Satoshi entered a fancy-looking weapon shop.

He had planned to stay away from the nobility area but the weapon stores in the commoner's districts were all run by blacksmiths. From what he had gathered, this one was run by a business-beastman, a leopard man.

The interior was marvelous, as expected from a shop in the noble's district. There were rows of weapons on display. The actual number of weapons wasn't a lot but each was premium quality.

The employees wore a uniform with a yellow jacket with brown high-pants. Satoshi found the combination quite stupid but by now, he knew better than to stick to his otherworldly judgment.

The employees were few but each one looked strong enough to fight off anyone stupid enough to rob this place. In fact, there were several magical security mechanisms in place that Satoshi couldn't see.

Satoshi had bought a high-quality robe for this occasion to decrease his chances of being thrown out but even then, he knew he didn't belong in this place. He didn't even attempt to window shop and straight up went to the counter where an important-looking leopardwoman stood. She was undoubtedly a relative of the leopardman owner.

"Welcome to Leonard's Weapon Store. How may I help you?"

The leopardwoman spoke with a perfect smile. She looked amicable but Satoshi could feel her sharpness as her leopard ears stood on attention. She was dressed in the same uniform as the other employees but for her, it actually looked good as it matched with her yellow-brown hair and ears.

"I'm looking for information."

"What kind of information?"

"About enchantments."

Satoshi was prepared to kill everyone here and/or run away, at a moment's notice. Even though his face wasn't covered by his hood, his ears were and it would be ludicrous to think that hiding his species while enquiring about a heavily regulated subject was going to go smooth.

"I am neither an expert nor would I be able to provide any intricate details on how our products work. I hope you are aware that practicing enchantments without a license is against the law. I can, however, demonstrate that the enchantments work as advertised."

(Only practicing is against the law? Not the information itself then?)

"I don't want to know about one of your products. I want to know about enchantment in general."

"So you wish to trade with me as an individual, rather than as the manager of this store?"

"Sure, if that helps."

"What do you have to offer me?"

Satoshi was prepared to throw all his money away to learn about the topic, but if he could save some, then why not.

"How much is the information worth?"

It was a double-edged sword, that question. By allowing the other person to set the terms, he was letting her state a price higher than what he could afford. But that was also information in itself. If the information was worth that much then the information would be something that would probably be hard to obtain anywhere else.

"The question is, Mr..?"

"Satoshi."

"The question is, Mr. Satoshi. What is the information worth to you?"

Even while saying that, her expression never changed from her perfect smile, and her posture never relaxed. Satoshi figured that joking here with something like "To me, it's priceless. Literally" wasn't going to work here.

He took out a small gold coin, the only one he had, and placed it on the counter.

(I hope this better be worth it.)

The next moment, the coin disappeared. The leopardwoman had moved so fast that Satoshi's eyes didn't catch the movement. He was able to sense the displacement of air though, is how he could tell that it was the leopardwoman's doing. Otherwise, he really would have believed that the coin just disappeared.

"So, what would you like to know?"

As if it wasn't a big deal at all, the leopardwoman asked with the same smile and standing in the same position she had been since the start.

"What is enchantment?"

For the first time, her expression changed for the briefest of moments as her right eye twitched.

“An enchantment is an engraving of special magical formula so that when supplied with mana, it produces some kind of effect.”

(I kind of guessed that would be the case but good to have confirmation.)

“What kind of effects?”

“As far as I know, anything. Provided you know the right formula and have enough mana.”

(What the hell!? Anything!?)

Satoshi was bewildered but didn’t let it show on his face.

“What is this formula written in?”

“As a mage, shouldn’t you know the language yourself?”

The leopardwoman’s expression finally changed; she frowned. It was like she was trying to figure out whether he was here to mess with her.

(Oh, is that what the mages chant in? Well, I don’t need to chant so….)

“I’m not exactly from around here, so while I do know bits and pieces, I’d like it if you could still answer it”, he used his standard excuse.

