“So you guys were the ones that got the Alchemist’s guild all in a tissy.”

  Cru mentioned, shaking her head ruefully as she, Mikella, and Clara all watched Zeke do his magic on a metal slab to make it into Cru’s ‘wonder item’.

  In other words, a multi-useable catalyst for her enchantments.

  The store closed up prematurely, which was Cru’s initial plans for the seeable future thanks to the trouble the Alchemist’s Guild put her through. Suddenly canceling the contract thanks to their coffers drying up all because Zeke decided to do the humane thing and help people had made them realize that they need to alter their business practices.

  Zeke offered her a way to help make up the costs of suddenly losing a supply of steady monster parts used for her enchantments by creating the device which she can use instead. This way, she can save a crap ton of money while keeping her enchanting business afloat.

  Once the little ‘issue’ regarding Zeke not belonging to the official Runist Guild is resolved, Cru eventually left Zeke to borrow the foundation he needed for his new device.

  The metal slab, in this case, was actually several feet tall and just as wide, reaching up to Zeke’s waist at his full height. When Mikella asked why the hell she had something like this just hanging around in the back of her store, it was apparently an old anvil she used long ago before she had an official anvil with runes to help with her crafting. And just as you might expect, it was a heavy thing, but Mikella–her Strength being at 300, carried it with ease all the way to the store front for Zeke to fiddle with.

  Normally, smiths needed an anvil filled with mana in order to make their creations powerful, hence why Cru commissioned a special anvil for her blacksmith business. But she apparently brought this giant metal slab from her old home before she moved here, a relic of her childhood that she had no plans on letting go.

  That didn’t mean she didn’t mind using this when Zeke asked for any heavy and large metal item to use for his device. It was gathering dust for no good reason, so it might as well get a new purpose.

  Right now, Zeke was carefully writing on the slab with his pen by hand, the other pens floating by and keeping the mana energy contained, or something along those lines. It was still a mystery how Zeke does his runes, but that didn’t stop Clara from watching Zeke incessantly, wanting to learn from the master himself about writing runes.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry about what happened,” Zeke answered, though his eyes were locked onto the complicated runes he was drawing at the same time. “I don’t regret it, but I didn’t mean for this to impact your business.”

  “Hey, what can you do?” Cru answered back, waving off his apology. “I heard rumors about it, but actually knowing the details made me sick on how those Alchemists treat adventurers. In fact, I’m glad you knocked those stuffy nobles and their stinky business off their high horse.”

  “Yeah!” Clara shouted, raising a fist. “Fuck the nobles!”

  “Damn straight kid,” Cru grinned. But then a frown appeared as she turned to Mikella instead, considering Zeke being too busy to face her. “But I gotta be honest. I don’t think I can accept this. This is just too much for me to handle. I really appreciate your help, but…”

  “Cru, come on,” Mikella responded. “There’s no need to worry. Zeke wants to do this. So just take it with gratitude.”

  “But this stuff normally costs a mansion in the noble district and then some,” Cru waved over to what Zeke was working on. “Hell, if you did services around here, you’d be making gold every second of the day.”

  “And I’m hoping you can keep this quiet too,” Mikella said, raising a finger over her lips. “Can you imagine what the Runist guild, or literally anyone else, would do if there’s a free Runist doing whatever he wants? Forget about doing free service–do you think those Runists are just gonna let Zeke go?”

  Cru grimaced, knowing exactly what she was talking about. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the Runist guild will definitely not like finding out about a rogue runist doing humanitarian services. Mikella didn’t plan on letting anything happen to Zeke, but even she knew that she wouldn’t want to face a team full of runists who knows what they’re doing.

  Not that they would lose in a battle. No, she was worried something even worse–a political battle with no weapons allowed. She knew for sure that she would lose that battle, no questions asked.

  So the only way to avoid that unwinnable battle is to not let it happen in the first place. Though at some point, people would figure out that there’s a free runist running around here if they just use an Identify on him. She heard there were items that can help with that, but right now, it was difficult to find, let alone actually purchasing it with their meager funds.

  “But if you really feel indebted to us, you can always waive off any payments for us from now on if we do this for you…” Mikella said, not willing to let this chance go for her weapons.

  Cru laughed aloud. “If you do this for me, everything I make for you guys is forever free of chrage. You’d be helping me make more gold, and on top of that, you’ll help me level up my Blacksmith class and Enchanting skill on top of that.”

  “So it is true that leveling up Enchanting is also expensive?” Mikella asked. “Considering you needed to buy monster parts to make those effects you use?”

