Chapter Four

“You need to weave your aspects through the sapphire and into the dagger. Right now, you only have one aspect; that’s why you’re failing.”

Jackson shook his head, clenching his fists and sucking in an annoyed breath.

“I need my hands! You’re telling me I have to be holding the dagger and the sapphire. I can’t weave and do that.”

Fred shook his head in the negative.

“How did you get that notion? You don’t need your hands; all you need is your willpower.”

Jackson scowled, but tried again. He took hold of the weaves and began to weave them through the sapphire and then into the dagger. Except as soon as he began, the weaves fell from his grasp. It was as if he were trying to pick up a thread with just his lips and trying to sew that way. It didn’t help that the blasted gem heated up in his hands, and the air began to smell like burnt hair. Frederick sighed, seeing his trouble.

“I’m no mage, lad, but you’re too focused on this idea of needing your hands. You keep focusing on this idea, and you’re going to continue to have problems. Let go of that notion and just focus on what you want the weaves to do.”

Jackson tried to take Fred’s advice and let go of the idea that he needed his hands. It didn’t work, as he got the message.

You have failed to enchant Apprentice Iron Dagger.

Jackson squashed the urge to throw up his hands.

“Why can’t I use my hands? Can you tell me that?”

Fred actually chuckled a bit, which made him a little more annoyed than he already was. The orc found his predicament amusing!

“Because the dagger and the gem need to be as close to your Domain as possible, which means touching you. In addition, all of your focus needs to be on the weaves and what you want them to do. What you’re doing right now is trying to split your focus; it’s fine for weaving a spell, but enchanting is not the same.”

Jackson growled, and he clenched his hands around the objects. Sighing, he took a deep breath and let it out.

Then he asked his second question,

“If I put points in mind, would that make it easier?”

Fred shook his head.

“That’s not how attributes work. Putting points in mind doesn’t make you any more intelligent or focused in that regard; it simply serves as a way to balance power in the ways we talked about before. I am afraid there are no shortcuts, lad.”

Jackson sighed, resigning himself to it.

_________

He was unable to enchant a dagger for more than a day and a half. Jackson slept on a pallet with soft blankets and pillows that Fred put in his tent for him. He felt like he was growing behind, having gained no other levels or made much progress at all in that day and a half. He did check his attributes, though.

You have two attribute points available for use. Which attributes would you like to increase, and by how much?

He gave his answer to the Judge and got the following prompt:

You have increased your will from 12 to 13. You have increased your mind from 10 to 11.

Jackson wasn’t sure if that had been the best choice to make, but it seemed like a good decision to him. Now he was still trying to enchant this dagger, and it was proving difficult. He kept failing, and each failure seemed to make it even harder. He knew he was expecting to fail, and that was affecting him. It wasn’t until he decided to expect to succeed that something changed. He realized he was looking at this wrong.

Jackson was trying to grab his Domain aspects, and that thought of grabbing set him to wanting to use his hands. This started him off poorly for what he was trying to do. Furthermore, the process tired him out. At one point, he received the prompt,

Your mana is critically low.

Mana? What was that? He asked Fred about it.

“What mana actually is is complicated and studied by scholars. I am but a simple smith, as I have said, lad. However, if you were to say that mana is the energy that comes from your Domain and makes up your weaves, not many would disagree with you. There are mana potions that will restore your mana, though I recommend simply resting, and it will restore in time on its own.”

Jackson nodded at his answer. He had to think about this differently. Instead of thinking about grabbing the mana, he immersed myself in it like one might immerse themselves in a hot bath. He let that river of crimson liquid he thought of as blood run over him while he sank his mind into that nothingness. Jackson allowed all of it to encompass him, and then he directed it, imagining it doing what he wanted. The weaves responded, flowing through the sapphire and into the dagger, just as he intended.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Jackson finally got the message he had been waiting for. He whooped and pumped his fist, which was holding the dagger in the air.

You have successfully enchanted the Apprentice Iron Dagger! It is now an Apprentice Iron Dagger of Lifestealing. Congratulations! Your Enchanting Skill (Apprentice Level 1) has increased to (Apprentice Level 2)!

Lifestealing? He wondered what that meant. Jackson analyzed the dagger.

This is an apprentice Iron Dagger of Lifestealing. The life-stealing enchantment gives you a small portion of any slain target's health. The target must be slain by the dagger.

Fred poked his head in and grinned.

“Well now, lad, I take it you finally succeeded?”

Jackson smiled widely and flourished the dagger, presenting it to him. Fred looked at it, and his mouth fell open and his eyes widened. His voice was a little hushed.

“Lad… Your Domain has a blood aspect.”

Jackson nodded,

“Why? Is that a big deal too?”

Fred nodded mutely. Then he shook his head to clear it and closed his mouth before clearing his throat and speaking.

“Blood is an exceptionally rare aspect indeed, lad. How many do you think have it?”

Jackson shrugged; he hadn’t given any of it a whole lot of thought.

“Probably not many,” he replied. Fred chuckled,

“Probably not many is right. When you’re enchanting something, the item you enchant always takes on an enchantment that is related in some way to your Domain aspects. It pretty much has to, given that you are, in a way, literally weaving who you are into the item.”