“Haaah..”, The leopardwoman sighed, her ultimate posture lost as she snapped her neck, “Alright. Let me start with the basics. You know the language you chant your spells in?”

Satoshi nodded. He didn't actually know the language but he couldn’t possibly contradict her about it since he was dressed as a mage.

“It has a written script, which is used to carve the engraving."

"Does that mean every chant has a formula and vice versa?"

"Exactly. But more often than not, one of them is better than the other in their utility."

"How so?"

"Activating the effects from enchantments are instantaneous, unless the delay itself is part of the engraving. For chants, well you need to chant."

"Makes sense."

"Even for simple engravings, the equivalent chant can take minutes. As the complexity increases, the time for their chants can go up to hours or even days or possibly even more; I’m not an expert. For really simple ones, they kept being used so repeatedly that scholars, over time, came up with even simpler versions. Again, I’m not an expert and neither am I a mage, so I don’t know what exactly are the differences, but you may have seen different chants producing very similar results and this is the cause of it.”

Satoshi nodded in understanding.

"But then why not just use the items? Instant use is faster than chanting no matter how much you can simplify it."

“For these simple spells, even though the engravings are very very simple, it is not worth putting onto an item. The primary reason is the cost. To turn the engraving into an enchantment, it requires special material made from crystalized mana which is only found deeper in dungeons, so people don't generally use enchanted items for which the chants can be done in under a minute."

(That makes sense, I suppose.)

"So if you can instead get a person in your party, not only is it a cheaper investment than an enchanted item, it's more useful since the other person can help you out in various ways, like cooking, carrying stuff, lookouts and so on."

Satoshi nodded again.

"Another factor is that since these items are expensive, they are also more likely to be stolen."

"I see."

"Even though I say that, some people do carry it. Especially those who solo."

"Can you give me some examples of enchantments that would come in handy for people traveling solo?"

Satoshi wondered if he could have a bunch of items for himself. His wind ability was powerful but limited in a lot of ways.

"Depends really. Maybe basic wands for one of the elements."

"Could you tell me a little about those?"

"Other than their obvious use in attacking, the fire wand can help you start a fire. The light wand can help you see in the darkness if you don't have any wood around to ignite and carry. Wind, to blow away dust or to breeze yourself. Earth, to make temporary bridges or pathways or if you want to trap something. Water, lots of obvious uses like drinking, washing, cooking, bathing, putting out fires and so on."

A customer came and the leopardwoman excused herself to attend to him, leaving Satoshi to think.

(Can't I do most of those with my ability? I can start a fire by making an air lens and focusing the sunlight. Well, not during the night when the fire would actually come in handy I suppose. At least, I don't need light because I can see in the darkness by feeling where the air is being blocked. But then again, I can only see so much. If there's something etched on the surface, I can't read it just by feeling it with wind after all. I don't need bridges or walkways since I can fly, but I can't trap anything. For water, I can't pretty much do anything. Okay, maybe not as versatile as I thought.)

Satoshi watched from a little distance away as the leopardwoman was conversing with a buffed elephantkin who was holding up an axe to her, probably with the intention of buying it.

(I think it's more of a luxury to have enchanted items. It's like the machines from Earth. They are in no way essential for survival, just make life easier. But that also explains their appeal I suppose.)

After saying something, the elephantkin left the axe there and moved away to look at other weapons in the shop. The leopardwoman called over an employee to put the axe back and came back over to Satoshi.

"What's your name?", Satoshi asked, thinking it was about time he stopped referring to her as 'the leopardwoman'.

"Kassiandra. It is also fine to address me as Kassy."

"You already know what to call me."

"Right, Mr. Satoshi. I had told you about the use of basic wands. A few other items of similar note are the heating and cooling plate. While the fire wand can help you create fire, it can't be used for cooking. For that, you can use the heating plate. The opposite is the cooling plate. It is usually attached under containers and is meant for keeping things cold."

(So a portable stove and refrigerator.)