  “Oh, very,” Cru answered with a nod. “And you have to use the more powerful and expensive ingredients if you want to make any headway into higher level enchantments. So if this actually works, I can experiment all I want, raising my skill even higher and getting better enchantments. After that, I can get more notoriety. I might even beat other Enchanters at their own game!”

  “But don’t Enchanters have their own skills?” Clara asked, her eyes widening. “Like Bobo with his Runist skills?”

  “Yeah, definitely,” Cru nodded to Clara’s question. “Don’t get me wrong. They’ll have it easier than I do… but it’s all about what’s up here, and what’s in here.”

  Cru tapped her temple with a finger, then pounded her chest with her fist. Clara nodded slowly in realization.

  “A real crafter uses their wits, not just their abilities and skills. Even if I’m at a disadvantage with my skills and stats, it’s the hard work that brings in the bacon, and pure satisfaction for the customers who come here.”

  “See, Clara?” Mikella added with a sly grin. “Listen to your older sister and accept her wisdom. Hard work trumps all.”

  “I know that already,” Clara rolled her eyes at her, but then quickly smiled after turning to Zeke to watch his work again.

  He was at it for a few minutes now, but he already wrote across half of the entire slab entirely in rune arrays. As he continued, Zeke spoke up as though putting something out there.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Just letting you know. This isn’t entirely perfect. In order to get the different effects you need, you’re gonna have to adjust your mana flow into this device according to the effects you want. It’s a little complicated, especially if you don’t have Mana Manipulation, but I can help you out if you’re stuck.”

  “Don’t worry. It was clear from the beginning that I needed both Mana and Kinetic Manipulation to make a proper business. How’s it going so far?”

  “This would’ve been a lot more complicated to figure out if you hadn’t given me the enchantment encyclopedia to look over. Thankfully I had enough of a grasp to figure out what I needed to do.”

  Zeke commented, a smile on his face as he certainly had his fun reading the encyclopedia that Cru gave him regarding the different effects enchanters can use on their gear.

  The book itself was spread open on the floor beside the kneeling Zeke, his pens often flipping the pages for him as he continued his work. It was completely baffling for Mikella to see this happening, but she remembered he had this handy Parallel Thought skill that split his thoughts into separate sections. That has to be a total cheat skill, she swore. She wanted to get such a skill herself, but she hated the migraine that came with it.

  “Also, this won’t last forever. I think you might need something to refuel the device with mana if it runs out, but eventually the runes would wear off if you keep making powerful enchantments on it. So don’t go around making ultimate weapons of power willy-nilly. You’ll run out of juice faster that way.”

  “How long can it last?” Cru asked, her hands on her hips while bending forward to view the runes up close.

  “Mmh, that really depends, but it might last for a few years if you keep the power at a medium for the enchantments.”

  They kept talking about the specifics of the device, which Cru and Zeke eventually named it Enchantment Generator, or just generator for short. Hearing that word made Mikella realize that Zeke really is the equivalent of a magical electrician.

  Almost an hour passed by as Zeke kept working on the project. Eventually, the entire metal slab became what is known as the Enchantment Generator prototype. Contrary to its clean and silvery-black colored state before, now it was riddled to the brim with glowing blue and green runes that circled around, creating a mesmerizing array of mystery that truly made this something fantastical. Truly, a wonder item of the ages.

  Clara clapped her hands in glee at just seeing the product humming to life, Zeke chuckling awkwardly while taking in Clara’s praise of how cool it looked. Honestly, it looked like the slab was hit hard with a lot of ‘nerd’ for Mikella, but even she had to admit it was awesome to look at.

  For Cru, it was as though touching it would be like smearing a great historical painting. Her eyes just glazed over the generator, her hands hovering over it as though she had no clue on what she was doing.

  “Sorry if this is asking a lot,” Zeke continued, pulling the collar of his shirt to breathe easily from the effort. “But do you mind letting us see how you enchant something? If it’s a secret, then is it fine if it’s just me? I want to see if it worked precisely as I wanted it to do.”

  “It’s fine, it’s no secret,” Cru waved it off. “I got something I’ve been meaning to try out right here.”

  Per her word, Cru opened up the top part of the storage pack beside her hip, and pulled out a longsword. It had a jagged edge across one side of the blade, the other a straight line down to the squarish guard. The blade had a lean metallic color with a slightly darker tone near the blunt side.

  She then placed the longsword down onto the Generator, feeling the effects for herself as the generator’s runes started to glow, as if awaiting for its master to start working.

