A month had passed since my return from Hidden Jungle. Regardless of what I tried, life just wouldn’t return to normal. My nights were filled with nightmares and my mornings were lonely and depressive.

I lived off the little bit of Zeny I had remaining, which wasn’t exactly much. My class change and leveling in general were pushed back indefinitely. There was no desire there and my motivation to get out of bed dwindled.

Part of the appeal – the special feelings – of growth, it had disappeared. Something died inside of me that day my friends were killed, something I wasn’t sure I could get back. Sometimes I heard their voices still, only to realize it was a figment of my imagination.

There was no sign of Marcus, too. I woke every morning and said his name several times to no avail. My funds were running out and very soon I would be on the streets. My entire life was on hold. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t waiting for me.

I had no income and my only option remaining was to seek out the Perseverance guild. Regardless of the situation, there was a 50% split from the expedition that was still owed to me.

I still didn’t have a map of Arturii and took to the streets with only a vague idea of the right direction. The amount of times I had left my inn since returning could be counted on a single hand, and I never traveled more than a block away when I did.

My goal was a public map, and I walked three blocks in a haze before finding one. It took some serious searching of the image to find the Perseverance guild. The sign was just a small dot an entire district over, at least thirty minutes of solid ground to cover.

Two weeks after my return from the disaster, the Adventurers’ Guild made an official announcement. They knew the culprit behind the disappearing parties. It was a creature from the West Abithos continent: a bird they believed to be level 70, with they called the Rainbow Vulture.

The announcement went on to speculate that the Rainbow Vulture had flown over the ocean and somehow had ended up on the North Maledith continent. Here, there was no natural predator it needed to worry about. The monster was the top of the food chain. There were no current plans on how to deal with it. Most people who sighted it didn’t survive. It constantly moved from place to place with no pattern. To hunt it down was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Although I felt helpless about the monster, I did have one spark of motivation from something Isabelle had said to me. Maybe it was time to really start looking for my brother. I also racked my brain to try and remember where Steven had said he lived. It was only right that I send a letter to his next-of-kin. He was the only one in the party who definitely had family remaining.

Shaman? Shamont? It was something like that, I’d have to look at a more detailed map and find out later. It definitely started with Sham though. My focus came back to the present. I had reached my destination.

The guild owned a modest-sized building that didn’t stand out in any way from the others around it. ‘Perseverance’ was marked by a sign, fixed up near the top. I walked through the front door into a mostly empty lobby. There was a gentleman behind the counter.

“How can I help you?” the man asked.

“I’m looking for Rachel.”

Immediately, he seemed distraught, “Sorry, she hasn’t been seeing anyone for a while.”

“Can you just pass on a message? Joseph from the Hidden Jungle is here.” I left it at that and went to sit down. The receptionist seemed confused at first, but seeing that I didn’t look like leaving soon, he got up and disappeared somewhere into the building.

Ten minutes passed in utter silence, just me and my thoughts. The clerk reappeared and made his way back to the front desk. He eyed me multiple times, but I had no intention of getting up and going over to him.

He eventually cracked and walked over to me and spoke with a respectful tone, “She will be out here in a little bit.”

I only nodded my head in response. I wasn’t lacking time these days, but definitely was lacking the patience to hold a conversation.

My desire to really connect with anyone was gone. I felt guilty every night and sometimes even felt betrayed. How could they leave me like this? I knew it was wrong to think that way. The human psyche was hard to understand.

“Joseph!” Rachel came out. Hair askew, pale-faced, she also looked like a wreck. It seemed her party must have suffered too. “…Are you the only one?” she asked.

“Just me.”

“I see… Are you here for the split?”

I nodded in response.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anyone to have survived. I still held on to your group’s half though, give me a minute.”

After leaving me and hurrying away, Rachel returned shortly after with the Zeny.

I took it with a glance and added it to my inventory. Half the split was 465k Zeny, that and the mysterious stone I still held on me. I didn’t bother to bring it up.

“Thanks.” I stood and started to walk away.

“Hey Joseph, if you’re in need of a party we have a spot for a mage…” she suddenly said.

I didn’t bother to look back and simply waved my hand over my shoulder, “Not interested.” My immediate money issue was solved. This was enough to survive for several years without trouble. Next stop was the Adventurers’ Hall.

“Are there public records available about Adventurers?” I asked a female clerk.

“There are, what kind of information do you need?”

“I only have a name. But I’d like to find this person.”

“Nothing else? I’ll warn you now, only a name doesn’t narrow the results down much. And to make a search through our records will cost you five thousand Zeny.” She looked at me skeptically. ‘In advance.’

