While Sam was away, Alex saw he had some notifications, so he opened them to distract himself from the pain.
Enchantment failed
Enchantment failed
Enchantment failed
…
..
.
After skipping past his failures, he came upon an interesting message.
Congratulations, you have learned a new Enchantment!
–Enchantment: Explosive Surge–
Through poor enchanting, clunky mana use, and repeated failures, you have learned to overload items with sheer mana. This enchant is what happens when a novice enchanter tries to solve the problem by blindly shoving too much mana at a profession that requires precision, and then surviving the aftermath, which is rare.
Well… that’s just rude. Since when does the System have a sense of humor?
When Alex thought about his [Enchanting] skill, he now felt a list of sorts. This held his “known” enchants, and on it was listed Explosive Surge.
Not really sure what the difference will be for known and unknown enchants. Maybe they’re easier on the known list? I’ll have to test it out… but not with this enchant, that’s for sure. Don’t even know if this enchant will be useful for anything.
Sam returned a minute later with someone following closely behind. Someone with wings.
Skyrin Summermoon - Level 5
It was one of the fae-like people Alex had seen in the cages.
“Alex, this is Skyrin. I couldn’t find Sarah or Myris, but luckily, someone said she was a healer too.”
The fae woman bowed to Alex. He didn’t know her age, but she looked pretty young, maybe in her 20s, if he compared her to a human. She had dark ebony colored skin, beautiful aquamarine fairy-like wings, and bright blue eyes.
“Hello, sir.” She said in a voice that reminded him of a cool summer night. It was relaxing, warm, and comforting. “May I check your wounds?” she asked, gesturing towards his bloody hands.
Stunned for a moment by her voice, he hesitated before responding. “Uh, yeah, that’s fine.”
The woman immediately stepped forward and knelt down before Alex, as she cast her [Mend] skill.
Alex sighed in relief as the pain began to fade and the wounds slowly healed. Most of the cuts vanished quickly, but his hands took twenty minutes of constant effort. They had been in rough shape. Throughout the process, Skyrin was focused and didn’t waver as she healed him. He could see the strain on her face, though. It was taking a lot out of her.
When the last wound on his hands closed, the woman almost fell over as she sighed in relief.
“Thank you,” Alex said to her.
For the first time, she made eye contact with him, and he almost flinched.
Is this how people feel when they look into my eyes? He quickly thought.
Skyrin’s eyes were a bright blue, beyond what he had ever seen in a human. They were strange and alien, but beautiful nonetheless.
“Of course, sir. It is the least I could do for you, after rescuing us from the goblin’s foul cages. My people are few, but we will help in any way we can.” She stood and bowed again.
“Please, just call me Alex. And there’s no need for bowing or anything. I’m glad we were able to help your people.” He smiled at her. “I appreciate the healing. My hands were hurting quite a bit.”
She smiled back. “As you wish, Alex. Please call on us should you require anything else.”
“I will, thank you.”
She turned and slowly walked out, clearly still a bit tired from the healing.
“Damn, I thought you all were going to make some babies right here, forgetting I existed!” Sam said, speaking up for the first time since introducing Skyrin. “The sexual tension was insane!”
“Shut up,” Alex said as he chuckled. “She is definitely cute, but I’m not interested in any of that right now. We’ve got way too much shit going on.”
“Fair enough. But remember… everyone needs a little ‘play’ sometimes. Can’t always work.”
“Bud, you’re probably still a virgin, aren’t you?” Alex smirked at him.
“NO!! You shut your mouth! Don’t start any rumors, someone might hear you!” Sam was looking around the room for someone spying on them, and glancing back at the door, waiting for one of his other team members to be there to pick on him.
“Uh huh, sureeeeee. When you're done blushing, I’ll give this another shot. I sent too much mana into the blade before, which caused the explosion. But it gave me a hint, saying enchanting requires precision. So if I reduce the flow and I’m careful, it should work this time.”
“Well, just don’t blow it up again. I’d rather not die today.” Sam walked over and sat on the other side of the stone table, hiding partially behind it.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Alex took a few more slow, deep breaths to calm himself before trying again. He didn’t have the dagger anymore, so he grabbed the sword and got it into position.
When the mana started moving forward, he restricted it, reducing the flow to a slight trickle. It was difficult for him to restrain his mana like this. He had never tried it, and he knew he would need to practice more.
When the small stream of mana touched the sword, it didn’t fail or get pushed back. It sank into the blade much more than any previous attempt. His skill told him it was working. But Alex felt something was wrong. He was moving too slowly in creating the pattern.
He wasn’t using enough mana. There was a balance he needed to find.
Alex stopped the crafting attempt. Luckily, since he stopped it himself, there wasn’t any backlash or problem. He could also feel that the small amounts of mana he had infused into the sword were already dissipating. The enchantment needed to be completed for it to hold the mana in.
It’s self-sustaining, he thought to himself, observing the mana leave the blade. Once the enchantment is completed, it traps the mana in and keeps it going, powering the weapons enchant. But if the pattern isn’t completed, or there isn’t enough mana, it can’t sustain itself and dissipates.
Alex smiled and looked at Sam. “You were right. It’s mana flow. I know how to complete it.”
“You’re welcome,” Sam said as he poked his head out from behind the table before adding, “That’ll be $93.99 for the assistance, plus tax.”
“Oh? So cheap. I appreciate the friend's discount for such excellent service. Just put it on my tab.”
They both laughed.
