The next day, I woke up and did my usual training. Then, I headed back to the manor for any updates people might have. After waiting 15 minutes, I got bored and went to the enchanter's hut. Before leaving the manor, I ensured that Laxreal knew where I was going so he could send people my way. Once I got to the enchanter's hut, I started my work. It didn't take long to pick up where I left off. And before two hours had passed, I had already gotten to the point that I could hold the traced mana completely.

Starting the next step, I grabbed the engraving tool and took a deep breath. Still focused on holding the mana in place, I started engraving the metal in front of me. It doesn't take much to leave a small mark on the piece, but I have to start using more force if I want to leave any deeper etchings. This exhausts my strength quickly, and my lines can't follow the sigil flow as they should. I stop and think for a moment. There should be an easier way to etch metal and other materials for the final steps.

Considering I could use my mana circulation to direct the mana flow into my finger to trace patterns, I try doing the same thing but instead have it flow through the tool. It takes me a couple of attempts to have the mana flow into the tool, and once it does, faint blue lines start to appear on it.

These lines flow in a circular pattern and end at the point of the engraver before evaporating into the air. Seeing it work, I press the engraver onto the workpiece again. Immediately, the difference is shown; the engraver glides over the material while leaving a groove in the piece. Continuing to follow the sigil, I almost completed it before my focus faltered and the outline faded. That is when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Drake, why were you holding the entire pattern as you engraved? Wouldn't it have been better to slowly let the pattern fall as you traced those portions of the sigil you have already engraved?" Eleanor asks me.

Turning my head to look at her, I asked, a bit clipped since I had just failed at this step right as I was about to succeed, "Wouldn't it be useful to teach people all they need to know before doing something completely new to them."

Stepping back, she looks at me before answering with a stern edge creeping into her voice, "I didn't mean to step on your tail; I just was asking out of curiosity."

Realizing I had just screwed up and was now attributing that anger to Eleanor, I take a deep breath, "Sorry, it was frustrating almost to finish before the pattern was complete."

"I get that, and I can understand that frustration well. There are a couple of things that you could do to help with your focus, but I think practice is the best option for you. Before you engrave another piece, I would recommend practicing slowly releasing your hold of certain parts of the sigil. Then, maybe your next attempt won't be so much of a struggle. One tip I will give is that the engraver doesn't just leave lines in metal."

I nodded, a little confused by her tip. I focused on what she recommended, and for the next couple of hours, I practiced letting specific portions of the sigil fall. I started with the lines I traced and then moved on to the portions of lines that intersect each other without losing the pattern of the disconnected parts. Once I can do that without too much difficulty, I focus on the tip she gave me. Considering the obvious, it would work on wood, leather, stone, and other materials. But that wasn't her point. Thinking harder about it, I consider something else. Could the engraver cut my metaphysical connection to holding the traced mana?

Thinking along that line, I try again, but this time, I focus more on the engraver. The vapor pouring off the end of the engraver flows at a higher rate. Smiling, I try once again to engrave the sigil. I'm not as slow as I used to be, and since this is such a simple pattern, I could trace out the design quickly with practice. Focusing on the next part, I start engraving. As it follows the lines again, I feel something trying to happen to my overlay. It's like something wants to pull it apart as the engraver passes. This confuses me for a second. Why didn't it feel like this the first time I was engraving?

Following that thought, I consider my improvement since the first attempt today. For one, I have a better flow of mana to the engraver. I am more focused on the piece because it didn't take as long for me to trace the pattern, and lastly, I have a slightly lighter touch when it comes to controlling the mana above the sigil, giving me a lot more capability to focus on other tasks.

The only thing that would make sense is that my control is more fine-tuned, so it's not like I am holding the mana in a stranglehold. This is probably the reason I feel this tugging. The best comparison I have is trying to pull two different materials apart. One is a cinderblock, while the other is a fine thread. While it is possible to pull a cinderblock apart, the amount of effort is significantly higher than trying to pull a thread apart. And that is the difference: I am now holding the mana with a finer touch, allowing me to feel the pulling force from the engraver.

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Allowing that force to work on the hold of mana I had, I watch as those portions slowly fade, leaving the rest of the pattern untouched. Smiling at my success, I continue. It doesn't take me more than five minutes to complete this sigil. And for the final step which is probably the easiest. I have to grind the herbs used for this enchantment while soaking them in water to make them into a paint-like paste.

