The Arcane Emperor-Chapter 97: To the Land of Demons

Chapter 97: To the Land of Demons

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked where I’ve been lately,” Ele mused. Though, given a recent discovery involving the creation of magical clothing, it was clear to any she was more focused on the Fairy behind him. And was just counting down time to when Luna would be available. Said Fairy currently worked on Rainer’s attire, creating something more to the taste of a Dwarf.

“Why would I? You’d tell me if it mattered,” Rainer said, grinning. She clearly wanted him to ask. Looks like he had learned something about speaking with politicians after all.

“Oh? That’s quite a level of trust,” Ele asked, masterfully preventing her eyes from rolling at the grin on his face. But she could hardly fault him for speaking with his brain for once instead of over-abusing his ‘Arcane Pressure’ magic to dominate conversations. The Elf paused for a moment, thinking she got the name wrong, but brushed it off.

“With what you’ve seen, I either trust you or I should kill you,” Rainer said and then briefly frowned in concern when that statement had shaken Ele slightly. He hadn’t even intended it to a be threat. More a joke than anything else even if there was a hint of truth to it. She knew basically everything important short of the true function of [Sleep Learning] and the Mana-Well.

“Did I use my magic on accident?”

Ele stared at him for a bit before nodding. It had been too subtle to notice, but it now explained why she suddenly felt such dread despite his jovial tone.

“Sorry about that,” Rainer said and she waved it off. It had been happening more and more since he started to practice infusing his actions and speech with [Arcane Presence]. It made sense, as anything practiced could become a habit, and [Arcane Presence] was extensively used not just during the day but in [Sleep Learning].

“It could be worse.”

“How so?” Rainer asked.

“It could be the one spell you used on my Grandfather instead of the ‘Arcane Essence’ you use.”

“[Arcane Presence],” He corrected.

“Yes, yes, that one. You cannot expect me to keep track of all your magic. By the way, what exactly are the limits to your clothing creation abilities, Luna?”

“I can’t make armor too strong. I can only make things last for a month or two,” Luna answered absentmindedly over a mumbled ‘it’s a skill’ from Rainer, having been asked the same question by Sarah.

Ele looked at her for several moments without saying anything, having asked that question in a different context, before a smile bloomed across the Elf face. Her mask quickly covered that response, but Rainer doubted he had ever seen her smile so naturally before.

“You have a thing for fashion?” Rainer asked.

“Just a little,” Ele responded, briefly noting that she still hadn’t told him her accomplishment but far too distracted by the possibilities of his Fairy to even think about it anymore. For the first time she found herself cursing the Dwarves, they just had to favor plain clothes of bland colors… otherwise, Rainer would make an excellent subject to dress up with a Fairy at hand.

Prior to the meeting with the Dwarves, Rainer vanished with Gunthar in tow, heading over to where Furtak, Theodore, and Elru currently were. With Rainer’s Avatar acting as the resident Soul Detector while he was gone, the rule of one of them being with the party was bent. Rainer planned on borrowing a ring from Furtak, one the Goblin had used to a create a silencing spell around them in the past.

The Goblin [Fire Sage] was looking over a recently drawn map, Theodore and Elru by his side.

“Father,” Gunthar greeted, and quickly went over to him, gleefully showing off his recent ability to reform right behind the mutated holy Undead.

Letting the pair catch-up, and noting he should probably let him do so more often with how easy the trip was, Rainer went to speak with the underground Goblin Chief.

“What can I do for you, Rainer?” The recently level 24 [Fire Sage] spoke. It seemed the gift of a tier 6 spell from Rainer had done his leveling efforts much good. It was a leveling speed more fitting to the title hoarding [Archon] than a normal inhabitant of this world. But to be Fire-Touched, Rainer guessed the Goblin had to be quite adept with fire.

“What makes you think I need something?”

The old Goblin merely looked at him for a few moments before snorting.

“Given that we are both aware of how nice the Fae are, I’m sure you wouldn’t be leaving your own to visit a shriveled old Goblin unless you needed something.”

Rainer chuckled before relaying his request. He also handed over a copy of the tome for [Mana Presence], the same one found in the Blood Soul Guild, to the Goblin in exchange for borrowing the ring. He was sure the Goblin would have lent it to him anyways, but there was little reason not to offer something in return.

Rainer left shortly after, with Gunthar staying behind until the [Archon] came back from the Dwarf meeting.