“That’s fine, can you give me any information related to anyone with the name Ajax.” I gave her the money.

“Wait over there for a bit, I need to pull it up.”

And so I moved off to the side and stared at all the happy adventurers: parties of them eager and accepting missions. I felt sick to my stomach. The anger I was feeling welled up even more.

Life wasn’t fair. I knew that from long before this entire fiasco but I had never experienced something that demonstrated it so clearly to me before. The anger in my gut made me hate the world.

“Here it is.” She called me over and passed me a document that had 35 listings inside. Every single person was named Ajax. I started to narrow the search. Anyone over level 35 was eliminated immediately. My brother wasn’t incompetent but I didn’t believe he could be much higher level than me.

Anyone who had a record of missions spanning farther back than several months was also eliminated. Of the 35 entries there were only 7 eliminated. 28 was still a baffling number to search through.

Of those 28, 18 were currently out on missions and 10 were residing somewhere in Arturii right now. “Is it possible to send a message to every single person on this list?”

“We can do that. It will cost you a thousand Zeny though.”

“That’s fine. I want the message to be a question. ‘Do you have a brother named Joseph?’ That’s all.”

“Sure, the next time they visit the adventurer’s hall to pull a mission they’ll receive it.”

This was the best I could do for now. It felt good to make some progress and not just sit around uselessly.

On the way back to my inn I passed that small and secluded shop we visited together for our first skills. I felt nostalgic while walking past. Something came over me and I stopped myself before turning around and walking in the door.

Nothing had changed in the time I’d been gone. The old chest full of skill books was right where it was before. It might not have been opened once since the day we left. “How can I help you?” The owner poked his head from back. He looked exactly the same as I remembered.

“Ah, I’m just browsing.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Actually, wait—do you have a book on enchanting?”

“I have a few.”

“I just need a beginner’s version if you have anything.”

“Fifteen thousand Zeny.”

“Can you do any better?” I asked.

“Fourteen is the best I can do.” And that was when I remembered my bartering skills were nowhere near as good as Aaron’s. Thinking of my dead friend just sapped me of energy. I couldn’t be bothered to try any further.

“I’ll take it.”

As I took the book in my hands and felt the weight of its thick leather binding, I felt a surge of excitement. Something I hadn’t felt in a long time. My pace back to the inn was almost eager.

The innkeeper saw me come in and called over. “Ahh, Joseph, tab’s coming up soon. Hope you can manage it?”

“Put me up for another two weeks.” I paid the inn-keeper and then went upstairs, “I’ll take dinner in my room!” I shouted down.

I opened the enchanting book and started to slowly read through each page. Enchantments were a type of spell. They were similar to magical spells, but there was no skill book requirement to learn them.

You needed the ingredients, and then mana, as well as an object to receive the enchantment. Depending on the enchantment desired, the object could be as simple as one gemstone, or it could take as many as five or six gems in a setting like a silver tiara, as well as stringent mana requirements.

The book suggested starting off with a single enchantment. The most common and known enchantments were listed in the book. A single ruby of any size... Besides that I needed a piece of gear to practice on.

I had my previous staff still in my inventory.

“Going back out already?” The inn keep asked.

“Yeah.” It probably sounded strange, having ordered dinner to my room, but I needed to visit a gemcutter and see if I could buy some rubies. Fortunately, profession shops littered every corner of Arturii and I didn’t even have to go two blocks to find one.

“Do you have any rubies for sale?” I asked on entering.

“What grade do you need?”

“Not sure.”

“Beginner enchanter?” The shop assistant asked.

“Yeah.”

“I have some failed products I can sell you for cheap. The quality doesn’t matter much when you’re starting off.” This matched what the book said. I should expect to fail and just try and get a feel for enchanting. He disappeared into the back room.

When he returned he was holding a sack. It sounded like it was filled with marbles. Of course I knew it was filled with rubies. “Take a look.” He let it fall onto the front counter with a clacking sound.

“I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

“Well, there are about seventy to eighty failed products in there.”

I opened the bag and noted the varying sizes and cuts of ruby. Some had nasty chips and scratches on them. Not a single one looked like a pleasant gemstone.

Watching me, the assistant said, “I can do twenty-five thousand for the whole bag.” I suddenly wished I’d done some research before coming right in. I had no idea whether this was a reasonable price or whether I was about to be fleeced. Perhaps taking my silence for a bargaining stance, he added: “Take it. It’s a steal of a price.” His face was dead serious and I suddenly felt like it was a good idea to trust his words.

