to focus on the dangers of pushing an enchantment past the item's stability threshold, how it could potentially be fatal. He handed out the enchantment tools he claimed from the complex and instructed on their use.
The students started their journey with simple items, and simple weapons. Daggers and clothes or the like.
Three of them were immediately able to infuse mana, just for a brief moment as they broke concentration and the mundane mana core that each of them held shattered and broke apart, dissolving into dust.
This venture was going to be expensive, as training subordinates usually was. It was good that the rainforest was thick with monsters.
The successes were Charles, Tavi, and one more, an older man, a bandit who volunteered for service.
His name was Biggo and he was larger than Six, laden with thick slabs of muscle. A lumpy shaved head and beady eyes produced a shark like image. He looked like a meathead but Six knew better than to judge a book by its cover. He also didn’t know his enchanting affinity.
“Good job, Biggo.”
“Thanks.” The man rumbled.
The others continued to try as Six doled out a new mana core to each of the ones that succeeded and bade them to continue. The first few days would be finding the most promising and then it would be teaching them well enough for them to teach others.
For now, while they practiced Six would tinker on his own projects.
First came the expansion of his library and toolkit.
He began to examine items. There was the lamp he had retrieved from the K’gan complex.
- Mana Lamp -
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Unusual
Weight - 2.3 KG
Durability 60/60
Traits: Can be infused with mana to provide light for a time.
After some examination Six concluded it was not made with an enchantment, rather a series of stones that when infused with mana underwent a reaction that produced a dim glow. Interesting but artificing was currently outside of Six’s skillset. The heatstone that Six found was also quite similar in design.
He moved on to the Wand of Mana Spear. This was a truly enchanted item and Six could image the spell matrix within the item. Using Deconstruct enchantment technique he broke it down, the wood of the wand shattering and the spell of it being absorbed by the perk.
The knowledge flowed into Six and he learned a new spell and skill.
Spell: Mana Spear
Rank: Moderate
Cooldown: 2s
Range: 80m
Casting Time: Instant
Duration: Instant
Mana Cost: 250 mana
Effect: The user conjures a spear of reality fractures and launches it with great speed towards the targeted location or opponent.
Skill gained Force Magic - Initiate - 1
Allows users to form minor force magic constructs. Each level provides a 0.5% increase in spell effectiveness and a 0.25% reduction in mana costs. Current increase 0.5% Current reduction 0.25%
This spell cost more than his current personal mana pool, if he wanted to utilize it he would have to bloodcast and that was less than desirable for a combat spell. Something he could grow into as a spell and something he should hopefully be able to reproduce as an enchantment. That being said the mana core requirements would jump severely for an enchantment of moderate rank. He wouldn’t be able to produce many wands with this, especially with his current plans.
That meant that breaking down the Stone Skin or Triple Strike ring would lead to him only severely limiting himself from their creation and use so he decided against that.
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Instead he broke down the Ring of Improved Jump and learned the Minor Rune of Jump.
Improved Jump: The primary effect of the Rune of Jump is to grant individuals the ability to jump to greater distances than they would be able to achieve naturally.
One Amulet of Unknown brought him the Minor Rune of Obscurement.
System Obscurement: The primary effect of the Rune of Obscurement is to prevent the discovery and perception of the system information related to the item or the user.
Even after he broke that one down he had his own and two spares to distribute.
Six then started going through Amog’s stuff.
First he broke down the Cloud Boots and received a new rune as the fine leathers fell apart.
Moderate Rune of Cloud
Cloud Creation: This rune allows for the creation of clouds or the adoption of cloud-like qualities. It conjures cloud formations or alters materials into a more cloud like form.
Cloud Densification: Grants the ability to manipulate the density of cloud constructs, allowing their density to be set from a mist to a near solid.
Both were useful. Six could see this being used for temporary structures like scaffolding or event installations. In a more military sense this could provide cover for troop movements.
The Ring of Vital Shield was something he was also going to save and use. He considered breaking it down but decided it was too strong to reproduce easily at this point. It was also an attunement item and Six wanted to avoid creating those as much as possible, he wanted to flood his people with easily stackable gear, that meant weapons and armor.
The Everbright Coin proved impossible to deconstruct despite Six spamming five uses of his perk into it. It was frustrating to be met with continual failure after so much success but Six let it go and moved on.
There was a tome, Kotagan’s Encyclopedia of Esoterism significantly improved one’s ability to identify monsters and items. It essentially increased the effectiveness of the analyze and inspect skill, improving it by 18 skill levels. This would only increase the value of the item as he leveled, unfortunately it was an attunement item which was somewhat disappointing. Still he could save it for times when he wanted to appraise trapped creatures or hordes of treasure.
Amog had no more enchanted items but he did have quite the amount of materials and reagents. The most notable of which were,
The Prismatic Flower held metallic petals that shifted between the colours of the rainbow as its different facets were exposed.
