When someone with the ability to disrupt ambient mana uses it, it’s usually to conceal a crime or something worse. If there was anything worse. Yes, the effects wore off after a period of time, but it still left the events that occurred difficult to decipher through the ambient mana.
Otid stood in the forest sniffing the air about him.
“Smells like evil,” he said, dramatically.
He was standing among a sea of trees in a forest as old as the kingdom itself. It was a bright afternoon and the sunlight gave more than enough light to see with through the canopy overhead.
Taliner, his partner for the past two months, walked past him with an amused smile on her face. She was dressed in her full adventuring garb, light leather armor with her sword fastened to her hip. She walked with the same tempting sway to her hips that had made him talk to her two months ago.
Otid looked up to the trees, doing his best to keep his eyes off her. She had already made it crystal clear that she was not interested in warming his sheets even if he chose to fall in love with her first.
“How’s it coming, Jay?” Taliner asked, impatient.
“I’m working as fast as I can,” Jay answered, running his hand along the surface of the grass.
Jay was a [Tracker] they’d met this morning. He was a level 12 twenty-one-year-old, specialized in mana tracking, and was a bit on the timid side. He talked only when talked to, and didn’t drink.
He was very much unlike most adventurers. In Otid's experience only [Assassins] behaved the way he did, secluded and broody.
Jay was not an [Assassin], though. Otid had checked.
“Whoever disrupted the ambient mana really didn’t want anyone finding out who was here,” Jay said after a while. “And their level’s probably higher than mine.”
“That’s not an answer we’re willing to take,” Taliner said, stopping to squat beside him.
Jay took a moment to take his eyes of the grass.
“Well,” he said unapologetically, “you should’ve gotten someone with a higher level than mine if you wanted a specific kind of answer.”
“And yet,” she patted him on the back amiably, “we got you.”
Jay turned back to the grass and ran his hand through it, then dug his fingers into the soil. “That's because I was cheap.”
“Cheap?” Otid snorted, turning to the goblin corpse beside his feet that was already beginning to rot. “You cost us two silver coins, that’s enough for a night at any inn.”
“Cheap,” Jay repeated. “But on a more serious note, whoever did this really didn’t want us tracking him down.”
“Them,” Otid corrected.
Jay got up. “Them?”
“Yes, them.” Taliner got up and dusted her hand on her leather pants. “As in more than one.”
Otid let out a worried sigh as he walked up to the second goblin corpse. This one had gotten one of its arms severed before it had been killed. Off to the side there was a goblin that had been burnt to death. The problem was that he didn’t know if it was magic fire or normal fire.
“You see the sword marks on that goblin?” Taliner said to Jay, gesturing at a dead goblin with more than four sword marks.
Jay nodded.
“It’s got eight cuts,” she continued. “which means whoever killed it had needed eight cuts. But that one over there only needed three.”
Otid kicked a green severed hand. “This one as well.”
Jay looked around, then pointed. “That one, too.”
“Yes,” Otid confirmed.
“What about that one?” Jay pointed.
Otid knew what he was pointing at. The goblin had needed less than four cuts to kill it. “Different person.”
“How do you know?”
“The cuts,” Taliner said, walking up to the corpse in question. She squatted next to it. “These ones are cleaner. Better. whoever made these cuts knew what he was doing. We may be simple level eighteens but Otid over there has been using the sword since he was ten.”
“And you?” Jay asked.
“Was studying to be a healer until my class told me I’ve got a talent for killing things.” She shrugged as she got up. “So here I am. Adventuring.”
“Oh,” Jay muttered awkwardly.
“Don’t sweat it,” she said.
Jay scratched his elbow the way a nervous person would. “So we’ve got two people sneaking out at odd hours stealing other people’s contract quests?”
“No, we’ve got at least four people, two of which are very good with the sword. Whoever severed those arms really knows his way with a sword. And I don’t think it was about the contract.”
Taliner headed towards a different corpse and Jay strolled up to a tree and squatted there, working on something Otid couldn’t see.
