Approaching the drunk, Colin took a good look at him first. Tall, maybe six feet and some change tall, short blonde hair and looking like some kind of knight offshoot. His half-plate armor was tattered, and the steel boots were significantly thicker than any other piece of metal he wore. The hammer he wore on his belt and shield on his back lent to the man being a frontline melee combatant. Anything else was unknowable until something started. If something started.

“Sir,” Colin said once he was close enough to strike. “Let her go,” he ordered, voice hard.

“The man stood from his seat and looked Colin over, eyes contemptuous, “look newb. Just leave ussss alone, okay? I’m a little busy trying to get a date here.”

“Last chance,” Colin said, serious and hoping he could defeat such a man. “Let her go and go back to enjoying yourself.”

“I’m trying-” he said, squeezing Solis’s arm harder as he spoke, “to enjoy myself.”

“Let go. That hurts, you asshole!” Solis yelled, trying and failing to pry her arm loose.

“Fine,” Colin said, drawing his Mythic Xiphos in his main hand and the heavy dagger in his off-hand. Without another warning, Colin activated Kinetic Vigor and swung his blade down on the man’s arm.

The shortsword bit into the man’s arm, and he finally released Solis’s arm with a yelp. While she sprinted off behind Colin, and he pried his arm loose from the sword. The drunkard looked at his bleeding arm then back at his assailant, “what the fuck, man?! She’s just an NPC, who cares?”

“You know, I’m tired of that talk,” Colin told him. While Kinetic Vigor was active, he moved back in to strike only to be stymied by the man’s swinging hammer. It forced Colin to take a few steps back and giving him a chance to pull his shield off of his back.

“Fffffuck you, mman,” he slurred out as he approached, shield held out protectively in front of him.

Colin turned off Kinetic Vigor as he looked around him. “Perfect,” Colin said as he grabbed a tankard of water from a table near him. He tossed the contents of the large mug at the drunkard and used his newest subskill, Frost Shaping, on it. The water froze upon impact, coating his shield, arm, the front of his face, with some falling to the floor.

He screamed through the ice covering his mouth and nose. He dropped his hammer and writhed as he tried to pry off the thin sheet of ice blocking his air supply.

Colin left him alone for a few seconds, waiting for the shield to drop so he could get a clean blow. As he managed to rip the ice from his mouth, the shield clattered to the ground, and Colin stepped up. His first attack was an Aligned Strike with Kinetic Vigor that sliced right into the drunkard’s arm.

The shield fell and to the ground with the man’s forearm hanging limply from his elbow. The second strike was a thrust with the heavy dagger combined with another Aligned Strike that slid into the man’s shoulder, between the plates of his armor. The man cried out and recoiled back, slipping on a loose patch of ice.

The man howled as he flailed around like a turtle on its back, unable to stand from his current position. This must have had something to do with how intoxicated the man was, the armor wasn’t that cumbersome.

“You fffffffucktard. As soon as I get up there, I’m gonna whoop your newbie ass,” he said, still trying to get back to his feet.

Instead of allowing this, Colin walked up to the man and took a step onto the man’s chest. He pressed his weight onto the man’s chest plate and pressed the tip of the Mythic Xiphos against the man’s exposed throat. “Wanna walk out or be dragged out?”

“Fuck you and your mother!” the man spat.

“Too bad,” Colin said, pity lacing his voice. Activating Aligned Strike, Colin adjusted the location of the thrust and pushed the blade down through the plate. Using his weight and pressing down one the pommel of the sword, the blade pierced the armor and drove deep into the man’s chest cavity. He gave the sword a twist and withdrew it from the man with a sound like refried beans slurping from a can.

Colin stepped away from the man who was now bleeding out from his wounds. He still tried to stand, his player’s physiology somehow letting him try to rise past the usually mortal wound.

After a few moments, he tried to reach for a pouch on his belt and fumbled as he tried to unclasp it. He withdrew a vial of red liquid and brought the cork stopper to his teeth and pulled it free. Then the drunk man died a few seconds before he managed to pour anything down his throat.