Now having everything he needed, Rainer had one last conversation with Ele before his meeting.

“I have no doubt others will be spying on the conversation,” Ele reminded him as he prepared to Void-walk to the Dwarves meeting places, “And it may be prudent for you not to kill any that you notice doing so. Perhaps a rule you should take in most cases. Slaughtering them would gain you no allies at this time.”

“Which is why I have this,” Rainer said, holding up a ring Furtak used in the past. The [Fire Sage] was doing well, and with the recent deaths involving the Skyborne, the North past the mountains had been quiet. Theodore and Elru currently stayed with the Goblin, planning on taking further explorations around the Forbidden North. They had just finished training Baron Charles, who was taking his Trial within a month. Rainer planned on enchanting one of his three gifted swords for the Baron before then.

“Yes… which is why you randomly disappeared for a few hours and came back with an enchanted ring capable of silencing an area around you,” Ele repeated, feeling the need to note that and then tuck it away in the part of her head where the rest of his madness went. “The Dwarves themselves are unlikely to spread anything they learn. Though it would be wise to get permission to set up the barrier in the manner we discussed.”

“See you soon,” he said as he disappeared in a Void-walk. Going to a meeting with Dwarves with anyone other than yourself was considered a negative in their eyes, even if you were meeting with 100 Dwarves. Given that nothing here could contain him, he was hardly worried about his safety, even without the Dwarves own promises of sanctuary, which had never been broken by the Dwarves as far as he knew. Liberal uses of [Void Detection] and [Soul Detection] to watch his own back certainly didn’t hurt.

Rainer stared up at the building he just arrived at. It was one of the tallest ones he had seen during his stay with the Lamias. If one ignored the treehouses, or rather ‘tree mansions’, some of said Lamia inhabited.

Two stoic guards marked the entrance, not even flinching as Rainer appeared. He had to at least give them credit for that. Walking by, he entered the large building where another Dwarf wordlessly waved him over.

Rainer followed him as he headed deeper and deeper underground. The dark-skinned Dwarf didn’t say a word as expected. They took several twists and turns before the sounds of battle entered his ears, along with what could only be a drunken cheering.

In a wide open arena, lit by torches and some form of Aura inscription, two Dwarves fought it out. Both level 25 of the first tier. Their Auras clashed alongside their weapons, simplistic in nature. Even though the techniques used were anything but.

Uthor, the Founding Head, sat in a seat, no different than any other Dwarf, watching.

[Dwarf, Male, Whirlwind of Aura(2nd) lvl 24, Hammerfell(2nd) lvl 24]

[Title: Aura Savant]

Rainer Void-walked straight to him, sitting beside the founding head without even a hello. Having nothing else to do without the Dwarf starting the conversation, he watched the match. Only using cladding in terms of Aura, and little finesse with their hammers, he didn’t find it particularly impressive. They seemed more interested in butting brute force than anything else.

“Not refined enough for the Lord Magus’ tastes?” Uthor, now standing at his side, asked after a few minutes.

“Not even Goblins make their men fight in blood sports,” he retorted, inwardly wincing that he may have gone too far. That, and he felt a bit bad insulting Goblins even if it wasn’t in earnest.

“Good point. But I can’t think of a better way of deciding who gets to use the Trial armor.”

Rainer turned over to where the Dwarf was looking, towards one of the guards standing by the Founding Head’s side.

[Helmet of Aural Conquest: A steel helmet enchanted and inscribed for pure Aural power. +15 Strength, +15 Aura Attunement, +20% General Improvement to [Aura Cladding].]

The 5-piece set all had the same functions, with the exception of the breastplate, which had +20 and +15, respectively.

Rainer whistled. That certainly would qualify as a Trial Armor. In the sense its user would have a far higher chance of passing their first tier Trial. After a bit of thought, it was easy to guess why this wasn’t loaned to everyone. If they failed, the armor was lost. He stared at it a bit longer with [Arcane Revelation], taking in the enchantment, and how it connected as a full set of plate armor, fully.

“I won the full set as part of a [Pioneer] run on a Tier 5 dungeon,” the Dwarf continued, “I wouldn’t risk it on anyone who wouldn’t risk their lives to use it.”

“Fair enough.”

“So what is your goal with the land you plan on buying?” Uthor asked, seemingly with no real care. Though given that information, while not private, was not well-known, it seemed the Dwarf did care quite a bit.

“Before that, you mind if I set up some privacy magic?”

