32 Chapter 31 (2/2)
The merchant was sweating bullets, looking very nervous.
”Oh..I see. Well I uhh..I've been conned as well then! Why that lying...selling me all of these at that price even though they're not really enchanted! Thank you young man for bringing this uhh...discovery to me.”
(Don't try to weasel out of it that easily…)
”Ah, I understand now. What a terrible shame. I shall go notify the guards so they can apprehend that devious individual! Do you know his name or how he looks?”
The merchant did not know how to reply to Lucius' statement and felt cornered. But then Lucius gave him an escape.
”I can see my friend over there doesn't wish to spend the rest of the night giving a detailed report to the guards about this incident and would rather be home. Perhaps if we could cut our shopping short and head home sooner?”
Understand gleamed inside of the merchant's greedy little eyes and he had no choice but to acquiesce.
”Yes..yes, for thanking you help me find out about this, it's only natural that the lady gets to pick one for free. As..compensation.”
Lucy looked at all the jewelry displayed and chose one, a small pendant.
The two quickly left before the merchant decided to try his luck with the guards and entered a small restaurant around the corner.
They sat down at a table and relaxed.
”I really wish you'd stop doing that Lucy. One of these days they're going to call your bluff.”
”But I've got you as backup, it's fine. Otherwise, how are they going to get stopped from pulling this scam on people? Plus look how nice it is.
She took the pendant and attached it to her neck. As she did so, Lucius couldn't help but look at the great view in front of him. It did not help that she chose to wear something that enhanced her attributes.
”Yeah uhhh, looks great. Say, would you want me to actually enchant that? I've been practicing a lot lately and I can do a few enchantments.”
”Oh really? I'd love it.”
She handed the pendant to him and they spent the rest of the evening doing small talk and eating a meal before going back to the academy.
After saying goodbye, Lucius went to his quarters, now much better than during his first year here, and prepared what he would need to enchant the jewelry. His work outside was really starting to pay off now and just last month he had made 54 Gold in profit.
The next few days were rather uneventful and the pair are focused in their studies. Lucius helped Lucy study for the knowledge part of the exams and she helped him practice more in combat. Even though her defeat at the hands of her half-sister had proved to be due to cheating, Lucy never forgave herself and trained even harder every day since then.
She was now considered to be amongst the 5 strongest in their year but Lucius on the other hand still lacked a bit in that department. He had gotten better naturally but his inclinations were more towards pa.s.sive magics like enchanting and scholarly work. Outside of the academy, he would likely become quite wealthy from his works and undoubtedly end up writing a few books, furthering knowledge in certain fields of magic.
But for the present, he struggled to meet the expectations laid out. He wasn't the weakest in their year but there weren't many behind him.
Setting himself up at a table, Lucius took out what he would need for his enchanting. A small vial with a dust like substance, the jewelry piece and a scroll. It's one thing to enchant a spell you know unto a scroll, but to combine that spell on an item is much harder. The dust like substance is a byproduct of Zoisapite mining, the mineral is still valuable even when ground up as an enchanting ingredient.
The latent Mana remaining in it allows a connection to be established between the scroll and the item to be enchanted when the Zoisapite dust is poured over while a mage attempts to enchant the spell unto the item. No one knows exactly how it works but this is how it's done.
Aside from some rare alchemy recipes, enchanting is the most expensive trade there is. In order to bypa.s.s the limits of scrolls which can only hold apprentice level spells, rumors say that the elves can actually go beyond this but Lucius was never able to find out more about it, the enchantment has to be performed as the item is created. Hence why most enchanters also tended to be well versed smiths or partner up with one. For his part, Lucius was interested in doing everything by himself. He had already studied a lot of smithing techniques and even practiced a bit in one of his father's smithy.
The Deparng family wasn't the most famous or richest one but it was an old one. They had many contacts and businesses, ranking fifth in the top smiths.
Lucius laid out the scroll on the table and took the jewelry, sprinkling Zoisapite dust on it.
Closing his eyes, Lucius stretched out with his magic and tried feeling for the Zoisapite dust. Once that connection is made, he pushes forward with his mind, making all the dust imbue themselves into the item.
Straining, he tries to hold on until the process is complete else all that dust is wasted. Lucius composes himself and focuses until the process is finished. Great endurance and Willpower is required as the most dust is present, the higher the chances of success. However, should the enchanter fail to maintain a constant link on the dust, it'll be wasted, costing them a fortune for nothing.
After a few more minutes and feeling nothing more from the link, Lucius severs it and looks at his work. The pendant doesn't look physically different but under the gaze of his [Inspect] skill, the results are noticeable.
”Hmmm, this is nice. I reckon I could sell this for...100 gold maybe? But it's for Lucy so I can't do that.”
Lucius took the pendant and put it inside a small wooden box, then he headed to bed, tired as a dog. He hoped that he wouldn't sleep through cla.s.ses again tomorrow and wondered a bit more about that new student.
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