We finally found Naomi as we exited the stadium. Despite not winning, she looked a bit happy. “I didn’t expect to win as I had just recently picked up that crafting skill, but I was shocked I even won a prize.

 

“That cat bag you made was cute. I want one now. You could make some decent profit selling those I think.” I told Naomi my thoughts on the bag she designed for the event.

 

I could see Naomi thinking for a moment before she eventually responded. “Maybe. It’s something to think about. I think for the moment we should get stronger for next week’s events.”

 

I silently agreed with Naomi. Getting stronger served two purposes. One was for the events in the following weeks and the other was for when the game merged with reality. But for now, I was content focusing on my remaining two crafting events.

 

“I have a little bit of time before my enchanting event begins. If no one is against it, I would like to do a bit of studying to get things fresh in my mind for the next event. I have only watched Old Man enchant and read theory on it. I also need to decide on what spells I know that I want to enchant with.”

 

“That’s fine with me” Alex said. “But I thought you have done this before?”

 

I shook my head as we were walking to what appeared to be a café or a restaurant. I wanted to use it as a study spot. “No, I have never had the chance to do any enchanting, as it required mana which I didn’t have until recently. I have seen Old Man do it a few times and I have read the books he gave me, so I have the theory down. I just need some practice and this event will be good for that.”

 

We eventually sat down and ordered drinks as I pulled out the few books on the subject and started to go over them. The girls were enthusiastic to help me with ideas and explain their thoughts on concepts I was having difficulties understanding.

 

Eventually It was time for my enchanting debut, so we made our way back to the event area. I separated from the girls and walked to the participant waiting area. Most of the other players were dressed as the typical wizard or sorceress. After some waiting, we were ushered out to the arena to our designated areas.

 

Each booth had the tools we needed for our enchanting. I saw some engraving tools and various powders and other substances used for enchanting. There was even a small kiln for use so we could ‘set’ the enchantment once it was applied.

 

It took a few moments for everyone to get to their station. Once everyone was ready, the host then spoke. “Welcome to the first enchanting competition!” Gordon bellowed to everyone. He gave the same spiel as before about the rules and the prizes. Everyone was provided a longsword to enchant, and other ingredients could be found on the same tables as before. Once he was done talking, he then started the event.

 

I moved to the closest table that had the ingredients on it. I saw several players grab the high-quality stuff, but I opted to grab some of the lower quality items. Better chance of success with my current skill level. They had enchanting circuit blueprints that we could choose from, but after a quick look through them I decided I would make my own. They were for only one spell, and I assumed they were for beginners. I knew I was a beginner, but I wanted to try my hand at making my own.

 

I grabbed a few magic stones, some liquid bonding agents, and other various things and quickly made back to my station. I started up the kiln so it could reach the desired temperature when I was ready for it. I then grabbed the mortar and pestle and started to grind up a magic stone.

 

Once I was done with my grinding, I grabbed an ink well and poured the powdered stone into it. I mixed the two thoroughly until it had a sparkling sheen to it. The reason this was needed was because the ink was needed to draw my circuit on a piece of parchment. The parchment would then be laid ink down on the blade while I slathered a liquid on the parchment. It was akin to applying a temporary tattoo. The ink also made it easier for the engraver to cut into the metal as well as provide lines to trace.

 

The circuits available at the table only had one spell on them, which means that anyone who used them could only give two enchantments. One for each side of the blade. The books I had also had methods for compounding enchantments, but I wasn’t at that skill level yet so two enchantments on each side were the most I could do.

 

The first circuit I was making involved two similar spells I knew as you could only enchant with spells you knew or from spell scrolls. This is where the game came to help me. The books I read were used by the game system to assist me. I chose the two spells and from there various runes that did different things such as power, targets, and duration for example. I then had to place them in the order that best suited my needs. It reminded me of circuits cards with things like transistors and resistors.

 

The first blueprint involved a spell that inflicted a chilling touch on the enemy and sapped some of their vitality with necrotic damage and prevented healing for a short time. The second spell then bound the enemy is shadowy tendrils that then continued to do more necrotic damage over time. I thought this would be an effective counter to anyone who got in melee range.

 

The second blueprint for the opposite side included another set of spells. One spell popped a small forcefield around the wielder, increasing their defense and even nullifying certain spells, mainly those that were just made of force energy. The second spell would then target the attacker and pelt them with psychic energy causing them a massive headache and to hear thousands of whispers.

