Chapter 24: 024 Everything In Place

Once I had all of the major purchases done, I started making life better for my family. My father refused at first, even knowing I owned a successful construction company and that I had pretty much given my sister the condo for her and her friends to use for college. Jenny refused at first, mainly because she actually enjoyed living with her big brother, even though I only really slept there at night.

I moved into the penthouse suite in the new building after fixing everything that was wrong with the place. The first thing I did was make a hidden room for myself to work in. It was quite easy to make a false wall and no one would ever know about it. It was also my space and it was written into the building's contract that it was my apartment forever and no one was to be rented the space, even if I disappeared for another ten years.

Jenny wasn't really happy about that clause, mainly because it implied that I was going to leave again. I had warned her several times that it was always possible, since there was nothing I could do if I was kidnapped again. She accepted my decision, albeit reluctantly, and she promised that she would wait for as long as it took for me to come back.

“I will always love you.” I said the magic words that I hadn't said in a while and she couldn't stop her smile as she gave me a hug.

“I love you too, you big lummox.” Jenny said.

Six months later, my company finished constructing the building we had been commissioned to do. It was almost six months before the completion date and the bonuses were half again what we were paid to build it. The workers were ecstatic and the foreman thanked me for saving the company from bankruptcy. He had been digging into the old owner's exploits when he could and he knew they were living on borrowed time. He just didn't have any way of doing anything about it.

When I stood there on our last day and handed them checks for six figures, each guy hugged me tightly and thanked me profusely. Of course, I told them that if anything ever happened to me, I would be selling the business. They were shocked to hear this... then I pointed to the foreman.

“He'll be the CEO and you guys will all be partners.” I said.

There was dead silence for about ten seconds, then they all cheered.

“I'm glad you're all so happy that I might disappear again some day.” I joked and they all clapped me on the back, apologized, then grabbed the foreman and took off to the closest bar to celebrate. Luckily, the foreman had listened to me and watched what I was doing, so he knew that meeting clients inside an expensive trailer definitely made a better impression, rather than being a constant presence on the job site and that anything could interrupt their meeting.

The very next day, I had three contracts to bid on and I had to gather the guys back up to discuss it with them. A lot of them were confused and wondered why I was bothering them with it, then I laughed. They didn't care where they worked, just that it was work and they got paid. It didn't matter what they were building. I looked at the foreman and he shrugged. The old owner never consulted them on things like this.

We finally decided on bidding on the smallest building to build and it was accepted immediately. We had a month off to relax before we would need to start and I was sure the guys liked that more than the huge paycheck they had just received.

With an entire month off, I now had the free time to start my work in my secret workshop. As a construction business owner, I had access to industrial materials and could order what I wanted. I ordered something I needed to try, just to see if it would work. The next day, ten slabs of steel the exact size and requirements I needed, were delivered and I stored them and took them into my work room.

The room was huge and filled with every kind of tool you could think of and any metal working machine I could get my hands on. I didn't have any restrictions on the things I could do, now that I wasn't on a world that had restrictions on such things, like cross job specializations, and I got to work.

I took out the very first page of the enchantment tome and placed it next to one of the blank sheets of steel I had ordered. With modern tools and the knowledge on how to copy it, I had a very easy time duplicating all of the words, etchings of diagrams, and instructions. When I was done and put the last dot on the bottom of the page and finished the last sentence, it glowed blue for a moment.

To my delight, it didn't shatter.

I had thought about trying different metals and making the pages smaller, then shook my head. I would have no way to duplicate it again if I made it smaller. That wasn't what I was trying to do, anyway. No, what I had just confirmed was that enchanting could be duplicated here on Earth. The inherent magic of the symbols infusing into the metal page told me so.

I knew I couldn't do anything outrageous, because all of my weapons and armor were still greyed out in my inventory. However, trinkets and amulets could be made. The amulet I gave Lisa proved that it really did work and still held some power. I didn't know the extent or how long the effect would last, though. I had no flash of Divine Sight about it not working, so I took that as a good sign.

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I took out the page with the same enchantment that gave a clear head called Clarity. It had the details of the size and shape of it, the metal content, and what had to be written on the underlay and then plated over. I had already ordered the base metal, a hundred laser cut steel hexagons two inches across, and a small forge for melting gold. I was taking an awful chance doing something like this, then remembered to equip all of my stat equipment. I included the rings and bracelets this time instead of the gloves, too. I was sure I needed all the help I could get.

I followed the instructions and made the first engravings, like the instructions said, and carefully carved out the proper symbols and shapes. It was gruelling work and took nearly fifteen minutes. It didn't glow when I was done carving, though. It had to be sealed in gold for that to work. I donned my thick industrial gloves that fit over my rings and used the tongs to take out the small crucible from the forge, then eased the molten gold into the carving.