“Whatever suits you, Magus.”

Rainer nodded and with a small bit of Mana used the enchanted ring, setting up a small field of Air magic that blocked sound from escaping. He’d have to study this ring in full when he got the chance. It was apparently a Dungeon reward Furtak received, but who knew what kind of applications such an item could have even if it was limited to low cost spell-types. It wasn’t that the Goblin hadn’t thought of that before, merely, studying and reverse engineering enchanted items as Rainer could was considered all but impossible.

“I wish to sell enchanted items from my homeland, including ones of my own make, apart from setting up a place I can call home in this part of the world,” Rainer said as planned.

“Enchanted items are common enough to be sold so wantonly where you hail from?” Uthor said, glancing up and down at the numerous items Rainer had on, “Do those all work together or is it some weird form of Magus bragging?”

“They work. And Ambient Mana has more sources than just Mana Crystals where I’m from,” Rainer said, speaking another lie they planned, the original one he thought of not being as plausible, “Who knows. Seeing the lack of it here, I may even establish an Enchanter’s Guild.”

For the first time, Rainer saw the Dark-skinned Dwarf’s facial expression display shock. Not even [Void-walking] right beside him had elicited any real reaction.

“If you need Inscriptions, we’ll be here,” The Dwarf said simply, before returning his attention to the Arena.

Rainer took that as approval and turned his attention back to the fight as well. Now this was a type of meeting he could get used to. Before leaving, the Dwarf had asked him to share what made him an [Archon], but otherwise didn’t bother him.

Back in their Lamia-rented Mansion, Rainer prepared to look in on his mom and grandfather.

“Why exactly do I have to bleed too?” Sarah asked.

“Because you were born a woman,” he said, intentionally misunderstanding her.

“Aren’t periods supposed to gross out men?” Sarah questioned, specifically remembering him being one such man. A bit strange to be queasy about that given that he had killed a goblin as soon as he arrived here and thought ‘let’s cut open its head and check for loot’, but Sarah decided to ignore that. Why he even felt the need to mention that in his stories of being here was beyond her.

Taking on a pompous air, he gave his response to that: “I’m evolved.”

“Also, didn’t you technically just claim that you were a woman?” Sarah asked, but before Rainer could responded, his apprentice had a question of her own.

“Master Nvos, while we are on the subject matter, I had a question on the-”

“Okay not evolved,” Rainer backtracked, interrupting his apprentice. He could guess what she wanted anyways since Kara had asked him before. But as of now, he couldn't think of any sane or safe magical solution.

“As for why I need your blood, it’s just a guess, but I assume having both of ours makes the connection stronger. Even just the tiniest bit stronger connection would help. Unless of course you don’t want me to look in on our mom and grandfather?”

“Nice guilt card. Hurry up and cut me,” Sarah said and held out a finger.

Rainer poked her finger, her blood now landing on his palm alongside his own.

“I’m telling mom you stabbed me,” she complained, managing to ruffle up a fake tear or two. Her time in [Sleep Learning] leveling [Enchanted Flesh] made such a little amount of pain all but unnoticeable. Lacking the same natural Constitution as Rainer, there was no need to press down hard either.

“She’ll probably laugh and make a sexual joke out of it. Do you really want to go down that road?”

Sarah paused in thought before shaking her head. Their mother’s boundaries were next to non-existent as to what was acceptable conversation topics. Probably where they got it from.

“Hey… if they are safe, maybe we wait a bit before picking them up?” Sarah said, though mostly in jest. She had just recalled she was a minor. Not being accountable to someone was a welcome experience no matter how much she missed her mom.

“Now I’m definitely telling mom you said that,” Rainer countered.

“She’ll just make a joke about us wanting more alone time. Or do that fake crying thing next time we are in public about us not needing her anymore.” Sarah shivered a bit at the last part.

“Foiled by our inappropriate mother yet again,” Rainer cracked as he cast the tracking spell, “And it isn’t as if I’m anywhere near strong enough to grab them yet. Let’s see what they are up to…”

He threw nearly all his Void Will into enhancing [Void Seer]. His mind flew through Void, crossing a distance unfathomable. Were it not for the recent addition, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near enough.

“Well?” Sarah asked, seeing Rainer had finished.

“They are safe... and together… but I don’t understand at all what they are doing,” he said, knowing he’d have to check in again. He was pretty sure his grandfather wasn’t trying to kill a group of children, no matter what it looked like. And his mother standing to the side smiling as he did that had to have a context that explained it.

