Even if we didn't come to a final agreement and the whole affair fell apart I was still eager to try out my enchanting skills. I already had the profession and from what little experience I had collected, it shouldn't take long for a quick level up.
We went into a back room that seemed to have some similar tools as what I had in my guilds workshop, but there were also others I didn't recognize.
Mr. Heart took out a simple enchanted sword. I studied it and tried to find out its properties. From what I could sense it was enchanted with both sharpness and durability. Putting a double intent on an item wasn't as easy as a single one, but still within my abilities. Neither sharpness nor durability were essences that I had trouble to imagine.
“Can you copy this?”
“Yes.”
He handed me a few mana crystals and took a bundle of swords out of a corner. He put them on the workbench in the center of the room and stepped back. A reserve of mana crystals would be a nice backup, because I would be able to use more than my maximum mana pool in a critical situation. Right now it allowed me to work without being limited by my own mana.
First I concentrated on the intent. Then I drew out the mana of one of the crystals and let it form into the intent. That I pushed into the swords and let it melt into their material. The work consists only of a few steps, but each one must be performed perfectly or the whole has to be repeated. Sometimes the mana has to be put back into the crystal and be cleansed of impure thoughts. Other times the enchantment doesn't melt into the weapon the right way and the energy is lost. Then it has to be extracted as quickly as possible to avoid loss of the mana.
Enchanter has increased to level 1.
For each weapon the intent has to be found anew, because the old one is already weakening in the mind. First I had to imagine the sharpness of a sword. Creating a fictional sword in front of my mind I tested it out against fictional targets. If the essence is not imagined in the proper way, such a sword won't even be able to entirely cut through an imagination. Then one has to add the durability. Such a sword must be able to endure being stretched out across two cliffs, the hilt on the one, the tip of the sword on the other. Then a heavily compressed rock is thrown down right at the center and the sword mustn't even budge. Only if the imagination is this steadfast, is the intent strong enough.
Enchanter has increased to level 2.
The combination of the two intents is yet another problem. It is possible to first infuse the one, and then the other, but then they are not combined. Of course the sword will hold them both, but there can be situations, when only one of the two becomes active. That is usually no problem, because when cutting the sharpness will automatically rush to the front, that is its nature. When withstanding a blow, the durability will keep the sword stabilized. But if such a weapon is attacked while it is piercing through something it is weakened and might break. And in the opposite way a weapon used for a block might loose some of its edge at that time. A cheap weapon will already be satisfactory to most of the wielders, but a true enchanter must pursue perfection in his craft.
Enchanter has increased to level 3.
To know if a weapon has been enchanted properly, it has to be wielded by the enchanter and swung around, while the whole focus lies on it. Even if the whole process seemed successful it is not possible to keep the mind perfectly focused. Normally it is possible to at least be aware when a mistake may have been made, but sometimes there are mistakes when everything went well. So the quality must be tested and felt out.
The workshop was a bit lacking in space, so I could only swing the weapons around carefully. It was unsatisfactory, but would have to do. I was working through the stack of swords, but somehow neither the crystals nor the swords decreased. I was drawing on the mana of the crystals, but sometimes also had to use my own reserves to keep it under control or add a little bit if I lost something due to bad concentration.
I mainly stopped my work, when my own mana had decreased to the point I could not do my work without taking risks anymore. I could have drawn on the mana of the crystals to replenish myself, but the gradual change of swords to axes pulled me out of my flow and I concluded I had done enough for now.
I looked up and saw that I had gone through a good amount of crystals, quite a few more than I had started out with. Right now I was alone in the workshop, but while I took inventory over my work Mr. Heart returned from the shop.
“I suppose that will work.”
Mr. Hearts manner had changed significantly and lost its animosity. His unfriendly way had not changed, but a person's nature is too deeply branded into them to loose its influence completely.
Lightly nodding to himself he looked over the swords and then turned to me.
“Perhaps I can take you in as an apprentice. Of course I am very busy and can't spare a lot of time for you, so it is your own duty to learn the theory. The work you did is adequate, so I am willing to pay you 20 silver a month.”
“That is hardly enough to even eat. I also need to rent a room here in the city, because right now I am living outside at Ms. Kasilan's hut and just the way here takes me two hours. Anything below 3 gold is not even worth my time.”
“I can hire five half decent workers for that much money! And you didn't even account for all the extra advantages you have here?”