“Otid!” Taliner called out after a short while. “I think we’ve got a problem.”
“What’s that?”
Otid turned and hurried over to her side. When he got to her, she pointed at a severed arm.
“We’ve got another severed arm,” she said.
“And the body we’ve got is missing only one arm.” Otid frowned, running a hand down his face. “Rookies couldn’t even do the job properly. They let one of them get away.”
“They probably figured it out." Taliner frowned, thoughtful. "Maybe they’re the ones that gave the society the anonymous tip. I’m just hoping we’ll find another dead goblin if we go a little farther.”
Otid had a strong feeling that they would not.
“Guys!” Jay called from his own end.
“You find something?” Taliner answered.
“Yea," Jay answered. "There was blood on the grass so I tried to analyze that one. You won’t believe what I found.”
“Please tell me you found who did this,” Taliner sighed. “Because I’m getting really pissed at whoever these guys are. They’ve practically made our work completing this quest more difficult.”
“Not really, but I got something,” Jay said when they got to him. “You see these small spots of blood?”
Otid squinted, then squatted and squinted some more. All he saw were four drops of blood, and that was barely.
“You’ve got a good eye," he complimented Jay. "God knows I wouldn’t have seen that.”
“I know.”
Otid shook his head with a smile. “Don’t be modest on my account. So what did you find out?”
“Well, it’s human blood, which is very fascinating.”
“Fascinating?” Otid asked, surprised. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, kid, but you’ve got it, too. I can show you so you can fascinate yourself if you’d like.”
Jay shook his head and Taliner frowned at Otid.
“That’s not what’s fascinating,” Jay said. “What’s fascinating is that it’s 80% mana.”
“So someone with a high blood to mana ratio?” Taliner asked. “That’s going to be a problem.”
“But it’s not,” Jay disagreed, slowly getting giddy. “It’s 80% mana, but it’s 80% unrefined mana.”
“Classless?” Otid frowned. “At 80%? That’s impossible. Everyone knows you get a class at level 10, and that’s like 20% mana.” He looked at Taliner. “Right?”
Taliner nodded in confirmation.
“Yes,” Jay agreed, still smiling. “But here’s the best part. It also has traces of summoning magic, but none of the binding magic that comes with summoned creatures.”
Otid paused, then shook his head. “Let me get this straight. What you’re telling me is that you just discovered a summoned human bound to no master?”
Jay nodded like an overactive child. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“Fuck no, it’s not. You expect me to go tell the society head that we’ve got a summoned human running amuck with no master? Can’t happen.”
“But that’s what’s happening.”
“No, it’s not. Because it’s all impossible. First, humans cannot be summoned. You summon goats and basilisks and twin horned rabbits. Normal familiars combat familiars. The occasional demons for the nut jobs out there. But not humans. It’s impossible. And every summoned creature is bound to a master. If its master dies, it has no tie to this world and it disappears.”
Jay’s enthusiasm was slowly slipping away as Otid ranted.
“No.” Otid shook his head. “Not telling them that the impossible happened. I’ll be a laughing stock. Check it again.”
At this point Jay was already frowning. “I understand how you can be confused, but I will not stand here and be insulted. You paid me to get you a piece of information from my investigation, knowing you might not get any at all. Well, I got you something. Take it or leave it.”
With that, he stormed away in annoyance, walking into the trees and in the direction they’d come from.
Taliner shook her head at Otid. “You’ve really got to work on that temper of yours.”
“It’s not the temper,” Otid grumbled. “The kid’s asking us to tell the guild the impossible. No classless walks around with their blood having 80% mana. Not even a level 200 has that much mana in their blood, and they are legendary.”
“There is another possibility,” Taliner offered. “But you won’t like it.”
Otid knew what she was talking about.
“No,” he said before she could continue. “Do not quote any fucking scriptures to me. It’s all bull farts and jepat shit.”
