Magic Made Simple

Chapter 17: Dabbling in Enchanting

I decided to head back to the first floor to kill time before the tournament began. I agreed to meet the others at the arena within the inner ring 2 hours prior to the start of the event, so I had until then to do whatever I wanted.

The outpost has changed a lot since I last really explored it. There were actual buildings all over the place now, and each one seemed to be serving some specific purpose. After asking for some directions, I ended up at my destination.

The building I was at could more or less be described as a shed with a forge attached to it. It was basically just a place for weapons and armor to be made. I could see crafters all around it, with some focusing on leatherworking and others on forming metal into weapons, but the person I was looking for specifically stood directly in the center of the organized chaos.

Blair notices me walking towards her and speed walks to meet me in the middle. "Hey! Have you found any more rare materials?"

"Hi, nice to see you too." I say, though I wasn't really upset that she was skipping straight to the point. "No, I haven't. There hasn't been much opportunity for that on these past few floors. There probably won't be until I reach floor 11."

"Well then what are you here for?"

"I believe you owe me a piece of equipment." I say. "Preferably one made from the bones of a particular skeleton."

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I've had it ready for about a day now. You just never came to pick it up." She walks into the storage room by the forge, coming out a moment later holding a long dagger. It was pretty clearly made of bone, and I identified it before she even handed it to me.

Enchanted Bone Dagger (Rare)

A dagger crafted from the bones of a fallen skeleton sentinel. It has been enchanted to become sharper and more durable when infused with mana.

"Not bad." I say, inspecting the dagger. I infuse some mana into it to sharpen it, and rake it across my arm. Blair looks like she's about to say something, but stops when my mana shield flickers and negates any damage the dagger would have done. It's not a perfect test, but the amount of mana drained by the slash let me know that this would be a fairly useful weapon.

"Thanks. It was pretty easy to make after I practiced the enchantments a few times. Just don't go infusing too much mana into it, because while they are good, they aren't perfect."

I raise an eyebrow questioningly. "How much mana is too much?"

"Well, if it starts shaking then you've probably put too much in it. Best to throw it before it turns into bone shrapnel."

"I'll keep that in mind." I say, storing the dagger away in my ring. At least, I tried to. I mentally slap myself when I remember that it could only store common and uncommon rarity items. It did still light up briefly in an attempt to work, but it was a lost cause.

Blairs eyes immediately lock onto the ring, and I see what looks like a ring of mana appear in her iris. An improved inspection skill perhaps? Either way, something about the item got her excited.

"I need one." She says, pointing to the ring.

"What?"

"I need one. Bring me one of those and I'll make something else for you."

"Why do you need one so badly?"

"That looks like a very useful enchantment on it. I would love to use that on some of my creations."

I am starting to get a little uncomfortable at how she's looking at the ring, and I cover it with my other hand. She frowns, but I speak before she can start complaining.