“Advantages? You want me to learn on my own, and my work is worth a lot more than what you are paying me. We haven't even discussed today's compensation!”
“Today was just a test, that can hardly be considered proper work. And you didn't even start before lunch!”
“Right now I need an escort to even get here, there is no way I can start before then.”
“Are you stupid? What are you even an enchanter for? Just enchant yourself a weapon and those wolves won't even bark at you!”
“I could take one of the swords as compensation for today at least.”
“Do you have any idea how much the raw swords cost me, that you used so nonchalantly?”
“I am sure they are worth far less without my enchantments.”
“This is a one time thing you understand! I expect you to be here far before noon!”
“And three pieces of gold...”
“I will go to hell before I pay anyone that much, I will give you one, and if you even dare to haggle one more time I will rush you out of here like you wouldn't believe.”
That was his limit. I knew I couldn't get anymore money out of him than this. From what Catherine had told me and the calculations I had made on my own it was still a low wage compared to home, even for an apprentice, but things like renting a room were also a bit cheaper and I would learn one of the rarest crafts around.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
I picked the best sword on the table, receiving a furious look, but no actual objection. I had to struggle not to grin. He almost exploded when I also added a fitting sheath. I should stop now.
“Then until tomorrow?”
Apparently even he had some kind of humor. He took a bunch of crystals and put them right into my hand.
“I expect you to fill these up at home.”
“I don't have anywhere near enough regeneration to fill these up.”
“You better be here early!”
He turned around and returned to the counter. This was him just looking for an excuse to scold me tomorrow. I followed after him and just left the shop. No use in false courtesies. If you worked with people like him you had two options. You could either get stressed out over every hit he took at you, or you could just play with it and enjoy each time you aggravated him. Well, that is as long as you were not afraid to go at any time. I had some kind of assurance with the deal with Catherine, so I didn't worry about it. If it didn't work out I could always look for something else
When I left the shop the sun had already traveled a long way. I had completely lost the time. I hurried on my way to Silvia's house. I hope it wasn't too late for her to accompany me and return before nightfall. I had the new sword, but had never seen it in action and didn't know if it was good enough to stay safe.
When I knocked on the door, Silvia almost immediately opened it.
“He really held you up a long time. No, tell me later, I don't like to be out at night.”
Inside the house I could see a young man, who had to be James. He just winked at me while busy with some housework.
“Hi; James.”
“Shalyne.”
Turning back to Silvia I said: “Alright, then lets go.”
On the way I showed her my new sword. She was actually amazed by it.
“You got him to give you an enchanted sword? I didn't think anyone could get this much out of him.”
“I had to argue with him the whole afternoon. This sword was the least he could give me for that! I want to see how good I can defend myself with this. If it works out, I can actually make the way on my own and don't have to burden anyone else.”
“That's no problem at all. I would be sad if I don't get a chance to meet you anymore.”
We went off in a rush, but now, that we were on the way I could spare enough attention to see her heavily weakened aura.
“You were bad. You didn't wait to play with your magics?”
She winced at that.
“You can tell? I didn't mean to, but I couldn't think of anything else and when I took a little break it went through my mind again and I...”
“At least tell me you didn't play with fire in the house?”
I didn't get an answer to that.
“It is one thing to be a little adventurous, but this is really dangerous. You don't have the ability to extinguish fire when it starts burning. Yes, it is my fault I didn't instruct you in the risks, but you have to realize this much! If you can't hold yourself back, at least find a place that is safe for experiments. Can you promise me this much?”
My lecture had hit home. Silvia was staring at the ground and just barely got off a light nod. I wanted to cheer her up, but felt it was too important to let it sink in. So we walked in silence for a while.
It took the presence of wolves to get us riled up again.
“I need to test out if I am capable of this on my own. Please only help me out if I get into real danger.”
Silvia was reluctant, but didn't immediately fire off her arrows. She kept her bow ready, but didn't shoot.
This time I faced four wolves at once. It was the first time I actually prepared to fight them on my own and suddenly I was very nervous. Whenever I had let someone else take care of it, it didn't seem to be as real, but when I looked at them now they were no cute little puppies or harmless cartoon figures. These wolves were wild beasts, with sharp teeth and significant size. And right now I didn't face just one, but four of them at once.