“I’m not very religious myself either, Otid, but you’ve got to admit, with the rising demonic mana reports, this would tally with the scriptures.”
“And from what any half sane adventurer knows, you’ll need an arcane class above level 200 and at least 20 sacrifices to summon one savior. One, Tal. And your scripture says there’ll be a handful of them all across the fucking world. I think we’d know if people suddenly started vanishing off the face of the kingdom in groups of twenty.”
Silence stretched between them. Taliner glared at him with a scowl on her face.
After a while Otid dragged a tired hand across his face, calming himself. He’d blown up on her for something that wasn’t her fault.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I’m sorry. It’s just… the society head gave me this contract quest, and I’m trying not to mess it up. I haven’t gotten a good quest in forever—we haven’t gotten a good quest in forever. And I’ve been stuck at level 19 for too long. If I can deal with this one, I’ll get more quests. More quests means levels, Tal. I’m sick and tired of being a level 19 adventurer.”
Taliner nodded. The scowl dropped from her face and her eyes softened. Otid knew she at least understood his frustration. Adventurer’s needed to level up. It was their bread and butter even though it wasn't the easiest thing to do.
“Yea,” she muttered. Then she looked him straight in the eye. “Fuck you, Otid.”
She stormed off without looking back.
Angry and alone, Otid turned and kicked a tree.
What was he doing shouting at her? It wasn’t her fault they’d gotten a shit [Tracker]. People didn’t summon humans. And even if it was possible, certain types of summoning needed certain criteria. The more complicated the creature, the greater the sacrifice, and demons and humans were the most complicated things alive.
Demons needed a lot of blood, which meant a lot of dead people, and they were considered the second most complex from everything he knew.
But if Jay is right, he thought, second guessing himself, and someone really went out of their way to summon a human, then we’ve got to tell the guild. Heck! We’ve got to tell the king…
Because if the scriptures were right, then there was only one thing that could lead to human summoning.
The Demon King was coming.
Otid ran a shaky hand through his short hair. “Shit.”
………
Two days had passed since the skirmish with the goblins. Aiden had spent all two of those days only practicing his swordsmanship and visiting the library. He skipped out on all arcane classes and focused on his [Engraving] and [Geometry] skills.
He had failed to achieve his goal at level one. And fighting the goblins hadn’t gotten him to level two even though he knew the level wasn’t so far away now. [Engraving] and [Geometry] were already at high mastery, simply waiting for a little push to create a basic skill. But Aiden needed them to have a little more oomf before he tried for level two.
After all, the higher the levels, the harder it would be to achieve his goal. What he needed wasn’t another basic skill or two, what he was looking for was a unique skill. Some people called them techniques, and the only way to evolve them was to learn two or more basic skills at the same time. With learning a basic skill to gain a level when classless, learning two at the same time also led to a single level, however, while it slowed the process, the giveaway was that the basic skill ended up being a unique skill.
And Aiden had every intention of getting a unique skill for his second level. He only had so many chances before learning two basic skills at the same time became next to impossible.
Aiden closed the book of enchantments in front of him and got up from his bed. It was late noon by his estimate so Ted was probably out there learning one form of magic or the other.
He picked up his pouch of coins, a daily stipend the palace gave each of them out of the goodness of their hospitality, and left the room.
Outside the palace, but still within the castle walls, everyone was busy. The sun was going down and evening had begun its rise.
He found an enchanter’s store just beside an apothecary and made quick work inside. For his next level, he needed to learn the [Enchant] basic skill while learning [Unarmed combat].
Being in an Enchanter’s shop gave him a small level of nostalgia. Most of the items he saw while walking around the shelves were things he’d crafted by himself once upon a time. There were basic combat tools, a few stick-on enchantments as well. The way the latter worked was that the enchanter drew whatever runes and sigils were necessary for the enchantment on a piece of sticky paper. The user only had to stick the paper to their item of choice and rip it off. The result would be a single use enchantment present on the weapon.