You have killed an unknown player, and your ability Player Killer 1 has triggered. You have gained 487 out of his held experience points to the next level. You now have 2299 /4050 experience remaining up to level 8. Your Frost Shaping subskill is now Level 2. The amount of water has increased to 20 fl oz. The amount of complexity this skill can create has grown a small amount. Due to the subskill leveling, Water Magic Manipulation has leveled as well is now level 2. Your Mythic Xiphos has gained enough experience to attain level 2. The minimum and maximum damage has increased.

Colin took in a deep breath and smiled at the Mythic Xiphos level up. It was nice to see proof of its progress. “Whew, I am so glad he was an Outworlder,” Colin said, wiping the bloody blade on the shirt under the player’s chest plate. After doing the same to his heavy dagger that was withdrawn from the player’s shoulder, Colin turned around to see the few people in the room staring at him. Solis herself, included.

Then one of the customers, an older man in overalls, started to clap his hands. After a moment, everyone else in the room, except Solis, started clapping at his victory as if it were a planned performance.

Solis herself looked between the body behind Colin and Colin himself. She looked a little scared for a moment before relief covered her face. “Thank you, Walker, but did you have to kill him. The mess is gonna be a pain to clean up AND now I gotta call a guard to report this.”

“Wait? Are you turning me in for defending you?” Colin asked incredulously.

“What? No, we have witnesses that will say that he accosted me and wouldn’t stop after he was told to. So you defended me,” she smiled. “Easy peasy, no lies, and no hassle.”

Sighing in relief, Colin put his hand to his chest and smiled at her, “well, its the least you can do.”

“Really?” she asked accusingly. “Who got blood on my floor?”

“Him, technically,” Colin said, pointing at the dead drunkard.

She snorted derisively, “yeah, technically. Go to the bar just over there,” she said, then looking past him. “Hey, Rodri! Come get this guy a drink of my brew. On the house! I gotta go run an errand!”

“What?! Now?!” a male voice hollered from a door where all the good smells seemed to be emanating from.

“Yes, now! Brawl and a murder. Gotta go let the guard know!” she said, starting towards the door. “Don’t let him bully ya. He’s big, but timid like a bunny,” she told Colin just before she hustled out the door.

Eyebrow quirked, Colin turned around. “How big could he be?” Colin asked himself, just as the man stepped into the room. Ducking under the door frame as if it were built for midgets.

He was at least seven feet tall, wearing a plaid flannel shirt under a stained white apron. The shirt swelled under the strain of dense muscle around his pectorals and biceps. His blonde hair was cut almost down to his skull, and the assumed Rodri’s face seemed to be scowling at him, hand holding a greasy carving knife in his left hand.

Alright, Colin could see how he could be intimidating. Approaching the man, Colin took the stool in front of the man and smiled up at the man, “Hello, I’m DevilWalker. What’s your name?” Colin asked, extending a hand for the giant of a man to take.

He looked at Colin’s hand and narrowed his eyes at it. Then turned the same eyes up to Colin’s face and spoke in a quiet, grumbling voice, “so you’re the one who removed the doggie pest from the basement.”

Colin nodded and clamped his mouth shut before he could comment on the ‘doggie pest’ word choice. “Yup, that was me. Your sister calls me Walker.”

“I know,” he said, dropping to one knee and reaching under the counter. When he stood back up, he set a bottle of Fjord Harvest two-one-four-eight in front of Colin and grunted at it.

Colin took the proffered bottle and popped the cap off with a dexterous twist. Taking a swig, he hummed in pleasure at the taste and set it back on the table. No need to chug it down, no matter how yummy it tasted.

“So tell me, are you Solis’s older or younger brother? You’re obviously her BIG brother,” Colin chuckled at the man.

“Younger by one year,” he said tersely. “What happened earlier that a man is now dead in our tavern?”