"Anything else you'd like to know?"

"Can you tell me anything about the script used to make the engravings?"

"It's called Magic Language. The only thing I can tell you is that you need a license to learn or teach it. Everything about enchantments except the language is common knowledge. The circulation of enchanted items is very strictly monitored and if you're found performing enchantments without proper license, you can be put in a cell for ten years."

"How do you get a license?"

"You have to pass a test and then be bound by a magical oath that you will not disclose information about engravings to anyone except a select few including the royal family, certain associated people, or other enchanters. The condition to take the test is that you need to be recommended by either the mage guild or one of the authorized noble families. It's easiest to go through the mage guild if you don't have any connections."

The leopardwoman, or Kassy, assumed Satoshi wanted to learn it himself.

(I don't need to chant and am already stuck with learning one new language.. I don't think there's any reason for me to bother with another.. not to mention the whole elemental thing is not all that kind to me..)

"Kassy, do you have any time afterwards so I could ask more questions? You know, on a date or something.", Satoshi tried.

"Only if you're from a faster species than me.", Kassy replied without missing a beat.

"I don't think I am.", Satoshi accepted his defeat.

"You're really not from around here, are you? Consider this a freebie; leopardkin are the fastest.", Kassy said with pride.

"Ah I see."

(So that was a straight off rejection.)

"Is there anything else you'd like to ask me right now about enchantments?"

"Where can I buy enchanted items?"

(Might as well get as much info as possible 'right now'.)

"Here, if you want weapons. There's our branch store in the district to the east where you can buy enchanted household stuff, like the heating or cooling plates."

"Do you have any of the basic wands you mentioned?"

"Only fire and water. 5 small gold each."

(Damn. She wasn't kidding when she said those things are expensive.)

"Is it possible to test them?"

"You can. For first time customers, you have to deposit a part of the cost before you can test it. One small gold for the wands."

"Any chance the-" "No."

Kassy cut off Satoshi before he could even finish asking.

"That transaction was between you and me. If you wish to trade with the shop, you'll have to make a separate deposit."

(Ugh.. I don't have another gold coin.)

"Sorry, that was the last coin I could afford to spend."

(Though I did get a lot of info, I'm not sure if it was worth it.)

"Anything else, Mr. Satoshi?"

Satoshi thought for a bit but nothing came to mind.

"I guess that's it. Thanks for the information."

"My pleasure."

------------------------

A few days later, Satoshi managed to put together enough money to amount for a small gold. Since it was a 'deposit', he should get it back after the testing.

"Feel free to aim wherever you want."

Kassy took him to an open field behind the store where clear signs of testing were there. Parts of the land were burnt, others had holes, others had different structures clearly a result of earth magic.

Satoshi pointed the small metallic stick she handed to him earlier, a fire wand, towards a weird earthen structure.

…

And nothing happened. In the first place, Satoshi didn't know what to do.

"How do I do this?"

He turned to Kassy.

"Just pour some mana into it as you do for spells. Like I told you the other day, the engraving is just a replacement for your chant."

(Well fuck.)

Satoshi didn't need to chant so he had no idea what this 'mana' felt like or how to control it.

He pointed at the weird structure again and tried.. something. He tried to wrap his wind around it to make.. something happen.

…

"You don't know how to channel mana?", Kassy asked with irritation after a minute passed by without anything happening.

"Are you sure the wand isn't faulty?", Satoshi tried.

Kassy rolled her eyes and put her hand out, indicating for Satoshi to hand it to her.

She pointed it at the same weird structure and in the next instance, a small fireball manifested in front of the wand and went flying at the structure. The surface of the structure burned a little black and nothing else happened, but that was definitely a fireball.

"Where exactly outside of Domania did you come from?", Kassy asked.

"It's a bit of an obscure place…"

"Sure. You should learn to channel your mana before trying to buy enchanted items."

Kassy turned around to head back to the store.

"Right…"

Satoshi followed after her, clearly done here.