Taking a moment to let the feelings of power run through my body, I stay seated. It doesn't take long before I am antsy to try out my new manipulation skill. Slowly, at first, I started to cycle my mana; from what I remember, it felt a lot smoother to pull the mana and run it through my body. There doesn't appear to be any stuttering, and it follows my guidance till it is at the tip of my finger. Once it gets there, I start to make signs in the air with it. I am more easily able to hold the mana in place. To make a comparison, it feels about 75% less strenuous. I don't think I could have another pattern yet, but it is a significant improvement.
When I open my eyes, I can see people moving in the distance, and there is an open space of about five meters around me. I am curious about why, but I also know that something happened. I look more closely, and Laxreal walks up to me as I look.
"And what, might I ask, was that?" He inquires.
"I was just evolving a couple of my skills."
"Evolving a couple of your skills doesn't cause a mana fluctuation like you created. What happened?" He asks again.
Sticking to my story, I tell him about the upgraded skill and spell. A small amount of shock enters his voice, "What do you mean you used a token? We didn't have any tokens that would have provided that capability."
Seeing where his confusion is coming from, I explain more about when my family went out on our adventure and some of the rewards we received. From the Skill Evolution Token to the Skill Fusion Tokens I possessed.
"Interesting. Do you know when that tower will become available again?" He asks.
"I don't know personally. I was told that there are different ways to access the building, but at this time, we can't build the building we need."
"Alright, but from now on, can you at least let someone know what you will do? It was a bit of a shock to some people as they haven't experienced what we have, which put them on edge."
"That is a fair request to make. I still have two more fusion tokens that we can use. I also have some skill books and level-up tokens that I can use at some point."
"Good. I think it is prudent that we increase your strength as much as possible in the short term. From what I can tell, we are at the point where we could easily upgrade the settlement to a tier. So, don't dawdle, and let's get going." He quickly turns around and starts to walk toward the manor.
"Wait," I call after him.
"What now, Drake?" He asks. There is a bit of irritation in his voice.
"Aren't you forgetting why I am in front of the smithy?"
"You have your enchanting skill to the point that you could help with enchanting weapons to potentially increase their tier?" He asks.
"Well, not quite," I answer while scratching the back of my head. "We have only had one attempt so far, and it was a failure. I was going to help with another attempt, but I have been waiting for him to get to the point where I can start the process again. So, while I was waiting, I came out here to evolve my skill and spell."
"So you haven't gotten your apprentice enchanting profession yet?"
"Well," again, I am embarrassed because I could get my profession to upgrade at any point but have chosen not to yet. "The quest is complete. I just haven't collected the rewards yet."
"And why not?" He probes.
"Because I wanted to help Uxa first before I upgraded it."
"Drake," he takes care to say, "Don't you think that you will be able to help him more if you were able to upgrade your profession to its highest ability? Maybe something will come with that, but we won't know unless you upgrade it."
Seeing his point, I look at my quest again.
- 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: (12/12)
Reward: Title of Apprentice Enchanter. Continue leveling your profession -
Choosing to complete the quest, I immediately receive rewards, and my enchanting level increases by two levels. With the rise in my profession and the levels, there is a small feed of knowledge on how I should be engraving and how to make the engraving tool flow properly.
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Curious, I continue to let the information flow through my mind. There are several areas that I learned I could improve on during the enchanting process. Some of the tricks I have already learned, but from the different ways to enchant items, I can see there was a long way for me to go before I mastered the knowledge provided to me.
Sighing, I look at Laxreal and give him a sad smile. "Thank you for pushing me to complete my quest. With the quest's completion, I learned more about how to lay enchantments properly and how to mix the materials so that they absorb into the enchantment better. I also learned that I wasn't doing everything I could to prepare the enchantment materials properly. I could have been pouring mana into the material. That way, they will flow into the sigil when filling it."
"Good. What are the odds of you completing the enchantment this time with a piece that Uxa gives you?" He asks me.
"I would say that I have at least a 30-40% increase in the odds of completing the enchantment from the knowledge I received but also because of my skill fusion."
"Good," he says while his eyes flicker with amusement, "Because it looks like you are needed." Pointing over my shoulder, I turn to see Ramona quickly trying to beckon me into the smithy.
Rushing over, I can see Uxa is almost to the point where I can start enchanting the piece. Not wanting to fail this time, I immediately got to work on the mixture that would be poured into the sigil. It doesn't take long before Uxa is ready for the second attempt to enchant the piece. I can quickly get everything to the same point as before, but every step of the way felt more fluid. The engraving started to flow more easily, the mixture was poured into the sigil more readily, and the injection of mana was completed in less than 10 minutes.
Not wanting to waste more time, Uxa finishes the heat before quenching the blade again. I get a notification when he pulls the knife out of the oil.
- Enchantment: Successful
Quality: Below Average (-20%)
Experience Gained: 5 -
Nodding to Uxa, he looks at the piece and smiles. "Good, let's see if I can improve its quality further. Thank you, Drake."
Leaving the smithy, I approached Laxreal. "Alright, the enchantment was successful. Now we will have to wait to see if he can increase the quality of the final product."
"Great, shall we," he gestures toward the manor, and I lead the way.
"What are your thoughts on increasing my level before we tier the settlement?" I asked him.
"What level are you at currently?" He asks.
Looking at my status sheet, I was glad it was intuitive enough to show me a consolidated version.
- Status:
Name: Drake Taldrit
Race: Human (F)
Gender: Male
Planet of Origin: Culhara
Bloodline: LIFE NURTURING, DEATH CORRUPTING DRAGON
Awakened: 0.01%
Class: Mage
Class Level: 7
Experience 280/700
Affinity: Life, Nature, Death, Corruption
Special Class: Noble
Level: 5
Oaths of Fealty: 62/75
Profession: Enchanter
Profession Level: 12
Experience 47/375 -
"Seven," I answer.
"You are a couple of levels away from your next tier in class. Let's put a group together specifically for you to level up. There aren't always options for you to leave, but with how things are now. I would say we have things much more in hand than before. Why don't we think about forming a more permanent party for you? So far, you have been just gathering people together at random."
"I wouldn't say at random." I countered.
"Drake, the parties you have been involved in have involved either those you have initially summoned or your family. I didn't count when we had the large group go out. Otherwise, you haven't been to a party that is just there specifically for you."
Thinking back on everything I have done since then, I would have to agree with him. There hasn't been a specific party that I was involved with. Agreeing with him, I asked, "And who should we look to form my party? As it stands right now, I am a powerful spell caster, but with the lack of mana regenerative items, I become useless at parties once I run out of mana."
"That is why you must also get a quiver and a bow. Not all battles need you to cast spells. And if you can deal damage without the need for spells, it would save time and potentially increase the amount of experience gathered in one trip. Right?"
"True, and I have been working on my archery with Sylvasti."
"Then I would say we send out a message that you are forming an official party, and those interested in joining should come to the manor."
"That sounds wonderful. Should we schedule it for sometime tomorrow? That gives people plenty of time to hear about it and come forward?"
"Yes, we will schedule something for tomorrow; until then, we should have a semblance of an idea of who should be included in your party."
After that, we entered the manor and talked for several hours about what I wanted and needed in party members.