Ruins were everywhere. No matter how far Zach went, there was nothing but dead buildings with not a soul in sight. The sky was also remarkable in itself. A constant blanket of darkness with only the huge moon and the stars around it. It had been a few days since he was here, and yet the sun never rise. Some might be surprised by this, but Zach just thought of it as the theme of this dungeon.
Before long, he reached a wide place, a training ground with lifeless training dummies still standing tall. He might be wrong but he assumed it was a training ground for aspiring warriors or knights. The half-broken logo on one of the buildings near this training ground might support this claim of his since two swords crossing each other was a rather big giveaway.
Zach approached one of them, feeling a bit pumped after stepping into this place. It had been a while since exerted himself through his muscles as all he did for the last couple of days was just sitting with his back hunched. So putting up a good sweat didn’t sound so bad.
The lunarite sword he brought along had finally found a purpose besides unexpected situations. It was one of the failed experiments of Ahm-Nain, and apart from not being able to be used as a base for enchanting it was perfectly usable as a weapon.
He faced the wooden training dummy. His eyes focused and his grip light on the hilt. Then he slashed. The muscles of his arms contracted and the blade sang with a swish. Both his eyebrows raised as it did not cross his mind what he saw.
The dummy was cut in half and the upper part dropped with a thud. ‘Well that was unexpected,’ Zach thought. He used Identify and found the problem.
[Broken Training Dummy(Tier:Uncommon)]
[A broken training dummy that had lost its enchantment. It is made for the single purpose of improving the combat capability of beginners. A great tool to test one's skills or weapon usage.]
[Defense: 0]
[Durability: 0/20]
It was a pity though. He would love to test this sword as well as sweating it out. Yet his knowledge was broadened. Who would have thought that enchanting could be used for different purposes other than combat? Zach took another scan at the rest of the training dummies, using his Identify to see if he could get lucky.
‘Oh,’ he smiled. There was a treasure among the trash as perhaps Lady Luck hadn’t abandoned him yet.
[Training Dummy of Resilience and Repair (Tier: Uncommon)]
[A training dummy for the greenhorns. It is made for the single purpose of improving the combat capability of beginners. A great tool to test one's skills or weapon usage. The enchantment of Resilience and Repair had been embedded in the essence of the item.]
[Defense: 10]
[Durability: 1000/1000]
An intact training dummy with the enchantment still there. He grew interested in a simple dummy, seeing the Resilience enchantment was a higher grade version of the Tenacity enchantment, while the Repair enchantment was also something he had an interest in after reading the enchanting textbook. It was a slighter higher grade than Tenacity enchantment as it was useful in terms of keeping a weapon, armor, or item with its capability of self-repair.
He tested it out. His sword slashed against the wooden surface and the blade bounced against the exterior of the dummy. He used Identify once more and found the durability had considerably decreased. Yet, the numbers went up, regenerating in front of his very eyes as it repaired itself.
The flame in him burned and Zach went all out. He swung his blade countless times, delivering blow after blow with the red hue further intensifying the damage dealt to the wooden dummy. It was like an enemy that wouldn’t go down as Zach poured his heart and soul into every swing as the countdown for his skill penalty went down second by second. He broke a sweat and was rewarded for it.
[Swordsmanship increased to level 5]
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He smiled. The young lad wiped the sweat off his forehead as it was a great session. Another level meant another boost in overall combat as he once more checked the penalty counter and there was a long way to go before he could get rid of it.
Zach wandered off from the training ground and entered the ruin right next to it. Nothing was intact. Holes in the walls, broken furniture, and nothing useful enough to be of use. He hoped to find some sort of scroll like the one Teena found. It would be a boon to get a new skill out of nowhere, but there was none here for him. He even went to great lengths to check the walls and floors to see whether there was a hidden entrance or not. But his effort was met with disappointment.
He returned back to the underground enchanting room with a new determination at heart. The small training session he did bring life into his mind as he felt confident and keener. Oxygen blew the flame in his mind, and Zach grabbed the fourth dagger. Mana willed to his finger and the enchanting began. He smoothly drew the line and shapes of the symbols, completing the power source, the mana resistor, and the most difficult, the Tenacity symbol. A symbol that has the most intricate design as it was the main part of the enchantment.
A glow brightened the enchanting room and faded a second later. Zach never turned his eyes away from the dagger in his hand as the mana at the end of his finger was gone. He beamed like the sun as he did it. There was no change in its outer appearance but inside he knew it was different. The enchantment he did seeped into the metal itself, vanishing from sight. There was no usual sign of failure like the burnt mark on the other daggers, and he was satisfied.
Identify itself confirmed that fact.
[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.]
Its durability had been increased by half, and his success did not stop there.
[A Master artisan in the making. Your path in Enchanting has just begun.]
[You have learned Enchanting.]
He felt great. The dopamine rushed in his blood vessel pumping like mad as he succeeded in his self-imposed challenge. He continued on, using the new flame in him to venture further into the art of enchanting. He grabbed the third dagger and the Enchanting skill came to play. The ease in enchanting was like heaven and earth.
Unlike what he thought, using the skill did not immediately respond to a complete item. It was not like in the game where a click was enough to produce the intended object. But here the using of skill smoothed the overall process as if the difficulties he faced before no longer exist. The usage of mana in enchanting was much stabler especially when he only used his finger as a tool. Not to mention, the whole process took less time than before, a quarter shorter.
The third enchanting was complete and another Lunarite Dagger of Tenacity had been birthed. For the last two daggers, Zach thought of something else. He grabbed the enchanting textbook and memorized the new diagram. An enchantment that was a tad bit more difficult than the Tenacity enchantment. But he frowned. The burnt marks had returned as once again he failed. He thought it would be a success but at the last second before completing it his concentration wavered, being too relaxed led to a straight line being crooked.
He was seeing for himself what would happen if someone was too confident, and he made a mental note not to be complacent. Zach used the last dagger and etched the new enchantment. He concentrated with knitted eyebrows, focusing solely on the task at hand. Then the glow returned.
[Lunarite Dagger of Strength(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 Strength had been embedded in the essence of the weapon.]
[Attack: 45(+5)]
[Durability: 100/100]
[Effect: +20% in Attack under the moonlight.]
[Effect: +5 Strength]
His eyes opened wide, staring at the last effect that caught him off guard. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Five points in Strength over a simple enchantment was beyond his wildest dream. He thought the effect would be at maximum +1 or +2 at best, but +5 was a whole different picture.
Zach eyed the rest of the untouched weapons and armor in this small room. Unlike before, now he saw them in a different light. Rather than equipment to survive, now he saw them as materials to enhance his enchanting as well as his stats.
Again, Zach dove back to enchanting with glee on his face.