He frowned momentarily as he felt his remaining Void Will grow a bit unstable and drag him into its calming effects, just like when he was learning the [Void Descent], but the effect soon vanished. He’d have to check with Talvara if he was doing something wrong or if this was a natural thing when one used a large amount of Void Will.

“Did you really have to say something so ambiguous after just discussing our mother’s inappropriate jokes?” Sarah groaned.

“Ew, thanks for passing that along to me.”

“What are little sisters for?” Sarah asked, flashing him her best smile.

“Being nice, cute, innocent, all around pleasant, and loving?”

“Heh, in what world?” Sarah countered.

“Clearly not this one. Maybe if I take you to other worlds?” Rainer said, thinking of the world he had ended up on accident with Amer. Ignoring that he had no way of going back there for the time being.

“Worth a try. Though, you may have to shoot for dimensions, rather than just worlds, if you want to change the universal laws regarding little sisters.”

Rainer paused for a moment, giving that actual serious thought.

“I swear if you come up with a magic that let’s you visit a second Earth or some crap, I’m done with you,” Sarah joked, poking his side to draw him out of his thoughts. She secretly hid the pain that caused, the damn steel man.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you in on it until I find a dimension that makes you the perfect little sister.”

He, of course, still didn’t fully understand how he traveled between worlds. For all he knew, he was already crossing what was considered dimensions. And while making assumptions based on what Talvara said, he wasn’t, who knew what may have been lost in translation even if she was 100% correct. For all that the anthropomorphic representation of the Void was, she wasn’t all-knowing.

“I’m serious Rainer.”

Rainer worked on his enchanted necklaces as usual, almost creating one that was good enough to sell. He planned on making both a ring and a necklace mimicking the [Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood]’s effects. Though, he’d separate the given attributes between the two. Given his use of enchanting to practice [Avatar Control], it wouldn’t be long before he reached that point.

According to Amer, level 7 was the point where he could fight at the same time as his Avatar. Rainer was merely shooting for enchanting while he went about his daily business, for now. He hoped [Avatar Control] counted as a Magic skill and it wouldn’t be long before he reached that point given he pracitced it nearly every waking - and sleeping - moment.

Kara entered the room soon after, surprising him with her attire.

“What are you dressed up for?” Rainer asked Kara with a bit of nervousness, wondering what he had forgotten. He didn’t know how this world tracked time outside of system-counted hours, and his days spent time-altered left him a bit confused. Frankly, apart from the ‘20’ in his Status screen, he wasn’t sure how old he really was anymore. At least, he knew unimportant birthdays wern’t celebrated here. But he knew next to nothing about anything else.

“A date,” the Wolfkin in her black dress answered and did nothing to clear up that nervousness.

“Where are we going?” he asked, figuring he may as well bite the bullet.

“You are not going anywhere,” she said with a smirk.

Now that was interesting.

“Well, you look more than wonderful,” Rainer responded, finding it impossible for his eyes not to be drawn towards her long legs in that dress.

He went back towards manipulating his Avatar, currently enchanting. Kara sitting down in his lap had brought his attention towards her once more.

“Not even a little flare of jealousy or a single question, I must admit I’m a tiny bit disappointed.”

Rainer raised an eyebrow at that. He trusted Kara with his life, so it would be silly not to trust her in other things.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll play the jealous boyfriend later tonight when you get back.”

“That’s all I ask. And to answer the unasked question, me and Luna are going out.”

That made him happy. Apart from genuinely being glad that they enjoyed each other’s company, whenever her and Luna got along well a piece of his guilt for dating two women vanished. Kara taking it easy was a welcome sight, as she more often than not spent the entire day training strenuously.

“Gunthar agreed to act as a guard. He has been surprisingly chipper since a few days ago.” Kara would normally feel guilty about such a request, but Gunthar had agreed instantly and didn’t even give her a chance to offer things he could do with Luna and her.

“Likely his class advancement,” Rainer offered, glad for the Undead. Gunthar’s primary driving force had been increasing his strength and it was what kept him mostly sane during centuries of slavery, even if the gain was limited due to the nature of said slavery. Being offered a path beyond the first tier, something considered impossible in any Undead other than [Lich]s, had done much to raise his spirits. And even in [Lich]s it was far harder than a comparative tier 2 Trial.

“Make sure you wring out as much spending money as you can from my sister,” He added with a grin.