It was something purchased by low level adventurers who couldn’t afford proper enchanted weapons. The normal civilian also used it every now and again.
Aiden purchased enchantments he was familiar with, items he used so much that using them might as well be muscle memory to him.
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He purchased [Orb of Lesser Silence], [Orb of Lesser Speed]. [Cube of Lesser Strength] and a few other combat tools. Most of which were designed to give self-buffs. If he wanted to increase the mastery of his skills to get the [Enchant] skill during combat, he needed to have his body go through the process.
Enchant skills, after all, were rarely ever leveled in combat. They were leveled in practice, seated and slaving over engraving enchantment runes on one item or the other.
After haggling down outrageous prices to lesser outrageous prices, Aiden left the shop with his items of choice, knowing he could’ve gotten them cheaper out in the city. But his ire was controlled, after all, these were ‘castle prices.’ The elite felt more superior if they didn’t have to mingle amongst the commoners to get what they wanted. So the extra was for the prestige.
Also, the money wasn’t his. It was a gift from the palace. Tomorrow it would be replenished.
Next, Aiden stopped by the armory and got a soldier’s belt. On Nastild everyone in the combat business had a soldier’s belt, though it was known by different names in different parts of the world. It was a belt with at least one sword holder and multiple pockets for multiple items.
He’d used it a lot before he’d upgraded to a flashy coat that did the same job and more. The thought of the coat reminded Aiden of how much he missed it. And since he wouldn’t be going for the enchanter class this time around, it meant there were a lot of things he loved like the coat, his dagger, and his sword, Spell Binder, that would never be recreated in this world.
But they were necessary sacrifices. Aiden had only created them to help him compensate for his lacking combat prowess due to his class, and since he was determined to get a different class, they would not be necessary.
When he got to the training ground he and Valdan used as evening fell, he found the knight seated calmly on a large stone. His broad sword stood before him, stabbed into the ground, and he rested his hand on its pommel.
Aiden approached the man at a leisurely pace. “Do you just come here and sit once the sun begins to set every day or is there someone tailing me that lets you know when I’ll be around?”
The knight raised his helmeted head to look at him. “You have missed our sparring session for two days in a row now.”
Aiden chuckled. “I was busy with other endeavors.”
Valdan’s head lowered slightly, focusing on the soldier’s belt around Aiden’s waist that carried no sword.
“I take it you have something you want to learn today.” His head tilted back up as Aiden came to stand in front of him. “Something I fear I will not like.”
“Perhaps.”
Aiden reached for the knight’s sword in a casual gesture and Valdan tilted the pommel towards himself so that the weapon leaned away from Aiden's hand.
Then he got up and drew the blade from the ground.
“Alright then,” he said, sheathing the broad sword. “What are we doing today.”
“Unarmed combat,” Aiden said, taking his hand back to his side. “And a little bit of enchanted fighting.”
Valdan’s head cocked to the side. “You wish to fight with enchantment magic, Lord Lacheart?”
Aiden nodded. “I do. Do you have a problem with that?”
“I do not.” Valdan shook his head. “However, that seems like the focus of a Spellsword. And it does not pain me to say that my abilities do not lie there. However, while not a [Paladin] or a [Bladesinger] we do have a Knight on hand with a basic knowledge of enchanted combat.”
“Personally, I’d prefer a [Battlemage],” Aiden said with a dismissive gesture. “But it’s nothing so deep. You will be enough.”
“Are you sure, Lord Lacheart? The intricacies of fighting with magic while in active combat motion is not as easy as it may sound.”
Aiden almost laughed. Oh how he knew it. Fighting with active skills already felt like fighting while splitting the mind two ways. One to keep track of the skills and the other to keep track of the body. Fighting with magic outside of your skills while fighting with skills and the body was like splitting the mind three ways. It was multitasking and the reason many people didn't do it.
It took far more than just practice to be good at it.
“I’ll manage,” Aiden replied.
Valdan extricated his sheathed sword from his side in a single motion, stabbed it into the ground, and took a combat stance.