“Well, if you're good, I’ll go see what everyone else is up to, then maybe learn alchemy and start on it. It would be nice if I could make some health potions or mana potions, assuming they exist.” Sam stood up and walked towards the exit.
“Yeah, that would be amazing, actually. There have been a few times when they would have come in handy. Like thirty minutes ago when I almost blew my hands off.”
Sam laughed as he waved back at him and walked out of the room.
Alright, let’s give this another go.
It took Alex another five tries before he got the mana flow correct. It was a tricky balance between too much and too little mana.
A few attempts earlier, he had also begun using his [Eyes of the Cosmos] to watch the process and found the ability helped him immensely with monitoring it, rather than simply relying on feel. Another of his abilities, [Celestial Control], combined perfectly with the [Enchanting] skill, too. The ability helped him shift the mana inside the blade, making the pattern much more precise and clean. No mana was wasted.
The patterns were much more intricate than he had initially thought. It reminded him of the ritual circles wizards or necromancers would create in movies and games. But instead of creating them on the surface of things, he was shaping the mana inside the blade to form the pattern needed. Each enchantment's pattern also varied greatly. They were circles, lines, triangles, squares, and many other shapes, all stacked atop one another to create the desired effect. It blew Alex’s mind how complicated they were.
With the sword in his hands, he sent the mana into the blade. He was confident that he had found the right balance. When the mana sank in this time, it stayed put, while Alex continued channeling mana into it. He had taken a break to let his mana regenerate recently, so he had plenty to spare.
He continued pouring out the mana, slow and steady. He used his abilities to track and manipulate it, shaping it and controlling it. He painstakingly formed the patterns needed. His focus was so intense that he lost track of time. This was already his most successful try so far, and he was going to push it all the way.
Ten minutes passed as he slowly trickled mana into the blade. Then, twenty minutes as the shapes took form. Finally, thirty minutes came and went as the mana locked into place, solidifying the enchantment.
Alex let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion and smiled.
I did it. Took awhile, but I was able to successfully enchant something.
Alex drew on his willpower and intent to pull up the old sword's information and compare it to the new one.
Sword (Common) (★)
A basic sword of low-quality materials and craftsmanship.
Sword (Common) (★)
A basic enchanted sword of low-quality materials and craftsmanship.
Enchant: Sharpness
Hmm, the difference looks minor. Just the word enchanted was added, and then the bottom part saying Enchant: Sharpness. I’ll need to test this out and see how much sharper it actually is. I don’t have any more swords on me, though. I put them all into the cave armory room.
He pulled up his notifications. Skipping past the failures, he found what he was looking for.
Congratulations, you have learned a new Enchantment!
—Enchantment: Sharpness—
This beginner enchant increases the sharpness of a bladed weapon it is applied to. The weapons' edge will remain sharp and resist damage to a small extent.
Interesting. It’s nothing crazy, but it could definitely be useful depending on how much sharper the weapon is. I wonder if I can double up on enchants? Would be nice if I could add a second.
Focusing on his racial abilities and the crafting skill, he examined the sword. Alex quickly saw that he couldn’t add another enchantment to this sword.
It looks full. Extremely so. There wouldn’t be any space for a second enchantment in there. I’m curious whether that's all kinds of weapons, or just this one, because of its low quality. Again, more things I’ll need to test.
For now, Alex put the sword away in his storage and stood up, stretching.
I should probably go check with the others and see how everything is progressing. I’m curious if they’ve been able to identify any of the food items in the store, or at least taste tested some of them.
Alex left his room and headed straight to the council room. On the short walk, he glanced around the cavern. Everything looked in order. The few people he saw were going about their business or tasks, and some were chatting with one another. It was nice to see normal things happening, rather than people cowering in fear or recovering from an attack.
The council room was abuzz with activity. Several people were gathered around the large table, covered with a variety of foods. At least he assumed they were food. He didn’t recognize any of them, but he saw a few being eaten.
All the “council” members were in there, along with a few others from different races. The human Kenneth and fae Skyrin were included. Everyone turned as Alex walked into the room.
“Hey,” he called out. “How’s the food from the store?”
“Hello Alex,” Kren Clawstrike replied. “Things are progressing. We have found several products that resemble foods we are familiar with. With another hour of testing, we should be finished and have enough food identified for today and future meals.”
“Amazing. That sounds like good news, then. Is there anything I can help with?” Alex glanced around at the people in the room. A few, like Kenneth, avoided looking at him. But he did make eye contact with a few. He made sure to remember the newer people he wasn’t familiar with.
“No. We have a system in place that is allowing us to move smoothly and efficiently. If we add another person, it would slow things down.” Kren told him.
“Fair enough then. Let me know if you change your mind or think of anything else.”
“I will, Alex. Now get out of here, you’re distracting my testers.”
“Alright, alright,” he chuckled as he lifted his hands to show his innocence. He quickly left the room.
Now what? He wondered to himself.
Alex spent the next hour wandering through camp, checking the state of things, and trying to be useful. No matter who he asked, he couldn’t find anywhere to help, though. He had to just do random things without asking. Alex repaired some walls, the courtyard ground where a mage accidentally blew a chunk out of it, and just tried to do anything he could.
Feels weird not having anything to fight. Maybe I should see if the team wants to go back to the troll dungeon? Actually, on second thought, maybe not. We could do that tomorrow, though.
Patreon has 15 extra chapters ahead of Royal Road! (This 15 will actually be increasing to higher amounts soon for the same price)
Favorite country or regions food? (Pick 2) I cannot fit all counties or types, so I'll only be picking a few random ones. Tell me your fav in the comments!