Looking back at the colling body, Colin sighed and turned back to Rodri, “he drunkenly tried to make Solis go out with him. I stopped him, and he just would not calm down,” he said, faux sadness in his voice.

“Pity,” Rodri said, staring at the body. “Wish she would’ve called me. I’d love to carve that armor off his hide then start removing parts of his anatomy that makes dating difficult. Too bad,” he said, knife brought up to his chest and fingering the blade with his fingernail, lips twitching angrily.

“Indeed,” Colin said, judging the man’s reaction with approval. “I respect a man who defends his family.”

He grumbled and looked away from Colin as he dropped his arms back to his sides. A moment later, the man coughed and looked back at Colin. “So tell me, according to Solis, you were classless when you defeated the Stone Mastiff. I assume that changed since you defeated an obvious warrior. What class did you choose?”

Remembering the prearranged answer due to his Eyes of Deception Ability, Colin answered, “Rogue.”

Nodding, Rodri looked Colin over and grumbled, “makes sense with all the smaller blades. Warriors usually have bigger weapons.”

“Trust me,” Colin smirked. “It’s not the size of the blade, but how well you slice with it.”

Without missing a moment, he said, “says every man with a small weapon.”

“Ugh, men!” Solis groaned. “I leave for a few short minutes, and you are already making dick jokes.”

“We can’t help it if you took too long to catch the first few,” Rodri said, without a change in inflection. “So many juvenile jokes, it was HARD to choose a few.”

Colin found himself unable to hold it in as he burst into full ruckus laughter. Solis pinned him with a stare, and he coughed into his hand in an attempt to stop and only succeeded in coughing for real.

After the attack passed, Colin found a guard picking up the body of the dead player and was carrying it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He looked at Solis and tipped his head at her as he passed through the door and closed it behind him.

“Such a nice man. He never makes penile jokes or laughs at bodily functions,” she said, staring at the door.

Rodri was glaring at the door, and Colin was watching both in bemusement. Siblings were some of the best things that exist but also some of the most troublesome. Colin was an only child, but McKenna had two older siblings, and she hated them both in the best way possible.

Turning her back from her brother, Solis faced Colin, “Walker. I am glad to see you. I have your share of the money from the Stone Mastiff,” she said. “Its right over here,” she said, running around the counter and producing a pouch.

She handed it over, “your share is a nice four CC and twenty-six CB. Along with something they found in its stomach. They tried to buy it off me, but I figured that you might want it.”

Opening the bag, he rifled around in it until he found something that was obviously not currency.

This item has been enspelled with ‘Lingering Knowledge.’ This grants the next person to try and read its attributes the ability to do so. You have found a Ring of Elfin Steps. Movement speed is increased by 20% while wearing this ring.

“Oooooooh, thank you,” Colin said, immediately placing it upon his left hand.

“You are welcome. I might have kept it if I had more use for it. Not to mention, when they found it in the Mastiff’s stomach, I saw it still attached to the previous owner’s finger. Ew, it was disgusting and… half-melted,” she shuddered.

“And now you can’t get the mental image out of your mind?” he asked. When she nodded, Colin smiled, “yeah, understand. That would be quite disturbing,” he said, admiring the gold band with jade embedded in it.

“With that, we are even,” she nodded, proud of herself. “So, is there anything else you need today?” she asked.

Colin looked between her and her brother, smiled, and gave her a bit of a smolder, “yes, Solis, indeed.” He put on his best sensual novella voice as he continued. “I’m afraid that I find myself in need of a bed for the evening before I start on a journey out of this city. I was wondering if you would help me, bed down, for the night. I promise to make it enjoyable for both of us.”

At some point, Solis had caught on to his play-acting and covered her mouth coquettishly in shock. After a moment, her hand dropped to her chest as she started up, “oh my Walker, this is so sudden. I admit that the idea is appealing, but my honor would be sullied.”