“As you wish, Lord Lacheart.”
A small rune lit up on the right breastplate of Valdan’s armor and the armor seemed to soften.
Valdan always wore his Knight’s armor. He often opted to take it off on certain occasions, one of which was for unarmed combat, but Aiden always refused. There was just something about fighting against the man in his armor that kept Aiden on his toes.
After all, he’d fought a few knights on opposing sides once before.
A knight's armor also had active enchantments, one of which could be toggled on and off to switch between a hardened exterior and a more cloth-like one. The latter allowed for easier movement for the knights and helped with situations like stealth and general silence while still providing basic level protections for the knight.
For their unarmed training, Valdan activated the enchantments that gave the armor a cloth-like feel for Aiden’s sake, and deactivated the protections. According to him, it helped him gauge the strength of Aiden’s blows.
Aiden never said anything on this. After all, he had never landed a successful blow, and it wasn’t like anything he could do to Sir Valdan at his current level would have any impact. Punching the man was like hitting a brick wall.
Aiden shook his arms out as he took a stance of his own.
“There’ll be a little sloppiness today," he informed Valdan. "So try not to accidentally almost kill me this time, Sir Valdan.”
“I will do my best, Lord Lacheart.” Valdan relaxed his stance slightly. “Has anyone told you that you possess strange fighting techniques, Lord Lacheart?”
“Oh this?” Aiden lowered his hands slightly. “It’s called a boxer’s stance. It’s something from my old world.”
“Intriguing.”
Valdan burst forward with a straight punch and Aiden ducked out of the way. He stepped about a bit, creating some distance between them, but Valdan was quick to follow, blitzing through the distance.
Aiden ducked a few more blows and tossed a few jabs. None connected and Valdan didn’t give him the grace of blocking.
After a few exchanges, Aiden switched fighting techniques to something more complex and from this world. As he did, he pulled out one of the orbs he’d purchased from his belt and channeled mana into it as Valdan came at him with a punch.
It was a small object the size of two sugar cubes. His interface flashed as he activated it.
You have activated [Cube of Lesser Strength].
Effect: +4% strength granted to user.
Duration: 00:00:15.
Aiden felt the rush of power go through him, paying avid attention to the flow of mana from the enchantment. Out of unreasonable curiosity, he didn’t dodge Valdan’s blow. Instead, he raised both hands to meet it.
He took the blow in the palm of one hand while supporting the hand with the other and knew he’d made a mistake the moment the blow connected.
The force of Valdan's blow knocked both hands back and sent Aiden tumbling along the ground.
Aiden righted his body as he tumbled and bounced back to his feet at the end of his fall. Knowing the Knight very well, he wasn’t surprised to find Valdan waiting for him to stand back up.
“Are you alright, Lord Lacheart?” Valdan asked in a simple tone.
Aiden opened and closed his palm. While the blow had certainly hurt, it had broken nothing.
“Just an enchantment of lesser strength,” he said, pulling out three more items. Two were orbs and the other was a balled up piece of paper. “Was testing its limit. Nothing more.”
He channeled mana into two of the three items and darted forward. To activate an enchantment, all a person had to do was channel their mana into it and the enchantment did all the work. It was technically like using an item on default settings.
But to gain the true value of an enchantment, one had to actively channel their mana through the runes and sigils that created the enchantment. It was like going through the settings and customizing it for personal preference. It gave the user, if they were capable, a better understanding of the item and enchantment.
Most people didn’t use this method because you needed an understanding of the enchantments themselves—their creative runes and sigils—to do it.
You have activated [Sliver of Lesser Agility].
Effect: +2% increase in Agility
Duration: 00:00:18.
…
You have activated [Orb of Lesser Speed]
Effect: +3% increase in movement speed.
Duration: 00:00:12.
Aiden closed the distance in the blink of an eye and threw a kick into Valdan’s side. Valdan blocked it with a raised leg and Aiden tossed the last orb into the space between them, activating it as the third item. It served its purpose as a distraction.