  “So I gotta make a good image in my head while I’m enchanting, right?” Cru spoke up after turning to Zeke. “Then pour in my mana to match the mana signature of the effects I want?”

  “Precisely. The more you synchronize between the image and the effect, the better the result.”

  “Well that’s easy!” Cru smiled. “I always had to make a connection with the monster parts, so I know exactly what I need.”

  Returning to the generator, Cru closed her eyes. A moment passed before the sword began to glow a bright yellowish red, the color of her mana surging through it.

  Mikella’s Mana Manipulation picked up the intensity she was pouring to her sword, but it was different from how she used her own attunement through her fighting. It felt methodical, going through the motions of a well-practiced veteran as the mana seeped into their own channels into the blade of all things.

  When the sword started to glow, Cru’s hand hovered over to the sword, the other still gripping onto the hilt. The generator’s runes then flashed bright, the usually green and blue belonging to Zeke now turning a hot red and orange.

  Through her senses, she sensed the mana churning within the structure of the former metal slab, the runes creating their own proper network within it as the energy surged through the inner channels and headed up to where the blade made contact with the generator.

  The two mana collided, the energy crashing into one another before it eventually settled down, transforming into a torrent of power that flowed into the sword, making it swell despite nothing occuring in the physical world.

  The only thing happening outside is the sword glowing even brighter thanks to the generator, and when the energy collided together, the sword encased itself in flames, heat rising from the blade as Cru lifted the sword up, showing the flaming sword to everyone around her.

  Clara shouted in glee from the sword becoming magical, the other adults watching with awe. It was an incredible thing on Mikella’s side, seeing how enchanting works out in real time. If there was a crafting skill she would want for herself, then it would be this one, for sure.

  Cru lifted the sword up, swung it left and right a few times, then the flames dispersed as if she hit the off-switch, returning the longsword to how it normally was. There was still that hint of smoke trailing from the blade itself, only just being encased in flames moments ago.

  “Godsdammed, if this isn’t the best thing I have ever seen…” Cru said in clear awe. She turned to Zeke, her eyes turning wide. “Didn’t you say that it can’t handle high-level enchantments?”

  “I did,” Zeke answered with a nod. “It looks like there’s no problems on my end. What’s wrong? Is it weaker than average?”

  “No, it’s stronger!” Cru answered as though Zeke had lost his mind. “I just tried to give it a simple Flame Enchantment. Just a low end effect that can give fire damage to anything that’s weak to fire. This is… here, just look for yourself.”

  Cru handed the now enchanted sword over to Zeke, with Mikella clearly closing in to Identify the sword for herself.

  Flaming Iron Longsword (Epic)

  One of the many longswords crafted by none other than the Enchanting Blacksmith. The sword becomes flame itself, slashing and burning everything it comes across.

  Enchantments:

  Great Fire

  Great Mana Conductivity

  She was floored when she read the rarity tag near the name.

  “Epic?” She asked in shock. “Was it Epic before?”

  “No, just Uncommon!” Cru nearly shouted, shaking her head in disbelief. “I planned on putting in just Medium Fire, but instead it came up with not just a better version, it even added mana conductivity like a goddamn afterthought. That effect makes every enchantment easier to use, lessening mana consumption. It didn’t even use any requirements to add that in. What the hell did you make here, Zeke?”

  “I, I just…” Zeke hesitated, not really knowing what to say. “I mean, I just did what I thought was decent. I didn’t think it would add in an effect by itself. If that’s a problem, then I can adjust it–”

  “Problem? Do you know how much these bad boys can be sold? People would be fighting over each to bid for just this dingy sword I made in my off time thanks to this enchantment!” Cru nearly shouted. Mikella knew she wasn’t being hostile. It was the opposite, her face almost brightening up with each word coming out of her mouth.

  “Makes sense,” Mikella nodded, recalling something. “Zeke does have his Runecraft skill to Legendary.”

  “Ooh… right, yeah,” Zeke, as if the fool just realized, snapped his fingers in recognition. “Forgot about that. Yeah, I guess the runes I make would be pretty good on their own already. Kinda feels a bit off since I just got it from my Journeyman advancement rather than raising it myself, y’know?”

  “Tell me about it,” Mikella shook her head, remembering the outright denial of gaining the Rare rarity for each of her weapon skills by just advancing.

  Meanwhile, Cru looked at the two of them as though they just spoke the language of the gods themselves, the Epic enchanted sword just left hanging there in her hand as she watched them.

  Before Cru’s mind could break any further, Mikella smiled as she suggested.

  “So, since you got yourself a pretty nifty wonder device now… how about you make me something pretty damn decent now?”