“Don’t worry about your honor, Solis. I will shield you from all that will come,” Colin said, taking a step closer. “Let us share a bed tonight.”

“No! No! No!” Rodri cried, disgust in his voice. “This is so gross, why are you doing this in front of me! Geez, Solis. Blegh!” he gagged and hurried back into the kitchen.

Solis burst into laughter, “okay, that was fun.”

“I thought it might be,” Colin chuckled. “Thank you for participating.”

“You are welcome,” she calmed a moment later and grinned at him. “Do you actually need a room?”

“I think I do. I plan to leave at first light tomorrow,” he informed her. “How much for food, drink, and a bed for the night?”

“For you? On the house, just this once. For services rendered,” she said smirking. “Follow me, and let’s get you signed in,” she said, leading him around to another part of the counter. She stopped at the nearest part of the bar to the stairs and was filling in a piece of paper, muttering as she wrote.

“Name, Walker. Room, twelve. Duration one night. Other services, food, and drink. Paid, services rendered- see Solis,” she kept on going filling in more and more as she worked her way through the page. After half a minute, she turned the page around and handed him a pen, “sign here at the bottom. Just know that the ‘Brewed Perfection’ is not responsible for death or mugging if you neglect to lock your door,” she stated, handing him a three-pronged brass key.

Up in his room, Nox hopped out of his shadow and whistled at the place, “these people must really like you, DevilWalker. This is a pretty decent room.”

Much like every motel he’d ever been in, this room had a dresser, bed with sheets and blankets, and a table with several chairs around it. No art hung on the wall, no bathroom, and no ice bucket. Pity.

“It’s more likely that every room is like this, Nox,” Colin mused. Checking under the bed and finding nothing, Colin moved to the dresser and noticed something. He pulled a small book that had a soft leather cover, that was called The Book Of The Realm. It vaguely reminded Colin of the bible with its smooth and sturdy cover and almost delicate paper pages. Shrugging, Colin put it back and went back to looking through what little the room had.

“What are you looking for?” Nox asked, scurrying atop the bed.

“Nothing, just seeing what’s in here. Never know,” Colin said, now finished with his search. He removed his backpack and set it on the table. Rolling his shoulders, it felt like it had been a while since he’d removed it and found that to be the case after a moment’s thought. He’d even slept with it on over the last couple days to dissuade thieves whose skills were higher than his own.

“While I appreciate the plain but nice decor, why are we here? I thought you were going to head straight to that quest and get it done quick,” Nox asked, removing his hooded long jacket for the first time. Revealing that the shirt he wore underneath was a deep shade of gray with sleeves that ended just past the shoulder. His green arms were taut with lean muscle and jagged scars leaving little of his skin clean.

He caught Colin staring and gave him a rueful smile, “can’t survive as long as I did without a lot of close calls.”

“How did you die?” Colin asked, removing the spacial bag from his belt and removing the books on enchanting and runes from it.

“I’ll answer that eventually, DevilWalker. For now, though, I will just say that they prepared for me, and it was still a hard fight. Painful, too,” he said, a hand rubbing absently over his chest.

“They’d have to. You are pretty scary, Nox,” Colin said, smiling at the Goblin.

“Nah, you’re just saying that,” he said, bashfully batting his eyes.

Colin laughed as he pulled back the chair and sat at the table, opening the first page of the Primer for Enchanting. The first third of the book was about the history of enchanting and some of the recorded true classes that high-level enchanters had access to. In particular, the Enchantment Engineer and SoulScripter sounded promising just by their names alone since they only said who those classes belonged to.

After the forty-seventh page, Colin reached the third chapter titled, ‘How to Enchant without the skill.’

Finally, he was getting somewhere.

The first thing the chapter said was not what he expected. It said that the easiest way to gain the first level of the Enchanting skill was to unlock the subskill first. To do that, you needed to already know any of the magic types in the world. The book recommended elemental magic for the first try, check.