You have activated [Orb of Lesser silence]
Effect: All sound made will be nullified within the specified vicinity.
Duration: 00:00:19
Radius: 0.0014km.
If the orb worked as a distraction, then Valdan’s eyes would be, even if momentarily, on the item as it shattered into dust. This meant the knight would not see the next attack coming at him. As such, he would have to rely on his sense of sound to hear Aiden’s next move. Aiden hoped to take away this advantage.
The entire strategy banked on Valdan’s attention being caught by the tossed orb.
The world around them shimmered in a small, translucent dome wide enough to encircle them as the orb’s enchantment took effect. All silence enchantments played the same role, they basically tuned out all the sound within their area of effect which meant that for the next few seconds everything that happened would happen without any sound. The distraction would take the knight's sight then the orb would take his sense of sound, two necessary senses in a fight.
For the sake of caution, Aiden feinted to the left first, then came up on the right with an open hand uppercut. With the effects of [Orb of Lesser Speed] he hoped to be slightly faster than Valdan’s estimated calculation of his speed.
He knew none of his attacks would leave any impact on the Knight, but the aim wasn’t to hurt Valdan, it was to land a blow.
[Congratulations!]
[You have gained perfect mastery!]
[Kick (Mastery 100.00%)]
...
[Congratulations!]
[You have gained perfect mastery!]
[Palm attack (Mastery 100.00%)]
...
[Congratulations!]
[You have gained perfect mastery!]
[Engraving (Mastery 100.00%)]
...
[Congratulations!]
[You have gained perfect mastery!]
[Geometry (Mastery 100.00%)]
Aiden’s uppercut connected with the jaw of Valdan’s helmet as the notifications appeared, translucent in a way that did little to obstruct his view. It was a perfect strike. A proper hit. If they were of equal levels, the blow would’ve probably sent Valdan staggering—probably given him a concussion too.
But they were not.
Valdan reacted to the blow instantly. Both of his hands came together and he brought them down on Aiden’s arm at the elbow. It locked Aiden’s striking arm painfully, and forced him down to one knee.
It subdued him perfectly.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Aiden complained, tapping the knight’s gauntleted arm in surrender.
While he did so, his interface flashed in front of him once more.
[Foundational skill with perfect mastery detected.]
[Multiple foundational skills with perfect mastery detected.]
[Congratulations!]
[You have achieved perfect mastery in the necessary foundational skills.]
You have gained skill [Unarmed combat (Mastery 02.10%)].
…
[Foundational skill with perfect mastery detected.]
[Multiple foundational skills with perfect mastery detected.]
[Congratulations!]
[You have achieved perfect mastery in the necessary foundational skills.]
You have gained skill [Basic Enchant (Mastery 02.10%)].
Valdan released Aiden with almost the same speed he’d used to subdue him and took two quick steps away. Aiden might’ve been imagining it but the man’s stance looked as if he was surprised somehow.
[Congratulations!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
…
[Name – Aiden Lacheart]
[Species – Human]
[Age – 19]
[Class –None Lvl 2]
Aiden smiled, feeling the power from leveling up go through him. It was like a full body buzz. He could feel it grow from his heart, reaching into every part of his body. Fear hadn’t allowed him experience the ecstasy of level one, but level two came unhindered.
After the space of a second, the sensation was gone and Aiden just remained on his knee, waiting.
He was beginning to worry that he’d somehow failed when the notification he was waiting for popped up.
[Simultaneous basic skills acquisition detected upon new level.]
[Congratulations!]
[You have learned a Unique skill!]
You have learned Unique skill [Unarmed Engraving (Mastery 0.00%)(U)].
Unarmed Engraving. Aiden hadn’t heard of the skill before. While unique skills were called unique, they weren’t necessarily unique to their user. They were simply skills that helped their user perform basic skills in unique ways.