 

All of these enchantments required the user to have mana. The reactive enchantments used more mana than the active ones did.

 

Once I had chosen the circuit design, it was overlayed on the parchment, and I began tracing into it with my magic ink. I finished both blueprints quickly and got to work transcribing them onto the sword. Once the parchment was soaked with a gel like substance it didn’t take long for the design to appear on the sword. I removed it and quickly grabbed my engraving tools. I applied a small amount of mana to the tool to allow it to cut into the metal. Another reason for the magic ink, it was really easy to cut through that but really difficult to engrave the part of the sword where no ink was. It ensured that the design was accurate.

 

The engraving took a bit of time, but it wasn’t too hard to finish. Once that was done, I then grabbed some of the other powdered ingredients, choosing those that had an affinity with necrotic type damage. I filled in the grooves of the engraving with the powder and sealed it with a coat of another gel like substance that would set it once heated. I quickly got to work on the other side using another powder for that circuit.

 

Once I was done with the sword I moved to my kiln and circulated some air in it to get the heat to rise a bit. I then set the sword inside, so the blade was vertical to the ground. I held the sword in place for about ten minutes before I pulled it out, the sword glowing just slightly. It would need to be re-edged as the heat probably dulled it.

 

I looked at the runes on the sword and saw they were set smoothly, and you couldn’t tell the sword was engraved. The necrotic runes had a blackish-green hue to them with the other had a purple-silver hue. I was satisfied with the sword despite it being my first time. I would be happy with a consolation prize, but I wasn’t expecting much. There were several players that enchanted much more frequently than me. I turned in my sword and waited for the time to count down, which was only thirty minutes from now.

 

~|~

 

Gordon had started the event excited to see what thing the players could do. He had positioned the player Gwyn near the judge’s seats so he could watch her since she had created a monstrosity in her previous event. Once he saw she was participating in this one he had to watch her from up close.

 

He saw her look through the blueprints they laid out on the table but she, and a few other skilled enchanters, did not take them. This proved to him that she was an experienced enchanter, and he was excited to see what she would make. Of course, he had to watch the other players, he couldn’t be biased after all.

 

Gordon had a confused look on his face as he saw Gwyn making two circuits. He asked the other judges what they thought the reason was for two but the only thing everyone could think of was in case one failed. However, they were later proven wrong and surprised when they saw her apply the circuit to the other side of the blade.

 

“I may not have the best experience to this, but from what I had learned, you can only apply one enchantment per rarity level of the item right?” Astra, another one of the judges, asked her two colleagues.

 

“That’s correct. They are working on an uncommon rarity sword so it can only hold one enchantment. The current item rarity goes, common, uncommon, rare, unique, legendary, and mythic. Legendary and higher can’t be enchanted as they are special items. So, the most enchantments one can apply are three. Commons can’t take any enchantments as they break down after.” Dexter the blacksmith judges responded to her question.

 

Gordon decided to add his piece to the commentary too. “Legendary and mythic can be enchanted but require special means and tools to do so. I don’t expect any of those to come about until about a year or so.”

 

He continued to watch Gwyn while giving the other players his minimum attention. Gordon had called for a stop to the event as the time reached zero. Everyone had turned in something except two people as they had struggled with their enchantment.

 

The judging room was large and spacious and housed several displays for each item turned in. As an admin he could see the creators name on each item, so cheating was at a minimum. He wanted to save Gwyn’s sword for last. He knew if he looked at it would spoil the other items.

 

Gordon and his associates finally reached Gwyn’s sword and were gob smacked by what they saw.

 

Name: Eldritch Mind Slayer

Rarity: Unique

Damage: 1200

INT +50

Requirements: Touched by the Abyss

Enchantments (visible):

Eldritch Chilling Tendrils: INT x 5 Necrotic Damage and stops healing for 10 seconds. Summons shadowy tendrils to hold target in place and deals necrotic damage equal to INT for 15 seconds.

Dissonant Shield: Erects a shield of force that reduces damage by 25%. Nullifies spells made of force damage. The attacker takes psychic damage equal to INT x 2 for 5 seconds. causes deafness and blindness and the target hears the whispering of a thousand tortured souls for the duration.

 

Gordon finally shook off his shock and looked at some details on the sword using his admin permissions. “She added two spells for each enchantment.” He would have to consult someone from game design to see how this was possible.