Next, you had to take a weapon in your hand, preferably a cheap one that was nonmagical and fill it with the element. The next paragraph felt a bit flowery for a textbook, but he took out one of his simple steel daggers and gripped it in both hands. The section suggested imaging your mana pool like a pitcher of water that you had to pour into a cup. You had to visualize and feel the magic drain out of the pitcher, flow through your body, and into the cup.

Something inside him squirmed uncomfortably. Cold moved through his body and moved through his chest, down his arm, and into his hand. The moment the power touched the dagger, the weapon froze solid before the sound of breaking glass echoed through the room. The shattering ice reverberated through his hand and cut into his palm, forcing him to drop the dagger at the pain registered.

You have been inflicted with Mana backlash. All damage inflicted will heal at 1/20th the standard rate and all abilities or spells that cost mana will no longer work until you are fully healed.

“Son of a bitch!” Colin shouted, holding his wrist with his other hand and trying to think of what he could do. Damn it, he was unprepared. He really should have bought a medkit, so he was ready when he got another injury.

Luckily, Nox had reached into his long coat and produced a roll of absorbent gauze. He grabbed Colin’s arm and pulled him down until he was bending over enough until he could actually work with the wound. He dressed the wound, tied it closed, and checked over his work. “Luckily, you were using water magic first. Anything else and you might have been burned, infected, or the wound more flayed. With your Kinetic Magic, the backlash might’ve cut right through your hand.”

Colin flexed his hand and winced at the pain. He checked his health and found that it was recovering, albeit, at the one-twentieth like the prompt said. Health regeneration outside of combat was based around his build stat, 13 multiplied by .1, which was 1.3 health when out of combat. With the penalty, it was now sitting at .065 health points healed per second. Which meant he would be healed in… a little over eleven minutes. Compared to his usual healing rate, this hurt.

“What’s the damage? You got Mana Backlash, right?” Nox asked, returning to the bed.

“Yeah,” Colin stated. “One-twentieth the usual healing rate sucks when you’re bleeding on the carpet,” he said, waving to the small pool soaking into the carpet. He smiled when he thought about how he was bitching about healing fully in eleven minutes compared to a wound like this healing in weeks in the real world. The thought of the real world made his heart drop, and the rage rekindle.

“That’s a mild case of Mana Backlash. I’ve heard of it getting as high as one-one hundredth, so one-twentieth is low,” he said, reaching into the small of his back and drawing a thin black knife. The Goblin started using it to pick under his nails as he asked, “What were you doing?”

“This,” Colin snarled, tossing the open book to the bed.

He looked it over, and the Goblin snarled himself. “It’s like they are asking for a lot of dead mages. This method needs to be done perfectly to succeed. Now I definitely think the fact you got a one-twentieth reduction is rather impressive. I can see where it was going. Once it’s healed, I’ll help you out.”

Colin was surprised for only a moment before he glared at him, “you know the Enchanting skill?

“Of course I do,” Nox stated. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You’ve been hanging out in my shadow! Why didn’t you tell me?” Colin demanded a little more angry than he meant to project.

“You never asked,” Nox answered, not bothered by the show. “Besides, I was curious how well you’d do on your own, and I repeat, I am impressed.”

“What does impressed get me?” Colin asked, annoyed.

“Advice and help. I first advise you to read that rune book and see if any of them look good for your first enchantment. Only choose one,” Nox said, going back to cleaning under his nails.

Retaking the seat, Colin took the third book and opened it. His head wasn’t really in the mood for reading the book, so only perused it while waiting for the time to expire.

By the end, he had found a few that sounded interesting, so Colin closed the book after his health had ticked back up to full.

He wasn’t expecting a prompt, but one did appear.

You are now cured of Mana Backlash. Scars from this experience will remain inside your body, all new occurrences of Mana Backlash will always be stronger than this instance.

Grumbling, Colin closed the prompt and looked to Nox, “Alright, Nox. Looks like I’m healed up.”