Valdan walked up to Aiden and the sound of his armor as he moved told Aiden that the Knight had switched the armor back to its default state. It was safe to assume that the sparring session was over.
“You were right, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan said. “You truly needed no help in the art of enchanted combat. It has been a while since I’ve seen someone use enchantments in a fight the way you just did.”
Aiden moved his arm around, the one Valdan had locked down, testily. “Thanks. I didn’t think I could pull it off.”
“The end distraction was impressive,” Valdan continued. “I assume that was an orb of silence. I didn’t hear your next move.”
“It was. I also used an enchantment for strength, another for speed, and another for agility.”
Valdan rubbed his helmeted jaw. “All for a single strike. All that willing sacrifice to meet your goal. And while congratulations are in order for your level up, if you do not mind me asking, what was your goal?”
Now that he’d achieved it, Aiden had no reason to keep it from Valdan. After all, he wouldn’t be able to get another unique skill until another ten levels. It was simply the way with the skills.
“I was going for a unique skill,” he said.
“I see.” Valdan looked to the side, into the distance. He seemed contemplative. “That was the same thing you were trying to do last time, was it not?”
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “Yea. About that. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to get you angry. It’s just… there were certain criteria and I couldn’t meet them if you knew what I was trying to do.”
Valdan nodded and waved his worry aside. “I understand. Every Knight directly subject to the king needs to possess at least one unique skill to serve under that capacity, amongst other things. And did you succeed?”
Aiden nodded. “Though, I’m not sure what it does. Ever heard of [Unarmed Engraving] before?”
Valdan shook his head.
Aiden couldn’t say he was surprised. He pulled up the unique skill and displayed its description.
[Unarmed Engraving (Mastery 0.00%)(U)]
All enchantments require a tool with which to enchant. An item to engrave upon any canvas. An engraving tool is for the ordinary. But you are unique. You are your own tool. Now find your canvas.
“I think I can engrave without using anything,” Aiden said, looking up at Valdan.
“I have never heard of a person who can enchant without tools,” Valdan said. “You should try it and see how it works, Lord Lacheart.”
The skill said he was the tool.
So all I need is a canvas.
“I need a canvas,” he said, gesturing at Valdan. “Your sword.”
The Knight shook his head. “Like my armor, it already possesses too many runes. Any more will be a problem.”
He walked off to the side where they kept the practice weapon and Aiden had to wait for a few seconds for the Knight to return. Handing him the sword would’ve been significantly faster, but Valdan was right, every item had a maximum number of enchantments it could hold. Simple items could only hold one.
Valdan returned with a wooden sword and handed it to him. “Have at it.”
Aiden took the weapon from him and held it up. The suns descent was almost complete and evening was soon becoming night. It was only a matter of time before they would not be able to see.
He thought about the skill, activating it.
You have activated [Unarmed Engraving (U)].
The moment the notification appeared, information filled Aiden’s mind and he knew how the skill worked. It was like picking up an old tool and suddenly remembering how to use it.
He placed his index finger against the flat of the wooden blade and drew the simplest level 2 enchantment he knew.
When the runes and sigils were complete, done in the space of three seconds, he activated it.
You have activated [Enchantment of Lesser Strength]
Effect: 8% increase in durability
Duration: 00:00:19.
Enchantments had different effects when cast on the living as against the non-living and Aiden watched the enchantment slowly burn a scar in the wood as time moved on, darkening ever so quickly.
Once the duration was up, the enchantment was nothing but a black burn mark on the wooden sword.
Valdan was standing beside him, observing the process. “An enchantment done without tools. I have never seen the likes before. All enchanters use tools.”
Aiden was smiling. “I know.”
“No.” Valdan shook his head. “You do not. What you’ve done is similar to how spells are cast. You have cast an enchantment as though it were a spell… or a spell as though it were an enchantment.”
Aiden knew.
Spells were like powerful enchantments cast by word of mouth or drawn by the hands of anyone with the [Mana Mastery] skill. And where enchantments had to be written on something, spells could be written anywhere, including thin air and without tools.
