Chapter 34: Researching For A Solution

A heavy-set woman with impeccably defined musculature walked into the Smithing and Enchanting Guild Manager's office with a stack of documents in her hands.

She carefully placed it on the desk while speaking cordially to the well-built, middle-aged man hunched over an open book, "Enchanter Lynn, here are the approved material requisition forms from this week. There appears to be an increase in demand for orichalcum following Enchanter Rain's Earthsplitter Axe which was auctioned off recently."

Goro Lynn nodded while moving the stack before him, "That's to be expected, after all. Make sure to increase the next order for earth-aligned mana gems as well. I know that we have a sufficient amount for the time being, but those novices will start experimenting willy-nilly and use them all up almost instantly."

The woman smiled and assured, "Already done! The new logistics department head is quick to take initiative. He's come up with a unique stocking strategy that predicts resource requirements based on trends."

Goro smiled and got down to perusing the forms in front of him. As he was doing so, he saw the woman hesitating to speak from the corner of his vision.

"What is it?" He asked without diverting his attention from the documents.

"Well, it's about the man Teacher Jeeves endorsed..." she commented in a low voice.

Goro sighed while dropping the paper in his hand, "What about him?"

"He's been holed up in the book repository for over two weeks now. I thought he'd try asking for assistance or guidance, but the man is like a reading machine. What are we supposed to do with him?"

Goro chuckled bitterly, "Leave it. I owed Al a favour, this was him cashing it in."

"But the repository is off-limits to non-licensed Smiths and Enchanters..."

Goro clicked his tongues as he interrupted her, "Whatever the case! As long as the man isn't doing anything disruptive, let him go about it however he wants. If anyone higher-up starts asking questions, tell them I allowed it. Oh, and if the man asks for anything, as long as it isn't too excessive just comply with the requests. Make sure to log it in Teacher Jeeves' tab."

In a low whisper, the woman asked, "Is the man some kind of a genius? Is he Teacher Jeeves' new apprentice?"

Goro shrugged and retorted, "Who knows what happens inside that old monster's head. In any case, it's better that he cashed in that favour on such a simple request. I worried he'd ask for something beyond my capacity..."

The woman then bowed respectfully and left the room, leaving Goro by himself. As he returned to the stack once again, he sighed, "Who am I kidding? This barely covers my favour. I know he'll come back and ask for something insane later."

____

Guy had been camping out in the Smithing and Enchanting Guild's internal book repository for over two weeks now. After his last meeting with Al, the senior teacher had brought him here and cashed in favour to allow Guy access to the books as well as a few basic resources from the guild.

Following that, Guy quite literally moved into the place, leaving only to relieve himself and eat for sustenance. He had become a sorry sight, with overgrown facial hair and dark circles flanking his eyes. The last time he looked like this was when he was 18 years old and got locked inside his University's library right before Thanksgiving break. He fell asleep just as the library locked up. And due to a heavy snowstorm, he was stuck inside for an entire week without any cell or internet connection. Thankfully, the library's cafeteria was stocked with food, or he feared that he would have died early and missed his chance to transmigrate.

Back to the situation at hand. Guy's primary purpose in holing up inside the repository was to follow up on the hints provided by Al. According to him, a mage of a lower level could cast higher-tier spells with the help of enchanted weapons. This was something Markus needed, and so as his teacher, it was Guy's duty to pursue the option as best as possible.

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Unfortunately, neither the present Guy nor the original Guy was inducted in Smithing and Enchanting.

So it was only natural for Guy to hit up the Smithing and Enchanting Guild in Radiant City. He could join up, attempt the practising license and then work towards the 1-star license to gain access to the more advanced books in the internal repositories.

Alas, his plans were shattered once he realised just how long the whole thing would take.

Compared to alchemy, the field of smithing and enchanting was much more arduous solely because it comprised of two similar yet equally difficult subjects: smithing and enchanting.

Smithing is by and large a mortal craft. Anyone can become a smith, and through practice and hard work they can become veritable experts in the craft. There isn't a stringent barrier for entry. However, an enchanted weapon is to an extent an extension of the smithing craft, yet a little different.

A weapon crafted by a pure weaponsmith cannot always be enchanted. And a weapon crafted to be enchanted is always inferior to a similarly graded weapon forged by a pure weaponsmith. One can enchant a weapon to be Empowered, or they can forge an unenchanted weapon out of stronger metal. However, an unenchanted weapon cannot cast any spells, while an enchanted weapon can.

This dichotomy is what makes smithing and enchanting a difficult field to get into. First off, even the most experienced of smiths have to first unlearn their skills to start as enchanters. Most of the knowledge they would have learned during their apprenticeship may not be applicable when it comes to enchanting a forged weapon.

On that note, a craftsman capable of forging and creating weapons and armours without enchantments is called a smith. A smith with the knowledge and capacity to enchant weapons, armours or any other items is called an enchanter.

Therefore, enchanting can only be attempted by a mage that is at least near the Foundation Establishment realm. This is because mana perceptivity is a prerequisite in enchanting an item.

Enchanters must take note of nascent mana pathways in the items being forged and actively tailor them to fit the needs of the enchantment which will be applied once finished. Generic weapon and armoursmiths do not, and cannot, take them into account and thus the produced item is usually unenchantable. To be precise, it may be enchanted, however, it may not be as efficient or effective.

Therefore, while Guy could achieve a practising license, the 1-star license would take him more than a year, which was well beyond the deadline. He needed to first become a capable smith, and then pick up basic enchanting to succeed in the 1-star license test.

However, after some consideration, Guy figured that it was possible that the 1-star license tested smithing and enchanting holistically. Since his needs were narrow, maybe being an accomplished enchanter was unnecessary. If he could become learned in enchanting specifically for Markus' needs, he wouldn't have to go through the entire process.

When he brought up this hypothesis in front of Al, he also agreed with Guy. Therefore, using Al's backing, Guy received the green light to access the internal repositories without achieving the 1-star license.

Guy spent the first few days perusing through the basics to get a crash course in smithing and enchanting. Unsurprisingly, these included a run-through of the tools and materials used in the profession. It discussed the widely used metals, how they are extracted, their treatment methods, how mana channels can be drawn into forged items, how specific tools can be used during smithing and enchantment. It also went through a brief history of enchanting, even going as far as to compare the current state of enchanted weapons versus the Dwarven kind.

It was an enlightening trip for Guy, and it gave him a clearer direction on what to research. As a teacher, Guy had to constantly keep himself updated on the new developments in the world so that he could communicate with his students. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for one of his students to offhandedly talk about a particular discovery they heard in the news.

It was common for kids to view their teachers as all-knowing entities, and thus Guy's students would often start a discussion with him regarding these novel topics. To facilitate discussion, Guy needed to have at least a superficial understanding of what they were talking about, lest he flounders around like a headless chicken, making a fool of himself and misdirecting his students. He only had to point them in a direction and provide an appropriate line of research, the kids could do the rest if they were interested in pursuing it further. He would even encourage them to present it to him, or in front of the class as an exercise.

As a result, Guy had perfected the process of research over years of trial and error. And using this skill, he mapped out a feasible research track.

Barring the field of forging and smithing as a whole, Guy decided that the first item for business was to determine if there was already a published and credible solution to his predicament.

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