“Excellent,” he stated, putting away the knife, scooting off the bed, and moving to one of the other chairs around the table. He stood on it and looked Colin square in the face. “Okay, here is the warning about what I am going to do to you. I have a spell called Shadows of the Past. “It is a memory recall spell that is a bit more… real than many other postcognition spells. Due to my high level, I can cast it on me and share it with you. With me so far?”

With Colin’s nod, he continued. “With this spell, you will be able to see what I see, feel what I feel, and get an accurate sense of how I was doing it for the first time. This is how I’d recommend teaching someone the basis for Enchanting. It will feel like the exact amount of time I spent doing this experience, but it will all be at the speed of thought. Meaning instantaneously. Any questions?” Nox inquired.

Before Colin could answer, Nox jumped onto the table and pressed his palm onto Colin’s forehead. He intoned, “Shadows of the Past,” and immediately, Colin’s world went black.

When light reemerged, he was looking through someone else’s eyes as if it were an old VR headset recording. He had no control over what was happening and made himself watch. A green hand reached out in front of him and picked up a thin steel knife that Colin recognized as a stiletto.

It was the weirdest thing because he could feel the rough handle touch his palm and the intimate familiarity the wielder had with the weapon. Colin took a mental second to explore throughout his body, he found that his torso was cold, his biceps were sore, he was tired, and this whole thing was unnerving.

He tried to look around his surroundings and found that it was almost like a void. All black and intangible, somehow, he knew that he was underground, which explained the cold, and that he was in a workroom. Beyond that, nothing.

Colin felt a little apprehension from Nox, but steely determination kept him from putting down the blade. He needed to get this right, or else he wouldn’t be able to try the intermediate potion recipe he had. After taking a deep breath, Nox started channeling earth magic through his center, down his right arm, and to his hand. He held the energy in his hand for a long moment, and Colin could feel the trepidation. Then he created a link to the knife in his hand using the tiniest tendril of mana.

He could feel a connection between himself and the knife, almost like a rope around his magic pulled taut between the knife. He then pushed the earth mana into the blade and watched as it slowly started to alter slightly. The surface of the became slightly grainy and rough, it gained a little weight in his hand, and it gained a little brownish glow.

Elation flooded his entire body as Nox leaped from his chair, glowing dagger held in the air and pumping his other fist. Finally, he’d be able to attune his tools to properly prepare for his next potion. And he was excited. With this, he’d be able to enter the Halls of Hallowed Shadow and complete his research. Yay.

With this final thought, the vision faded, and Colin found himself suddenly and violently taking in a breath. Nox stepped off the table and back onto the chair, his palm was pressed against his temple. He looked like he was trying to face away from the light, and his skin darkened and seemed to become just a little insubstantial.

“Oh, Goddess, that hurt. I haven’t done that since I’ve been back, and I forgot how painful that is,” Nox groaned, hopping off the cair and dragging it into the area of deepest shadow in the room. Once there, he slid up into it and put his head into his hands. “Well, what are you waiting for? Try it.”

Picking up the blade that was still on the floor, Colin held it in his still bandaged hand. He took in a deep breath and reached for his core, wat, his core was where his magic was stored. Now some of the stuff from that spell made more sense.

He breathed in and out as he carefully used his water mana and pulled it through his body and down his arm. When it reached his palm, he held it there and thought for a quick moment. The reason it didn’t work before was that he didn’t try to establish a mana connection to the weapon first, and the gathered water mana detonated in his hand. Now, he carefully drew out the smallest tendril of magic he could and connected it to the simple steel dagger.

He felt it connect to the weapon and then flooded the weapon with the gathered mana. With a smile, the dagger grew cold in his hands, and water seemed to collect on the blade, like condensation on a chilled glass.