But the major difference that mattered was the effect of a spell as against an enchantment. An enchantment needed a conduit to act through and upon. That was why all enchantments needed to be engraved on something. A spell needed no such thing. So if an enchantment granted lightning effects, it would need a conduit like a sword or a pole or something for the electricity to travel through. A spell had no such limitation. The caster could simply point and cast and watch lightning shoot across the distance.
Aiden didn’t argue with Valdan because he didn’t need to. He turned the hilt of the wooden sword to Valdan and the Knight took it.
“If I may ask, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan said. “How did you learn of unique skills and how to get them?”
“Read it in one of the library books,” Aiden answered.
He already spent a great deal of time in the library so the library had become his go to explanation for knowledge he possessed. An obvious lie to him, but a sufficient explanation to others.
“The question,” he said, suddenly realizing something that had happened in his past life and was repeating itself in this one, “is why no one has told any of us about unique skills or tried to help us learn any. I understand that it’s not so easy to replicate, given the criteria. But I’m certain we could still try.”
Aiden didn’t even need to think about it. None of them had even heard of a unique skill until Drax had gotten one at level 25 in his past life.
The palace had kept it a secret from them and intended to do the same in this timeline as well.
“Unique skills are powerful skills, Valdan,” Aiden continued, slowly getting angry at the realization. “Why the hell would you guys keep it from us?”
Aiden didn’t know when, but he’d stepped up to the Knight as he’d spoken. The man was taller than him by a head and he stared up into the slits of his helmet.
Even with a good king like Brandis, the palace continued to play games. It gave them the best to carry out their tasks, but only the best it was willing to give. They would be better as a team if as many of them as possible got unique skills before getting their class.
Despite his position in front of a man capable of breaking him like a twig, Aiden’s anger refused to allow him back down.
“Explain yourself, Knight?”
He didn’t expect to intimidate Valdan, and Valdan was not intimidated. Valdan’s head remained tilted down to meet his glare even as he answered in the most casual yet knightly tone possible.
“All I have done and not done,” he said, “I have done and not done by order of the king.”
The answer shifted some of Aiden’s anger into confusion. If this had been a direct order from King Brandis, then there was a reason. Brandis was not a man who would do something that seemed detrimental unless it was for the greater good.
What greater good would keep them from raising us as best as possible? He thought.
Unique skills weren’t necessarily powerful, but they were unique. Some of them defied the existing laws of existing skills. There were also others that took a skill and customized it to the owner. For instance, [Unarmed Engraving] had just ensured that no matter what situation he found himself in, as long as he had mana, Aiden could always make an enchantment.
And Brandis kept it from us intentionally. Why?
Aiden stepped away from Valdan’s personal space and collected himself. He needed to be calm with his next words, controlled. Because no matter how unique the palace was, allowing him shirk any other tutorial simply because he got special training in the martial arts, his next words, if said flippantly, could be seen as him overstepping his position. It could be seen as disrespect to the crown.
And he was about to say them to a Knight of the kingdom.
“If what I have deduced of the King is true,” Aiden said with as much respect as he could infuse into his voice. “Then he is a King of insight and vast intelligence. On that note, I am inclined to believe that all progress of mine and my companions are reported to him regularly. And I believe it is safe to assume that you report mine personally.”
While he was sure of everything he’d said, the last part was only a speculation. Valdan could easily have someone he reported to who in turn reported the information to the king.
Valdan nodded, confirming his speculation.
“Then on your next report,” Aiden said, choosing his words wisely. “Pass this information on. Let the king know that I, Aiden Lacheart, humbly request an audience with the king.”
Valdan bowed officially. “Your request will be passed on to the king, Lord Lacheart.”
“Good.”
Aiden turned and walked out of the training area. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to the king, but he knew that this was a question that needed answering. And if for some reason Brandis refused his request, then he would find another way to speak to the man.
It was time he had a talk with King Brandis the fourth.