As if it was the most natural thing to do they charged right at me. The first two were almost at the same distance when they got close. I took a swing at the right one while also taking a quick step to the right. I watched as the blade cut right through the wolf's head. But while I was making sure of his demise the two wolves who were charging with some delay were already closing in on me. The one I had blocked by avoiding it now came from my behind. I struck at one of the two wolves and tried to disengage, but by now the first one had completely circled into my back and jumped at me. Before he got close enough an arrow took him down and I focused on the last remaining one. He also didn't take more than a simple swing.
Warrior has increased to level 2.
The fight hardly took any time, but when it was finished I was panting heavily and it took me five minutes to calm down again.
“Are you alright? You don't have to do this on your own, in a few days this will be much easier.”
I tried to calm myself.
“No, I really have to do this. I didn't trust in my blade enough and was too slow. The next time I will slash through them with certainty.”
The amount of wolves in the forest really was too much. Just a short while later we met another two of them. I had come to understand just how easily my sword could cut through them and adopted my fighting style this time. When they rushed at me I just took a fast swing at each one, sidestepping a little bit, and they fell with a light and quick swing.
Another pack of three wolves arrived just a little bit later. It was actually easy to slice through them on the go and let the swing continue moving on. Even two wolves at the same time would collapse in quick succession if I was daring enough to just run through them.
Warrior has increased to level 3.
When we finally arrived at Catherine's hut, I had become certain enough that I was able to do this on my own, and Silvia reluctantly agreed to let me travel on my own from now on. I had only taken one light scratch when one of the wolves' dead bodies flew past me, but there had never been any real danger.
Silvia took a quick bite to eat but set off again and hurried home to arrive before nightfall. I reproduced today's events to Catherine.
“You got more out of him than I would have thought possible, but he will still profit a lot from it. You might not get any more money, but perhaps you can push for other advantages. I hope you can get along with him well enough.”
“I don't think I will ever be able to like him, but I will manage to get by. I'm more worried about how much he will teach me on his own. That reminds me, he is willing to let me read his books, but I don't know how to read. Can you please teach me?”
“If I have to. I will give you an introduction, but you have to find someone else for correct spelling. That takes far too much time and you won't need it for reading.”
After that Catherine wrote down the alphabet. There were a few letters for sounds that were used in English, but were only recognizable in some particular spelling. There were a few combined sounds that could have been split up but occupied a letter anyway. All in all there were around 40.
I wrote a list of this places alphabet and then the corresponding latin letters next to each other and approximated others.
“I haven't seen those symbols before.”
I had messed up a bit, but even on earth I hardly recognized even a small part of all the different systems of writing.
“It's my home countries alphabet. There are a few differences, but I should be able to decipher most words with this. Do you have a good book I can take to practice?”
It turned out that Catherine had almost only specialized literature.
“This book should be the most interesting to you for now. It's about this kingdom's history, so it might help you to better orient yourself.”
The books name was “The history of the Varieste Kingdom” by one Marsempan Alaian.
I vaguely remembered Arienne mentioning this was the kingdom we were in. I was curious if there was some information about the nearby town, which I think was called Barlaine
Catherine left me to myself while I started to work on the book. It took a little bit of time, but I started to remember most of the letters after a while. I wasn't anywhere close to actually reading and by the time I had read something I couldn't really remember what the content had been. In the end I didn't learn anything about the kingdom, but I wanted to properly read it. It would tell me a lot about this world.
It had long become night by now, when I finally put the book aside. I remembered something and took out the crystals I was intended to fill up. I cleared my mind and pushed a formless energy into the crystals. I wasn't even able to fill up the second one, when my mana was already depleted. I had wanted to train myself with spells, but it was an enchanters duty to use leftover mana and prepare it for work. It was a waste to leave the mana pool completely filled up.
I realized that although not enough to fill many crystals, my mana had been much more than before and had also filled up a lot quicker. “Status.”
Shalyne
Class: Sorceress Level 2, Warrior Level 3
Profession: Enchanter Level 3
Stats:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 11
Vitality: 9
Endurance: 11
Intelligence: 27
Health: 84/90
Mana: 5/270
Mana Regeneration: 2.70 mana/minute (6.70 mana/minute)
It was no wonder I had regenerated this much quicker. I now had 1.7 mana of free to use regeneration. The overall stats seemed a bit imbalanced, though. If I didn't train a lot in Warrior or similar classes I would completely turn into a glass cannon. Before I went to sleep I decided to get up early from now on and do some morning exercises.