32 Enchanting

Guy stared incredulously at the mountain of items on Al's desk. The sight reminded him of the loot-splosion at the end of a casual RPG he played back on Earth.

"What are these?" Guy asked as he leaned sideways to face Al.

"They're enchanted weapons and armours," Al said matter-of-factly. With a proud smug he observed Guy's reaction. He wanted to see the shock and awe on his face. But contrary to his expectations, all Al got was a confused and awkward look of... contempt?

'What the hell?!' Al exclaimed. He did a double-take of the stack on his desk to make sure that he had retrieved the right items.

'They're enchanted weapons, all right!' That wasn't the issue. Then what? Why wasn't Guy fawning over them like he was supposed to?

With a hesitating tone, Al probed, "What's wrong?"

Guy's lips tilted in confusion as he replied, "Nothing. It's just... why are they so resplendent?"

In fact, resplendent was an understatement! As a rich, second-generation scion of a prominent family, Guy's tastes were extremely refined. He had the opportunity to come into contact with the most splendid of items in his old world and had learned to appreciate their aesthetics properly.

The weapons splayed before him threatened to rot his cultivated sense of aesthetics. Each and every single item was crowded with multiple gems of varying colours. He separated a sword from the stack and saw that its guard was lined with 10 equally sized gems of non-uniform tones. It was less metal and more mineral at this point!

'Did they just dip the sword in glue and throw gems at it to see what stuck?' At least with this sword, the gems weren't scattered haphazardly. The armours, shields and the other weapons in the stack were much worse.

'Why are there gems embedded at the armour's chest?' The sight burned Guy's eyes. He was reminded of the iconic armour from an old movie about a famous comic book superhero back on Earth.

Guy handled the items on the stack by pinching them between his fingers. For an observer, it looked as if he was handling a filthy or tainted object. Ironically, Guy had actually handled filthier things when he worked to build a proper sewage system in a country he visited in his past life. He was much more comfortable clearing garbage stuck in jammed up gutters as opposed to these gem-clogged monstrosities.

It was an unconscious reaction of Guy's, but it had unwittingly offended Al. He had forged and enchanted every single item on the stack after all.

"How are they decadent?" Al challenged while suppressing his anger.

"Oh? I mean... look at all these gems. They completely detract from the beautiful craftsmanship of these weapons and armours. Look here, these gems are placed exactly where the wearer's nipples would be! Oh, and look at this armour set. Why are the gems all lined around the groin? And why do all these weapons have gems placed tightly near the region where the wielder holds them? It has poor ergonomics."

Upon hearing Guy's explanation, Al's irritation was sufficiently quenched. He was delighted to hear Guy's appreciation for the exquisiteness of his handiwork. Then what about Guy's qualms on the gems? That was a forgivable offence. The man was ignorant of how enchanting worked after all.

'Once he gains a better understanding of enchanting and its intricacies, he'll be able to better appreciate my work,' Al said to soothe himself.

"This! This is just... amazing!" Guy exclaimed as he handled a two-handed broadsword. The weapon was simple in design but was alluring nonetheless. There were no gems or over-the-top additions that offended the eyes. The blade had a symmetric shape, yet it didn't look artificial as if a machine had forged it. Guy just knew that a craftsman had lovingly hammered this blade into its current shape. The metal itself had a mystical design that resembled the replica of Damascus steel weapons from Earth. The sword guard was simple, yet practical. When being wielded, it didn't interfere with the holder's grip and flowed perfectly as they shifted between stances. The handle itself was meticulously wrapped with soft leather, sensually revealing sections of the treated wood underneath. The pommel matched the design on the blade's metal as if the entire sword was a single seamless piece from tip to peen.

But this was just the start, what really stood out was the intricate engravings that snaked along the spine of the sword. They had a gemlike sheen that stood out from the fluid metal design. Although Guy couldn't decipher the meaning of those engravings, he could somehow make out a story as his eyes flowed over them.

