Morning broke and our routine began. We did skip breakfast to grab some food at our parents’ place instead. Considering it was a short walk, I felt like just doing this every day. If not for the meal, I loved the company and the opportunity to share details about our upcoming adventures.

And it seemed our timing was impeccable. When we arrived at the farm, they were about to eat. It did make me feel slightly guilty to drop in like that, and to interrupt, but my mother’s warm smile told me she didn’t mind in the slightest.

After that, I told them about our plan to explore the dungeon further.

“And I hoped you wouldn’t mind me leaving the spiderlings behind here,” I concluded with a smirk as I watched Elira’s eyes grow wide.

“Yay!” She immediately exclaimed in ecstasy.

She was far faster than me, but I still finished.

“So yeah, I was thinking they could maybe do some work around here, maybe in the fields, but it seems Elira has different plans. Can’t say I blame her.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll have the day of her life,” My father replied. “Some help on the field wouldn’t be unwelcome, though. Maybe I can teach them how to weed this time around.”

“Well, I’ll leave it up to you. Amarys,” I called to the ‘leader’ of the clutch, who skittered up to and looked at me, waiting patiently for my words. “Listen to my parents when I’m gone, okay?”

She nodded yes, and I couldn’t help but smile when my little sister started darting around with her arms up in the air, closely followed by Elle and Shayla.

“Well, have fun y’all. We’ll be back later.”

We smiled and waved as we made for the city.

Today, we were free from the burdens of having five extra beings to watch over. It felt odd in a way as I wasn’t used to prioritizing my own wants and needs, but the thought of the spiderlings having fun washed away my doubts. They still had a long way to go before I would feel completely comfortable about taking them, and I’d definitely not take them to head into the unknown anytime soon.

The unknown…

I felt the thrill of it starting to run through my body. I was excited to see what was beyond the Firags, but tempered that thought with caution. Whatever was out there, it was sure to use magic. Magic which a certain enchantment would help counter.

“Now we just hope that things will go smoothly in the city. I don’t want this day to suddenly turn sour after such a great start.”

“Have some faith. We’ll be fine.”

There it was, her warm, lovely smile that told exactly what she just said with words.

When we arrived in the town square, there was another first for us. We had to stand in a queue before Zearis’s stand. Apparently, today was a popular day to get new equipment. When it was finally our turn, the blacksmith seemed to be renewed in spirit as he greeted us with a wide smile and expectation written all over his face.

When I chuckled at the sight, he placed his hands on his sides and looked me straight in the eyes.

“I can see you’ve made a choice. Was it the expensive one?”

I immediately turned around to see Cellestra giggling.

“I assume that means that the Mana Bane enchantment is the expensive one, doesn’t it?”

“That’s the one,” The smith replied. “Quite the versatile enchantment.”

“I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about it. First off, it’s quite expensive, and secondly, the latter part as it is written is rather vague.”

“Ah, yes. She insists on having it that way. I don’t even know why myself.” He paused for a second as he looked at a longsword on the table before him. “As I said, the enchantment is versatile. It absorbs some of the magical properties of spells that it comes into contact with, lessening their effects — quite a useful defensive trait. Yet, this energy remains in the weapon for a short duration, causing it to deal additional damage of the spell’s school. A fireball will make your weapon sear your enemies flesh, yada, yada, yada. I’m sure you can imagine the rest.”

“Ohhhh,” I let out. “That sounds even more interesting than before.”

“Yeah, well, Emeris’s skill is significant. One thing you should know if that enchanting is an art, and that their practitioners differ in styles. What I’m trying to say is, that each individual in the trade will have a different arsenal of possible enchantments. If you’re looking for other options, you’d have to find one that suits your needs.”

“I don’t know how to thank you. That’s a very useful piece of advice.”

“You look like you could use it.” He said with a shrug. “You know, since you’re not from around here, and you seem unfamiliar with some things.”

“That’s very kind of you. I appreciate that a lot.”

“A friend of the mayor is a friend of mine. Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?”

As soon as he said it, Cellestra reached for her coin pouch and handed it over.

“Do you see Soranir often?” I asked while counting the money on the counter.

“From time to time. Great guy to talk to, especially when he’s had a few drinks.”

“Didn’t take him for a drinker,” I stated, wondering if I’d misjudged the mayor’s personality. He always seemed to be so busy and serious. To think he even had time left for pleasantries simply amazed me.

“It’s rare. I’ll admit that. Mind if I take your weapon? I’ll check if Emeris is available for my first batch of weapons today.”

I handed him my trusty halberd with a nod.

“I’ll be back in a bit with an estimation of how long it’s going to take. You don’t mind waiting a bit, do you?”

“Well, we had plans to go to the dungeon, and I’d rather get there sooner than later. If a bit of urgency is possible, I’d surely appreciate that.”

“Understood. I’ll be back shortly.”

He left us for the workshop and whistled sharply using his fingers. Several of his employees who were currently not in the process of smithing stood up and followed him inside. Within a minute, they marched in a line, all sorts of weapons in their hands. Up in the front was Zearis with my own armament but also another starmetal weapon in the form of a greatsword.

“Nice try Zearis,” I said soft enough so that only Cellestra heard it. “But I don’t think Emeris is stupid enough to not know that one of those is mine.”

“Oh, she knows alright,” Cellestra said in a seemingly taunting manner. “But she doesn’t have to deal with us directly. Let’s hope her allure for coin is greater than her disgust for us.”

“Twenty gold coins is quite the sum, but I don’t know how much she earns on average. Considering Zearis has several batches of weapons that need her attention, I reckon it’s quite something.”

“But there is no way those weapons will all carry such expensive imbuements.”

“True. Did you hear what he said, by the way?”

“Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking about?” She said with a smirk.

“Quite likely,” I replied with an equally big smile.

“It would certainly be interesting to look into enchanting,” Cellestra said, confirming she and I were on the same page. “But I know very, very little about it.”

“Do you think it will safe, though? I assume you’re going to have to use magic.”

“Maybe… Hey, Kea, whatcha say we stop by at the shop where we got that spell scroll? The shopkeeper there probably has some books we could dig into. Besides, we were talking about getting some alchemy reagents for me a while back, and he has a few items that would be of use. He probably has more in the back area that I couldn’t see.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Gives us some more things to do, and honestly, I’d love for it to work out. Who knows what your style of enchantments will be?”

“Getting a bit ahead there, aren’t you?” She replied with a giggle. “I’ll try, but I cannot promise anything.”

“Can’t hurt to explore,” I concluded. “But I fear this might take a while to learn, unless your ability is somehow of use here, which we cannot rule out.”

Zearis reappeared as he and the others walked back empty-handed. He greeted us again and apologized right after.

“It’s going to take about half an hour. Sorry about that.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “We just thought of something we could just do in the meantime. We’ll go and do some shopping and come back here.”

“Alright,” He responded, nodding. “I’ll be waiting here for you then.”

“Thank you, Zearis. Take care.”

With a nod and a wave, Cellestra and I were off, looking to expand our fields of knowledge.