- Prismatic Flower -
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Weight - 68 g
Durability 99/99
Traits:
Material, Reagent.
And the Marble of Air, a pearl of swirling gas, its spherical shape almost mirage like in nature.
- Marble of Air -
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Weight - 5 g
Durability 1120/1120
Traits:
Material, Reagent.
There was a tiny animal skull, like a horned squirrel. Bone white it hummed with power as Six laid his fingers upon it.
- Jakleur Skull -
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Weight - 0.4 kg
Durability 208/210
Traits:
Material, Reagent.
Skill Increased: Inspect - Initiate - 14
While the skill improvement was good, Six wished for more information on these items. All he could do was hope it would be an evolution option when his skill rank hit 20.
There was a part of Six that regretted rushing to plant the trees before going through Amog’s loot but he pushed that thought away, his choices were good and the trees were exactly what he needed.
There was a ton of coin, 891 gold, 2117 silver and a crap ton of coppers. Probably looted from good people but there was nothing Six could do about that. It went directly into his ring.
Surprisingly, the greatest treasure of the day was the bladed fan he retrieved alongside that lamp. It held a rune that would be perfect for not only his secret project but would be a fundamental keystone rune of his craft and his people.
Minor Rune of Rotation
Rotation Manipulation: The primary effect of the Rune of Rotation is the manipulation of rotational motion. It grants the ability to cause objects or individuals to spin or rotate, altering their orientation or movement.
Neat. So much industrial technology boiled down to generating spin and now he had a way to do that.
His interest was hooked and he considered the rune in its entirety, its spiral like curves speaking to a universal language of spin. His master level knowledge tickled in the back of his head and when he compared this in relation to the major ranked runes in his repertoire he knew that it could be pushed further with some applied intent, trial and error, and his Unbound Comprehension.
It took a few more days of research but that only gave Ravna time to perfect his new full plate and at the end of it Six had discovered something significant in his opinion.
Minor Rune of Rotation upgrades to Moderate Rune of Spiral Force:
Centrifugal Force Generation: This rune can be used to generate centrifugal force, pushing opponents and or objects away from the user with a powerful spinning effect, providing a defensive or offensive advantage.
He was quickly amassing a fine library and could see many applications available to him upon review of the toolkit.
Now it was time to use it.
Between his enchantment skill and magical conductivity and the 10% increase to enchantment strength he knew the things he created would be a stellar leap in sophistication compared to his current earth armor. It was simple and sundered, a replacement was desperately needed.
Still, he would wear this ruined armor during the enchantment of the new, as it still counted as armor and that’s what Magical Conductivity needed to function. Six considered how that skill evolution worked but it was almost as if he was missing an interface needed to understand.
He rated it a low priority goal.
His true limiting factor in this endeavor was his mana pool but with bloodcasting and the ley mana Six could now marshal about 1500 mana which should be enough for most anything he wanted to create. Not enough to create any Major rune but for a moderate rune and a general control it would be well within cost,
Sovereign Restoration would increase the cost of the enchantments by 20% but it would be crucial to keeping this set functioning in the field and would take work off of Ravna. It would also limit the amount of mana cores he spent on recharging his armor.
He did a LMRA and found no dangers. It was time to work.
He arrayed the armor before him, full plate, serviceable and unadorned. Something simple but effective.
He started with the helm, withdrawing an enhanced mana core and,
You are attempting to enchant a Heavy Immortal Steel Helm with a Rune of Amplifying Nexus. This will require 683 mana and one Enhanced Mana Core or equivalent to complete. Prismatic Flower detected. Would you like to begin this enchantment now? Yes/No?
He selected yes, and pushed his mana into the weapon. He could feel the depths of the material absorb his mana and knew that he could push these items far more than just regular iron. The depths offered more potential but it also meant that the enchanting would take far longer to complete. Still he maintained his focus on the mana stability and became lost within time.
For the helm’s reagent he had considered the Glassteel Ingot or the Concentrated Blood Sap. He was sure the Jaklur Skull would produce something suitably intimidating. But no, he used the newly discovered Prismatic Flower.
The metallic rainbow flower shot up to hover briefly before being swept up in the flows of mana turning into a circle of orbiting light that placed itself on the forehead of the helmet. It cooled into an upturned metal crescent, the strange material scintillating between a myriad colours.
Enchantment Successful.
You have successfully enchanted a Heavy Immortal Steel Helm with a Rune of Amplifying Nexus with an efficiency rating of 61% creating a,
- Heavy Immortal Steel Helm of Prismatic Magic Amplification-
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Defense: 16+(6)
Weight: 2.5 KG
Durability: 650/650
Traits:
Prismatic Amplification: The user can activate the rune to amplify the power and magnitude of the effects and strengths of spells, rituals, or enchantments executed within its vicinity by 21%. Each activation uses 7 charges. Charges 24/24.