“Why so low then?”

“I know that look in your eyes. Everyone needs a break sometimes.” I felt gratitude again for the first time in what felt like forever. “If you need more materials in the future come see me. I’ll hook you up cheap,” he added.

It was hard to bring the words “thank you” up and out of my throat. I felt a lingering feeling of fear and reluctance to engage with this friendly man. With anyone.

Luckily for me, the clerk didn’t even think twice about my reserved manner and disappeared into the backroom once again. I stood in silence for a moment before racing back to the inn and towards my room.

A steam of ruined gemstones poured like cereal onto my bed. I couldn’t help but run my hand through the pile of red pebbles. They were rough and jagged, a few were smooth but most were scratched and rugged.

I opened the enchanting for beginners book again and started to read. Hold the gemstone in the palm of one hand while holding the item you wish to enchant in the other. I picked up a random ruby from the pile and gripped it tightly.

I pulled out my old but faithful Staff of Recharge and rested it across the bed, taking one end in my other hand. Channel Mana into the hand holding the gemstone. I tried but found the action very difficult.

It felt different to casting a spell. If I wanted to cast a spell I simply thought it in my head and the mana would flow to my hand. The enchantment was like a spell, but not, which made it awkward.

It was fine control that I was lacking. There was a delicate touch required that I didn’t have. I started to put mana into my hand while following the proper instructions. If I did it right the ruby should begin to melt down and merge with my mana.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened at all. The ruby in my hand didn’t melt at all and instead popped and shot little shards of ruby dust everywhere. It had completely exploded from the force of my mana. Back to square one.

I had known that enchanting wouldn’t be easy but that was an understatement. Not only was a mistake costly because the gemstones self-destructed, it was incredibly taxing. After only three or four failed attempts my head pounded.

I looked in a mirror and realized my eyes were blood red from concentrating so hard. Dark bags rested under them. I truly looked like a wreck. Not only that, my MP had gone down a lot already.

Current EXP: 84550/99000 LEVEL: 30 Mage Formidable

HP: 2152/2152 MP: 114/782

STR: 27

AGI: 21

DEX: 35 +5

VIT: 30 +5

INT: 54 +24

Available: 0

I spent the next two-weeks sitting in bed for every waking moment. Eventually, I stopped shattering the rubies and found they were actually melding into my mana. From there I needed to transfer that new enchanted mana into the item.

I had attempted this step only five or six times so far. Damnit! I got the same result every time. The item started to glow a shade of red and then, once I fully pushed the mana away from my control, the ruby would shatter like glass and disappear into the air.

The reason why professions were so expensive and most people were sponsored by guilds became clear. Even with the good deal I’d been given by the Gemcutter, I’d burned through most of the bag without having succeeded even once in enchanting the staff. That was over 60 failures in a row. These hadn’t been wasted tries though. I had started to get into a groove of melding the ruby with my mana. It was now only the last part… imbuing the item with the enchantment without destroying my progress.

The book said this part required the finest of touches to complete. If you were too forceful the enchantment would shatter, and if you weren’t forceful enough, the enchantment wouldn’t stick and would simply fade away. How did you learn that touch, that feeling? There was only one way: practice.

You had to learn with every bit of feeling and intuition there was available to me. There was a sweet spot, a minute resistance for every action. If you felt too much resistance then you were being too forceful. If you didn’t feel enough resistance then you weren’t being forceful enough.

The goal of practice was to recognize that feeling, that moment where everything was just right. I got my first taste of success with just three rubies remaining. A red cloud of swirling mana rested above my palm.

I moved the enchantment over to the staff in my left hand and slowly melded them together. I concentrated hard and strained as I watched that cloud of red slowly disperse over every inch of the staff, until it was fully glowing red.

Normally, I would feel one of two things at this point: a feeling of resistance, which meant I was using too much mana; or a feeling of non-resistance, which meant I wasn’t using enough. I felt neither of those things.

My eyes nearly popped out of my sockets when the red glob of mana separated from my hand and didn’t shatter into dust. It simply floated around the staff before tightly wrapping itself around the shaft.

Eventually the golden staff had a red hue on it. I had succeeded the first time on my seventy-second attempt. I couldn’t help but look at my creation with a feeling of awe.

Staff of Recharge: INT +1, STR +1* Recover 2 MP every 15 Minutes.

There was now a STR +1 tacked on directly after the INT +1. The little star indicated it was an enchanted property. I leaned back and focused my vision onto the ceiling of my roof. So tired…