Jackson’s mouth twitched as a question occurred to him.

“So I don’t get to choose the enchantment?”

Fred shrugged his massive shoulders and held up his palms, raising one after the other, as if weighing two things.

“Yes and no. If you don’t give the weaves some idea of what you want to do, then the enchantment will be somewhat random but always related to your aspects. If you do try and direct the weaves a certain way, it could fail if it is too powerful an enchantment or not related to your aspects closely enough, or the weaves aren’t right for it.”

Jackson tilted his head, considering.

“Does the item matter, Fred? If I enchant another dagger, will it always be combat-related? Could I enchant a dagger to be a kind of trap, for example? Or a sphere, or a vial of some sort?”

Fred thought about his response for a moment before answering me, and when he did, his voice was thoughtful.

"The dagger itself plays a part, but there's a good bit of wiggle room too. Enchanting's all about your imagination, picturing what you want it to do. Most magic works that way, as far as I know. Skill with the weave, the quality of the gem you use—that all matters, of course. You wouldn't want to make it explode; that wouldn't be in the dagger's nature, you see? But you could surely make it nasty for whoever wields it wrong. It's all in the way you weave it, lad, your intent, and what you see in your mind's eye."

Jackson thought for a bit.

“Do you have any kinds of spheres? Like glass ones?” I asked.

Fred considered and then went over to some boxes at the far side of his tent, the area he used for storage primarily. He glanced through them and then moved some stuff around before taking out a separate box. He walked back over to Jackson and opened the box. Inside were many multicolored glass ornaments.

“I have these. They were supposed to be decorative, but I brought them as surplus items. I thought maybe I could trade them to another merchant for something more useful. What are you thinking, lad?”

Jackson picked up a clear one. It had a string attached, and he cut it off with the dagger and then set the dagger to the side along with the string. He looked at the ornament, considered it, and then nodded.

“Do you have any more gems?” Jackson asked Fred. Fred nodded but added,

“I don’t have unlimited gems, though. I have three sapphires left, a ruby, and a diamond. I really recommend you save the ruby and diamond; those will be needed if you want to make a truly powerful enchantment.”

Jackson nodded and then asked another question.

“Can I only do one enchantment at a time?”

Fred nodded,

“That’s correct.”

Jackson blew out a breath, a little bummed at the answer. He was hoping to make this go a lot farther. He selected three more clear ornaments and put them on the counter, then he asked Fred for the three sapphires, which he fetched for him. Fred seemed to sense that Jackson had some idea he was exploring, and it was clear from the way his eyes regarded him that he was curious. Once Jackson had the sapphires, he held one in his hand and the ornament in the other.

He took a breath, really hoping this would work, as he stilled my mind and immersed himself in his Domain, its aspects running over and through him like a stream of water unbarred by his body. Then Jackson fixed his attention on what he wanted, firmly keeping what he imagined in mind. The weaves began to pack themselves into the ornamental sphere after running through the sapphire, of course.

The weaves layered themselves, bundling up tightly near the bottom and twisting to form another lair, as if he were creating a complex knot. Each time he did this, he tightened them and kept in mind what he wanted to happen should the weaves snap. Every so often, Jackson would twist the weaves in another direction, layering them in a different way. Around all of the blood weaves, he wove a dome of destruction, the catalyst in his imagination, that, when the sphere was smashed, would set the whole thing off. After some time, the Judge acknowledged his efforts.

Your enchanting skill has increased. Congratulations, Jackson! You have created a Blood Shard Bomb (Apprentice)! When thrown on the ground and smashed, or simply squeezed, these little bombs will explode, unleashing an impressive amount of blood shards that will severely harm everyone in the blast radius except for Jackson Grey.

He grinned in satisfaction. He almost could not believe it worked! Weaves truly did respond to imagination. Fred eyed the bomb and grunted, though his eyes glittered in appreciation.

“I can’t say I would have thought to make something like this, but it’s impressive all the same, lad. Why did you make this?”

Jackson tapped his head,

“I think I am going to need them a little later.”

Fred chuckled and shook his head.

“Fine then, lad. Keep your secrets. Listen, I think I can get some more sapphires from a merchant. More players have been showing up the last few days, so there’s been a lot more activity as of late. If I can get them, do you think you could produce more of those daggers there?” Fred nodded to the dagger on the counter.

Jackson shrugged,

“Sure, why? Would it not be better to experiment? Produce other enchantments?”

Fred shook his head from side to side. Not in the negative, but in a yes-or-no kind of way.

“It would probably help your skill level a tiny bit to experiment with your enchanting, but it wouldn’t help the wallet. That dagger has a powerful enchantment. Killing things and getting your health out of the deal could save your life. Enchantments like that are always valuable. I bet I could sell that dagger for a thousand EC or more.”

Jackson’s mouth fell open. He wasn’t sure how good that was, but Fred made it sound like that was a considerable sum for a dagger.

“Really, that much?” He asked. Fred grinned,

“Did you not hear me, lad? I said it could save your life. Healing of any kind in Eden is prized. Now, I will be back. I’m going to go see how many sapphires I can get you.”