He let himself indulge in that feeling and was shown intermittent flashes, or scenes, of a figure wielding the two-handed sword and rampaging through a dark forest filled with intricate webs. The figure was drenched in green blood as arachnid appendages flew haphazardly with every slice. It was a gruesome, yet enthralling visual.

"How beautiful!" Guy said as he carefully handled the sword.

The corners of Al's lips twitched. 'How did that get in there?'

Before Al could clarify, Guy exclaimed, "Now this is what I'd call exquisite! Whoever made this was a genuine craftsman. All of those," Guy said as he jerked his head across the mountain of items on Al's desk, "They're amateur work! Obviously whoever made those was all flash and no substance."

"*cough* I made all of those," Al muttered embarrassedly.

"Excuse me?" Guy asked while craning his neck.

"I made all of these enchanted items. The one you're holding - I won that in an auction," Al confessed.

Guy froze in place like a deer caught in headlights. At that moment, his mind replayed the events that had transpired during the past few minutes.

'Ha...' Guy sighed. 'Back when I asked for a face-slapping experience of my own, I never expected it to bite me in the ass.'

"Hey, Al. I was just... I didn't mean anything by what I said before. I don't even know anything about enchanting. Just think of it as the ramblings of an ignorant person," Guy quickly uttered as he tried to smooth things out.

Al sighed loudly and chuckled bitterly.

"Actually, I also agree with you," Al said as he picked up one of the enchanted swords from his pile.

He then continued, "The field of enchanting has regressed ever since the Age of Isolation, which happened 5000 years ago. What you hold in your hands right now is the result of Dwarven enchanting. As for this," he said while gesturing at the weapon in his hand and the mountain of items on his desk, "is as close as we can ever get. In fact, calling it enchanting is a mockery of the word itself."

Guy's eyebrows rose in surprise, "I don't understand."

Al nodded in understanding and said, "It's better if I show you."

Al conjured up a multitude of spell circles and channelled his mana into them. Immediately, the space around Guy warped. As his surroundings stabilised, he found himself standing in an open area similar to the academy's practicing fields.

"Watch carefully," Al said as he stood in front of Guy, while he held the gem embedded sword in his hand. He walked up to a practising dummy and brought the sword down with a seamless slash. The gems embedded in the sword's guard illuminated and bright lines like circuitry extended across the sword's blade. While the blade worked through the dummy it shredded the material, as if countless tiny blades of wind were whirring around the metal. Once the sword exited the dummy, it cleft it perfectly into two halves.

"And now, watch this," Al then said as he extended his hand towards Guy. The sword in Guy's hand propelled itself into Al's open hand as if it were magnetised. Al centred himself once again and performed a similar sword slash on another dummy. This time, while the blade descended, the intricate engravings along the spine illuminated with a soft sheen. As the blade contacted the dummy, it started to shred the material in a more gruesome manner. Unlike with the other sword, this one extended well beyond the immediate vicinity of the blade and Guy could see that the damage even propagated further into the dummy perpendicular to the sword's trajectory. After the cleft dummy fell, Guy saw just how devastating the slash was. He definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of the strike.

Al held onto the blade in his hand and released a long sigh filled with envy, sadness, and defeat.

He then spoke solemnly, "What you saw before, was the result of my attempt to replicate the enchantment of this sword. It was the culmination of over two decades of research and development. In the end, I barely managed to scratch the surface."

Guy gasped as he heard Al's declaration. Since he had yet to see anyone stronger and more capable than Al, Guy had subconsciously placed him on a pedestal. To hear that there was something Al couldn't accomplish even after sacrificing 20 years, was akin to blasphemy of the highest order in Guy's point of view. It was just like when an older sibling admitted that they didn't know something.

Guy eyed the Dwarven sword in Al's hand in awe.

Noticing Guy's incredulous gaze Al chuckled, "What if I told you that this sword was only a Common enchanted weapon amongst Dwarves?"

Guy's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets at that revelation.

"You're saying there are enchanted weapons stronger than this?"