Prismatic Nature: Item is attuned to all magic energies of the second orbital and lower, increases affinity of all attuned magics by 21%.
Sovereign Restoration: Passively regains durability and charges at a rate of 33% per day.
He started with the helm as this piece of equipment would allow him to push the power of the subsequent enchantments even further. Six was exhausted, that enchantment took far more time than a minor, basically the entire day. Still, the power of the piece was self-evident so the time investment was worth it for him.
Then came the gauntlets. He applied the rune of control and used the Stillver Ingot as a reagent. The ingot melted into liquid and rolled over the dark grey metal of the gauntlets, eventually settling and almost plating the gauntlets in the white silver metal. Upon the palm, small silver ridges formed the Rune of Dominate Control. This time just before he completed the enchantment, he activated his new helm and felt the flow of power condense and amplify. He almost lost control but it only lasted for a moment.
- Heavy Immortal Steel Gauntlets of Stilling Control -
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Defense: 14+(3)
Weight: 1.8 KG
Durability: 521/521
Traits:
Magic Control: Allows the user to redirect, absorb, or amplify magical forces up to the moderate rank according to their usage of the rune, each activation uses 7 charges.
Still: Allows the user to still or nullify magical forces up to the moderate rank, each activation uses 4 charges. Charges 29/29.
Sovereign Restoration: Passively regains durability and charges at a rate of 40% per day.
The greaves were a true work of enchantment, combining the Marble of Air, Jump Rune, Cloud Rune and Control Rune taking significantly more mana and unfortunately his golem enchanting evolution did not extend its mana reduction to regular enchanting. Still Six could pay the near 1200 mana required to create the runic array. He relied on bloodcasting as little as possible, the technique required more attention and that took away from the direct quality of the product. His intention was to create the best product for himself, not train his bloodcasting. That ideal yielded something beautiful.
- Heavy Immortal Steel Greaves of Slypheon Cloud Jump
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Defense: 20+(6)
Weight: 2.8 KG
Durability: 540/540
Traits:
Improve jumping height and distance by 833%.
Conjure Cloud: Can activate the cloud rune to create a temporary cloud platform that the user has a deeper relationship to and can affect them more significantly according to the user’s intent. Each activation costs 3 Charges. 18/18
Sovereign Restoration: Passively regains durability and charges at a rate of 39% per day.
He could potentially air jump six times? That seemed extremely strong. It wasn’t useful for fast travel but the tactical options were extremely interesting. Three charges was exceptionally cheap, Six must have the Marble of Air to thank for that. Something to keep in mind, perhaps combining reagents that mirror or connect to the rune’s concept may have a greater effect. Maybe.
The enchantment effectiveness increased by just under 700% which was huge. Bringing Six from a near meter vertical to potentially 15 feet in vertical height. Also, placing the enchantment on armor had removed the attunement requirement. Neat.
He chose the finest blood branch remaining to act as a reagent for his vambraces, He considered using the orichalum but felt like that would provide the item's durability pool. Six wanted something more.
The crimson branch stretched and twisted, breaking in the middle and winding itself around the vambraces, the dark red wood reinforcing the frame of the armor.
- Heavy Immortal Steel Vambraces of Bloody Physical Resilience-
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Defense: 20+(6)
Weight: 3.2 KG
Durability: 1210/1210
Traits: Improved item durability. Health regen/m += 20. Stamina regen/m += 20. Health += 320.
Sovereign Restoration: Passively regains durability at a rate of 40% per day.
Six enchanted the breastplate last
The Furyian Heart rose into the air and shot towards the Breastplate, embedding itself within the frontplate and nestling into its new home. As the mana within the object rose the mechanical heart began to chug with a steady hydraulic pump and emit a dim glow with each beat. Six pushed the enchantment but only to a point where he was confident in its stability. He activated the helm and everything rose for a crescendo.
But Six controlled himself and brought the song of creation to a suitable end.
Enchantment Successful.
You have successfully enchanted a Heavy Immortal Steel Breastplate with a Rune of Spiral Force with an efficiency rating of 68% creating a,
- Heavy Immortal Steel Breastplate of Spiral Fury -
Rank:Average
Rarity:Unusual
Defense: 25+(7)
Weight: 6.2 KG
Durability: 860/860
Traits:
Spiral Exertion:User can activate to create a 10 m radius centrifugal pushing force centered on the user, sending objects and creatures away from the user. Each regular activation uses 8 charges. Expending 17 Charges will activate the Furyian Heart and double the force generated. Charges 17/17.
Sovereign Restoration: Passively regains durability and charges at a rate of 40% per day.
It had taken days of focused and considered effort to create these great works, wonders, and when he beheld them a deep wellspring of pride overcame him for a moment before the wariness in the back of his mind reared itself. He needed to continue to produce, there was always more to do.