I achieved the texture described in the guide with just a little time. Once completed, I slowly poured the mixture into the engraving, at first, to ensure that none of it spilled. It quickly filled the engraving, with some going over the top, making it leak slightly. Considering this step successful, I moved on to the last step, infusing mana into the workpiece's sigil and the mixture inside the sigil. I quickly fill the entire thing with the amount of mana. Not long after, my first enchantment starts to glow.

Smiling at my success, I check my quest.

- Practice Makes Perfect

You have leveled up your enchanting through the theory of creating the different sigils. To progress in your enchanting, it is time for you to practice. Preparing items, engraving the sigils on those items, and then fusing the corresponding materials to create your finished product.

Tasks:

Successfully create 12 different items: (0/12)

Reward: Title of Apprentice Enchanter. Continue leveling your profession -

Confused about why there is no progress on my quest, I look closer at the enchanted piece of armor, and a notification comes into view.

- Enchantment: Failed. -

- Armor: +2 Physical Defense -

Seeing there hasn't been any increase in its value, I look again at the enchantment. While it is glowing, I inspect the spots where the mixture leaked out. From those portions, I can see a small leak in the mana. Also, it feels like there is another problem with the enchantment. Wanting to get a closer look at why that could be the case, I try to control the mana to tear apart the barrier and protect the enchantment. Something I have noticed with enchanting is that, in this instance, I could easily pierce the enchantment's barrier. The enchanter's residual mana protected the other item's enchantments; while I could have tried to brute force my way through them, I feared destroying them.

Again, once the barrier to the enchantment was cleared away, I scrapped out the dried herb mixture and looked at the engraving. When I looked closely, I found spots where the lines didn't connect quite well enough, and there were sections of the sigil that were shallower than others. Sighing at these little mistakes, I again try to do the same enchantment on the piece of armor. Taking my time while engraving this time, I try to get the depth the same for each of the lines. Completing that step again, I pour another mixture of herbs into the engraving; there is still some leaking from the edges of the sigil. Sighing, knowing that this might also fail, I continue anyway. I want to experience failing to enchant if anything else.

Once again, I get another notification after the mana has saturated the sigil and paste.

- Enchantment: Failed. -

- Armor: +2 Physical Defense. (Unable to make further enchanting attempts.) -

While looking at this notification, I get confused. Why could I repeat the enchantment once, but now I cannot? While inspecting the piece, I removed the enchantment barrier again and scraped out the paste. Once I look inside the engraving, I see cracks running through it and into the piece. These minute cracks spark with some remanent mana and are slowly starting to expand.

Curious as to what is happening, I am quickly thrust to the side as Eleanor pushes me away from the piece. Grabbing it quickly, she runs out of the enchanting hut and the settlement with as much speed as possible. Watching her leave hurriedly, I followed along to find out why she was bolting for the nearest exit. As she gets closer to the gates, the piece I was working on starts to spark more and more. Not long after, she leaves the gate, throws the piece as far as she can, and promptly tries to shut the gates. Struggling at first, the gates finally closed after a couple of seconds.

"What is going on?" I ask while panting from following her dash through the settlement. And it doesn't take long for me to understand as a loud 'Boom' echoes out from beyond the walls. Hearing that noise, I can only think of one thing that could have happened. The piece had exploded.

Turning to Eleanor, I ask, looking at her pale face, "What could have caused that?"

Staring at me, she answers, panting just as hard as I was. "That was a failed enchantment. There are a couple of causes for something like that to happen. First, the enchantment that was placed on the item was too much for the item to handle. Thus, the only way for the mana encapsulated in the enchantment to escape is to explode, or the other option is someone put too many of the same enchantments on the same piece successfully or not, and the residual mana in the initial enchantments built up enough that they once again needed to release causing an explosion."

It doesn't take long for her to catch her breath after taking a moment. "Drake, from now on, only put one enchantment per item just to make sure we don't have a similar situation of it potentially exploding."

"That sounds like the best plan." I agree, and we both head back to the enchanter's hut while talking about different things for enchanting. During this talk, I also learned that I could control mana to form a barrier ahead of time to prevent the mixtures from spilling out of the sigil. I am ready to complete my first enchantment.