Congratulations! You have unlocked a subskill, Attune item level 1. With this subskill you can charge an item you are holding with a magical type that you can wield for different effects. Every level of this skill increases the secondary effects that can be generated using this skill and the extra damage granted when you hit an enemy weak to that element. At level one, the additional damage is one elemental damage for every five spent to charge the item, and a two percent chance to have a secondary effect happen for every ten mana spent. Congratulations! Due to unlocking the subskill, Attune item, you have unlocked the main skill. You have unlocked Enchanting level 1. You can now enchant a single, level 1 effect onto an item.

Elation filled him, He could now start creating magical items. He looked at Nox and found the Goblin looking at him expectantly, physically appearing entirely substantial. “Well, I got the skills.” then a confusing thought occurred to him, “This subskill sounds similar to Aligned Strike but with elements. What’s the difference?”

Groaning a little, Nox answered, “Aligned strike deals additional damage in the form of evil energy for a single attack. Unless the person you attack is highly evil or highly good, there will be no difference in the damage you deal. However, Attune Item does not normally deal more damage to a foe unless they are weak to that element. Like, if you are attacking a being made of fire, Attuning your blade with water won’t necessarily deal more damage.”

“However, the secondary effects are the real prize. Attuning your blade to water gives a secondary effect for your weapon to freeze the target. It won’t be a strong effect, it will only hold them for a few seconds, but anything helps. I will tell you, DevilWalker, that Attune Item is a subskill of Enchanting, a noncombat skill. Its real purpose lies in its need in enchanting. To enchant anything, you need to attune the item with the elements needed in that enchantment before scribing any of the necessary runes,” Nox instructed. His groan was gone by the time he finished, and he seemed back to normal.

Colin simply nodded, he already knew this from a quick mention in the runes book. Still, the actual explanation did help clarify the info. With the weapon already attuned, Colin looked at the open page of the runes book and grimaced. No flaming weapons for him. Instead, he turned the page and found a water magic enchantment that was a level one enchantment. He grabbed the Engraving pen and started carving the simple rune that looked like a sideways T with a half-circle on top of it.

Once finished, he felt a bit of the magic probe the rune and flow through it. Seconds later, the rune clicked into place, and his first, simple enchantment was accepted by the world.

You have Enchanted a Simple Steel Dagger into a Steel Dagger of Lesser Chill. This weapon now deals a small amount of cold damage with each strike. Each strike drains a portion of the weapons magic and will need to be recharged. Charge rate: 1 charge equals 25 mana. Currently: 1/20 charges remaining.

The air around the blade felt colder than the ambient temperature in the room. He touched it, and it felt like the blade was being actively cooled instead of, like he expected, an item pulled out of the freezer.

Colin thought about charging it, and another prompt appeared.

Would you like to charge this enchanted weapon?

Colin mentally said yes, and another prompt appeared.

You do not have enough mana to fully charge this item. How much mana would you like to use to charge it? Current mana: 158/ 158. Mana needed per charge: 25. You can give this weapon 6 more charges. How many would you like?

Colin told it six and watched his mana points drain away. He could feel the cold of the water magic coursing from his magical center, down his arm, and into the item. A minute passed before a prompt appeared, telling him that the transfer was successful. The weapon now had seven out of twenty charges, not a lot, but it was something. He could do it again later after he let his mana come back.

He slid the dagger back into its sheath, and the chilling effect ended so fast that it could only be called magic.

“Nicely done, DevilWalker. How does that feel?” Nox asked.

“Oddly empowering,” Colin said, patting the weakly enchanted item on his belt. “Like this is only the start.”

“I hope so, DevilWalker. I’d hate to see anything less than intriguing coming from you,” Nox smiled. He leaned back in the chair, folded his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes. He looked relaxed in that dark spot. So Colin was not going to argue over how he wanted to give the Goblin the bed.

“I’ll have to ask you that question later then,” Colin stated to no one as he heard his companions’ heavy breathing. “The spell you cast didn’t sound entirely like shadow magic,” he mused and went back to reading his Primer to Enchanting book. Now intending to confirm with Nox before trying anything new.