I was working on a granite bench, so there was no danger of it catching fire if I spilled the gold. I used a metal working tool to rub the gold into all the little grooves, then added more gold to make a nice flat surface. It was going to take time to cool, so I put the nearly three quarters full crucible back into the forge.

Before long, the gold set and then it glowed blue for several moments. The amulet formed completely and the heat dissipated instantly. I reached out and picked it up, felt the heft, and added a simple gold chain. I hung it over my neck and took a deep breath as my head cleared.

I immediately remembered that I had completely forgotten to make a large metal base with the proper safety enchantment to absorb any errant magical energy that might escape the enchantment process of whatever I was working on. My hands shook at the thought of shattering the table, wrecking the forge, and possibly spilling the gold over myself. Or having the thing explode. That could have been bad.

I quickly checked the table and relaxed when I didn't see any stress cracks. How could I have been so stupid? I asked myself and shook my head, then took out one of the steel slabs I had and quickly added the proper protections for enchanting from the proper page of the tome, let it glow for several moments, then added it to my enchantment setup.

The best thing about using modern technology? Easy duplication. Once I knew it worked, instead of having to hand carve every single enchantment by hand, I instead made a metal stamp. It took ten times as long, because the stamping material was titanium and designed for impact, and I was using tools that I wasn't really familiar with. The internet was a wonderful thing and I learned what I needed to.

When it was done, I was very happy with the result, because it was an exact copy of what I wanted. I added it to the press and put in one of the hexagon steel pieces. I pulled the lever and the pneumatic hammer slammed down and I laughed. It released the now stamped amulet... and then I realized something.

“Oh, for fuck's sake! It's backwards!” I exclaimed as I picked up the amulet. Instead of the immaculate copy I expected, it was reversed. I couldn't use it, either. I sighed and used one of the metal chopping machines to cut it up, tossed it, then pulled the stamp out of the machine. I put it to the grinder and cleared off all of my hard work... eventually. Titanium was a bitch to work with. Luckily, it was a thick stamp and it wasn't wasted.

I got back to work, using a mirror to copy the reverse image instead of the normal one. After another long ass amount of time, I finished it. I hadn't rushed, either. If there was one thing you didn't want to do, it was make a mistake on an enchantment. I checked it, double checked it, then had a neat idea. I grabbed a pencil and rubbed the carbon tip over the embossed surface, then held it to a piece of paper. It was perfect.

I added the stamp back to the machine, adjusted it for the proper height of the ground down stamp, then added another hexagon steel piece. I pulled the lever and the satisfying thump told me it was successful. It released the now stamped amulet and I looked at it. I nodded and rested it on the steel safety barrier on the table, then retrieved the crucible. I added the bit of gold to fill in all the indentations, used the tool to spread it out, then added more gold to fill it in.

I stepped away to let it cool and put the crucible back into the forge and waited. After a short wait, there was a soft blue glow as the gold layer settled and the amulet finished forming. I waited a bit longer to see if it was going to explode, and nothing happened. I stepped close and saw the steel safety barrier glowed slightly.

Whew! I thought and picked up the completed amulet. The barrier had absorbed the extra energy and now I just had to test it. I added a gold chain to it and took off the one I was wearing. I was instantly drowsy and braced my arms on the table. What... time is... it? I thought, sluggishly. I saw the clock on the wall and it was four in the morning. I had been at it all day and most of the night.

It took me a minute to remember what I was doing and then I hung the new amulet on my neck. I took in a sharp breath as my head cleared instantly. In fact, it seemed to be a bit stronger. I looked at the stamp and wondered why that was, then I understood. I had made a copy of the design and the writing, an exact copy.

When it stamped the amulet, it pushed everything out and deformed the metal just a little bit more. That meant more gold went into the carving and when the magic settled, there was a little bit more to it than just carving it would give. I thought about shaving it down a little, then shook my head. The danger of making a mistake was too great to start messing around with it like that.

I checked the crucible and it was half full, so I could get two more amulets done without having to melt more gold. I decided that was better, because I didn't have the time right now to make more. I stamped two more amulets, added the gold needed and used it up, shut down the forge, then left my secret room. I went to my lavish bedroom that the decorating people had done for free, because I had given them the contract for redoing the entire inside of the building.

I stored my clothes and stat boost equipment, equipped my jogging pants, and climbed into bed. I stored the stamped clarity amulet and let sleep claim me. I hoped that I didn't sleep too long, because there were other enchantments I wanted to try. The thing was, Clarity didn't give you a fantastic memory, just clear thinking. I would soon discover that I had forgotten to set my alarm.

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