Chapter Three: Enchanting

"Really? I can stay here?" Corwyn asked, looking down on Rinok as the man was far shorter than him. Corwyn was six-foot three and Rinok was five-foot three on a good day.

"Yeah, there's a cubby in the back. We use it on hard days when we need to get a bulk order done, and done yesterday." Rinok grinned. "Welcome to the sweatshop. You look to have talent, and I'm already imagining you a level two in a few years, maybe even a level three?" Rinok's smile faded, "Don't get a big head on us kid. A lot of hard work goes into being an Adventurer, let alone a Smith. You might not have the falna, as Goibniu has high standards for those who join his familia, but still."

Corwyn nodded firmly. "I understand, master." Corwyn saluted.

Rinok snorted, "Get some sleep, we're up and at 'em early next morning. You're going to need to be sharp as today. Don't disappoint us."

Corwyn nodded and Rinok waved him away, heading out for the night. Corwyn moved to the cubby and open it up. There was a slight dust build up, but otherwise a thick 'mattress' of furs and cloth made the bed at least better than the floor. It was no inn, but it was free.

Corwyn crawled in, keeping the door cracked for air, and closed his eyes, ready for tomorrow.

...

Corwyn inspected Nov as the dwarf hammered away at the dagger that was shaping up on the anvil. It was quickly placed back in the flame, before being taken back and shaped some more.

"After this, we just need to dunk it in some oil. The quench is important, it's what makes the steel hard and an actually viable weapon. However, its also where some problems appear. Warps, cracks, fractures, all kinds of bad things. You can tell where you fucked up by a vibration or crack that travels up the tongs."

The dwarf lowered the dagger into a pot of oil, the liquid smoking a bit as it caught fire before the blade was pulled out. "Look at that! Perfection."

Corwyn inspected the blade and hummed. 'That's a common rarity item. Most of the items that come out of here are Trash and Common, with the rare few level two quality items being uncommon.' Corwyn pursed his lips and sighed. He'd been ignoring it so far, but he figured he should start using his 'boon' that his friend gave him.

"Well, get going brat. We need some handles, and I'll be judging your eye for good woods." Nov poked Corwyn on the chest and jerked him out of his thoughts. Corwyn nodded and went to the back, searching for a good selection of wood and some adhesive for the handle.

'Inspired Enchanter is a strange power.' Corwyn felt the burning 'charges' of power burn inside his soul. He had six of them as of today, holding five when he first woke up in the world of Genkai.

The power had two functions in totality. One was called 'Upgrading'. Upgrading increased an item or objects 'rarity' of which there were a total of nine rarities.

Rarities were, put simply, levels of how powerful or rare an item was. How this was decided, Corwyn hadn't a clue.

Starting with Trash, or 'Gray' items, these were known as 'mundane items' and had no mystical or magical effects. Weak and garbage, no different than a rock or crude iron dagger.

Common items, often called 'white' items were also known as Weak Magic Items, and were the start of mystical development. These items were the start of items that could hold the second function of his power; Enchanting.

A common rarity item could hold a single enchantment, which cost a single 'Charge' of which he gained one charge every day.

He could use the 'upgrade' function to 'conceptually upgrade and super-charge an item into a superior grade of item'. Upgrading an item can only happen a limited number of times that depended on the item in question.

The list of rarities followed.

Trash - Gray: Zero enchantments, weak garbage. Mundane Items.

From what Corwyn had seen, these items were things that were most common and were basically everywhere. Rocks, a plank of wood, a shirt. These items were 'trash' and 'gray' tier items.

Through the upgrading feature of his power, Corwyn could use a charge to turn a gray tier item into a Common Rarity item.

Common - White: One enchantment, basic level one gear. Weak Magical Items.

These were items made by level one and two smiths mainly. They held a little bit of 'power', or were made from mystical materials that elevated them above a basic crude iron or steel weapon. Although, through skillful craftsmanship, an iron or steel weapon could become a common item.

