Zach got up. His knees were wobbling. His muscles were weak, and his mind was weary. It took him a bit of time to get himself together as the torture he went through was unlike he had ever experienced. He glanced at the water of the fountain, glistening in its calmness.

Zach turned away, placing his attention on the books that were organized neatly on the carved shelves on the walls. Quite an oddity though. Even in a place for a special fountain, books were not far away. He even thought that the pantheon was more like a library than a pantheon. He did his usual, skimming through the books, entertaining himself through the boring seconds. Interestingly, the books were mainly fiction, tales of good adventures with good always triumphed in the end. If he wasn’t wrong this whole fountain space was a space of leisure for people of the enclave to relax their minds and whatnot.

Zach kept what he was doing, going through the books one by one until he stopped. A book on this shelf did not budge as if glued on the shelf itself. He smiled. Things were starting to get interesting. Zach pulled with every strength he had, and he was denied. He even made use of his pain stacks and he still couldn’t move the damn book with no words at the front, back, and side.

Zach stood there, staring at it. He used Identify and the content of the new window surprised him.

[Ahm-Nain’s Book.]

[A tip to make it move; apply mana to it.]

It piqued his interest, and Zach did as told. He willed his mana, imagining them coursing through his vein, using the crude method he found through Mana Sword. He would have winced by the time the mana branched into five paths, but he was calm and barely affected. It seemed the painful torture he went through just now was a lot harsher than this wrong method of flowing mana. His mana escaped through the tip of his fingers and it flowed into the cover of the book, bathing them in a pale yellowish light. He stumbled backward but with no book in hand. He thought it would work and as he glanced where the book was, it did, but not like what he expected. The hardcover manuscript was standing at an angle as the sounds of gears and machination echoed from behind the shelf.

Zach watched it all happen. The wall shelf caved in and slid to the other side, revealing a hidden entrance. He stood there amazed. As this pantheon was full of surprises. He commanded the Lantern Orb hanging close to his side to enter first, brightening the dark pathway. The light revealed a staircase, and Zach travel down with leisurely steps. He was at ease, enjoying the moment of discovering new things. But his leisure did not mean he threw out his caution. His eyes still were alert, scanning every inch of the wall and steps of the stairs, using the full capability of Identify at his disposal.

By the time he reached the end of the stairs, his Identify reached level three. An achievement he was satisfied with as he didn’t think it would level up this quickly after being told he was inflicted with a heavy penalty in skill growth. But such matters were put aside at the moment as he laid his eyes on this room. His eyes twinkled as if he stumbled upon treasures of gold and silver. But to be honest, it was not that far in comparison. The room was filled with weapons of all shapes and sizes, lining the wall in their respective wall mounts. While on the opposite wall was a section exclusively for armor and clothes. They shined brilliantly as if made out of precious metals, reflecting the light of his orb.

He was on cloud nine, beaming with a smile. He made a quick lap around the whole room like a kid in a toy store. It was a dream he never thought would be realized this quickly. The first thought that came to mind was this room was the armory of the Moon Priest‘s pantheon. But his smile faded though. The moment his Identify was used, the description of the mace he laid eyes on was quite peculiar.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

[Broken Lunarite Morningstar(Tier:Uncommon)]

[A mace forged with stones that came from the moon, the Lunarium. The completion of the mace to remove its known fragility is through a blessing from a Moon Priest. Further improvement can be done in the presence of a Moon Priest. Enchantment done to the mace was a failure.]

[Attack: 22]

[Durability: 50/50]

[Effect: +1% in Attack under the moonlight.]

‘Broken?’ he questioned, scanning the description, the attack, and the effect. At first glance, the fragility of this mace was a disgrace when compared to the Lunarite Sword he was gifted. But the biggest take he found was the line where it spoke about the failure of enchantment. From his knowledge, enchanting was an act of giving an effect to a weapon which further enhanced a weapon to the next level.

He started to grow anxious. His trove of treasure was about to be a pile of dust. Zach went around, blasting his Identify, and half of the weapons and armor were all deemed as broken. But he sighed out of relief though. He was grateful just for having something usable and then his eyes laid upon the book at the small study table.

[Ahm-Nain’s Journal]

[An ambitious member of the Moon Priest. He dabbled in the art of enchanting as he was fascinated by the act of strengthening an item besides the blessing of the Moon Priest. The journal accounted for the journey he embarked on this path.]

‘So it’s not an armory,’ Zach thought. He took another look at this room as it was indeed a bit small to be an armory for a pantheon of this size. Yet the mention of enchantment bloomed another excitement in him. He picked up the book and read through it, page by page. Immersing himself in the experience of Ahm-Nain.

From standing to now sitting on the dusty floor, Zach did not care about anything else besides the words and letters in this book, detailing how the process of enchantment had been done. Mostly it was failure after failure, but by the end of the book, Ahm-Nain found his success even if it was just one. The words themselves could not fully convey the elation felt by Ahm-Nain yet Zach could picture it through his imagination. The smile of a man with a fist in the air, shouting in excitement after breaking through the wall of failures. This was a man of commitment and perseverance. But alas, his journey was short. The end of the journal told of an invasion of his home, his enclave, and there it stopped. No more words were written beyond this page as the archaic pages were empty without a record. Zach felt pity for Ahm-Nain as his success was short-lived. He was sure of it that this man would have found more success if the pantheon had survived, but alas that was fate.

He pulled the drawer of the small desk and found the book which Ahm-Nain learned his enchanting. His eyes brightened and yet solemn at the same time. One man’s end became another man’s beginning. ‘I’ll carry on your journey, Ahm-Nain,’ he vowed.

Then his eyes rested on the other thing inside the drawer. A small single-bladed knife.

[Lunarite Dagger of Tenacity(Tier:Uncommon)]

[A dagger forged with stones that came from the moon, the Lunarium. The completion of the dagger to remove its known fragility is through a blessing from a Moon Priest. Further improvement can be done in the presence of a Moon Priest. The enchantment of Tenacity had been embedded in the essence of the weapon.]

[Attack: 40]

[Durability: 150/150]

[Effect: +20% in Attack under the moonlight.]

It was the truth of Ahm-Nain’s effort, the sole success of a man who never gave up. The effect was not incredible, but it carried the weight of Ahm-Nain’s whole journey.

‘I’m sorry Ahm-Nain. But lend me this weapon and I will put this to good use,’ Zach thought.

So it began. A time of reading, and understanding the principle of Enchanting as Zach embarked on a new path in learning another skill.