These items were the start of his power, items that could be imbued with mystical effects. For example, the dagger that Nov just forged could be enchanted with a 'Sharpness' Enchantment, giving it greater cutting power.

After that followed Uncommon.

Uncommon - Green: Two Enchantments, level two gear. Lesser Magical Items.

These were items that could be used by a level two. Most items made this way from what he'd seen use Drop Items from monsters inside the Dungeon, a place he'd only heard rumors about.

From what his power told him, he could upgrade a Common item to an Uncommon item with 2 charges. Uncommon items also had their enchantments buffed.

If a Common item's Sharpness Enchantment had a value of 2, then the Uncommon Item's Sharpness Enchantment would have a Value of 4. This was repeated throughout all of the rarities, which made things like Legendary and Mythical stupid powerful as their 'Enchantment Value' would be extremely high. A Legendary Enchantment would be around 256 times as powerful as a Common item's, and the less said about Mythical the better.

After Uncommon, came Rare.

Rare - Blue: Three Enchantments, level three gear. Greater Magical Item.

He hadn't seen any rare items yet, but he could upgrade an Uncommon Item to a Rare via three charges.

After Rare, he had Epic.

Epic - Purple: Four Enchantments, level four gear. Mystical Items.

He could upgrade a Rare into an Epic for six charges.

After Epic, Exotic.

Exotic - Yellow: Five Enchantments, level Five and Six gear. Minor Artifacts.

He could upgrade an Epic to an Exotic with 12 Charges.

From Exotic, came Unique.

Unique - Red, Six Enchantments, Level Seven and Eight. Grand Artifact.

He could upgrade an Exotic to a Unique with 25 charges.

After Unique, he had Legendary.

Legendary - Orange: Seven Enchantments, Level Nine. Legendary Artifact.

He could upgrade a Unique to a Legendary with 50 charges.

Lastly, after Legendary, he had Mythical.

Mythical - Black, Eight Enchantments. Divine Artifact.

A Legendary item can be upgraded to a Mythical Item with 250 charges.

Enchants themselves are the act of applying a mystical and magical effects to an item. An item has a set amount of Enchantment Slots to which relates to its rarity. An Epic Grade item has Four Enchantment Slots, and all its enchantments are twice as strong as the same enchantment placed on a Rare Item.

An Item also has a select amount of enchantments that can be applied on them. Theoretically, any Enchantment can be spun on an item. A blade can have a healing enchantment, an amulet can be cursed by taking on a blade's bleed enchantment, and so on. However, certain enchantments are obviously 'better' on gear and equipment they are suited for. Like a 'Sharpness' Enchantment on a blade rather than a mace.

Certain Enchantments are locked behind Rarity Grades. Most Enchantments cost only a single Charge, however, some Mythical and Legendary Enchantments may cost more.

All of this was the total encapsulation of his Boon given to him by the Monolith. It was extremely powerful, and he could see it taking him high in this world.

However, he was debating on how he should use it.

'Should I start using it now? Or should I save up my Charges over the course of several years, slowly work on my skills and then start using my charges?' Corwyn asked himself as he riffled through several pieces of wood.

'Hmm, no. I should start using my power now. Get a set of 'utility' based civilian gear that I can use to create my foundation. Then I can slowly start setting up better and better gear for my Adventuring.' Corwyn nodded to himself.

'This works best as from what I hear Exelcia, this 'falna' ability the 'Gods' of this world give Adventurers is only rewarded when an Adventurer struggles. If I go into the Dungeon with Epics, then I won't struggle.' Corwyn reasoned to himself, but shook his head.

'That doesn't make sense, as I've heard of adventurers leveling up by killing monsters through cunning, poison, not through brain-dead full frontal fighting.' A part of his brain countered.

'But those adventurers level up right when they hit D-Rank stats. That's just shitty character building.' The long-term part countered the counter.

"...I'll just make a set of gear that'll help develop my smithing abilities. The dungeon can come later." Corwyn muttered to himself as he picked out a nice piece of wood.