“Of course. By the way, are sister-in-law’s supposed to get along?” Kara then asked after a bit of thought, smirking at his sister who had groaned in the background before going back to sensor training. Sarah seemed to have given up her role as a dragon hoarding gold and dropped a bag on the table next to her. Rainer pumping out enchanted necklaces would end their immediate money troubles soon in anycase.

“Huh… I’m not sure,” Rainer responded, inwardly happy at how she considered Sarah, and wondering if perhaps right before Kara’s Trial would be a perfect time for a certain Earth tradition. “I know you are aren’t traditionally supposed to get along with your mother-in-law, but she’s… kind of unique, so who knows.”

“I think we both have a problem of unique mothers,” Kara offered, wondering how the meeting of Rainer and her mother would go. She’d have to be careful, in fact, so it didn’t look like she had been subverted by a Magus. Magi and Demons didn’t have the best of relationships. It was one of the few instances where Demons hated something almost as much as the rest of the world hated them in return. Though, Demons themselves were not close enough to one another to really jointly feel the same way about anything.

Despite Rainer’s talents for turning foe into a friend, she did not want to test that out on her family.

“When are you leaving?” Rainer asked.

“In a few hours, Luna made clothes comfortable enough I figured I’d enjoy being dressed up for a bit.”

“I’m enjoying it too. Maybe I should get some of Luna’s enchants done in the meantime?”

“Good idea.”

“No!” Luna wailed and shrunk into her smallest form as she hid somewhere under the blankets on the bed.

“Why on earth would you be this resistant to getting enchantments?”

“Luna doesn’t have a class for them, they won’t work very well,” she pointed out reasonably. Kara’s family was a bit of an exception given their prodigious Aura talents along with say Saya who had more than enough Mana to compensate, but Luna’s talent for Mana was only normal, for a Fae that is.

Until Luna reached her 2nd tier, there would be little point in enchantments for her as they wouldn’t be worth the cost to use. Except maybe a Void-Step to save her life once or twice. Even then, she might be better off just sticking with Rainer or pouring that Mana into her flame instead.

“That’s not reason to not at least have them,” Kara argued.

“But then Luna will have so many skills to gain and level. Rainer said he didn’t care how strong I was.”

“Luna stop being so melodramatic, you can’t just spend the nights you have in [Sleep Learning] playing with your fire,” Kara pointed out.

“I’m not being melodramatic, Luna is serious,” she complained melodramatically.

“Oh no, all my Mana is gone, where did it go…” Rainer said wistfully, using an old trick.

“Luna won’t fall for it this time. I have matured,” the Fairy said, popping her head out from under the blankets. Her violet eyes staring out and belaying her seriousness quite well.

“You see the irony of that statement I hope?”

“That is that and this is this.”

“I’ll take that as a yes for my sanity.”

“Don’t worry little silver sister, brother will protect you.” The Shade-being floated into the room, cackling.

Luna nodded her head as if she could understand the Druidic speech of the Shade.

“Only one person is on Luna’s side.”

The Shade-being had taken to Rainer’s idea of being the Fairy’s familiar well, though he had asked to be Rainer’s first. It was easy enough to convince him that it’d be one and the same, and the [Chimera Shade] proved happy to do a favor for Rainer, or perhaps to be around anyone it could speak with.

In a process similar to the dog and Lizardkin boy he met earlier, Rainer had managed to make the Shade-being Luna’s familiar easily enough.

“It’ll make Luna a lot stronger and safer,” Rainer spoke back in druid tongue.

“Sorry sister,” the Shade cackled once more as it disappeared, leaving Luna alone as an [Archon] and Half-Demon tickled a poor defenseless Fairy until she returned to full size and accepted the enchantments.

The next morning, both Kara and Rainer went to one of the archery ranges owned by the Lamia.

Enchanted bow in hand, Rainer wondered about some of the magical applications possible and whether using a bow instead of a staff as a magical medium had some merit. Especially if the spell itself went straight to forming some sort of magic arrow, could he then bypass the issue of destroying the item? At least without having to recreate the impossibly complex enchantment of his [Arcane Blade] hilt.

He pulled back the empty string...

“If you shoot a fool’s arrow from that bow, the next arrow I shoot will be going into your hand,” a harsh voice rang out.

And cautiously put the enchanted bow back down, slowly easing the string back to neutral. From the context, he gathered shooting a ‘fool’s arrow’ was shooting a bow without an arrow. Clearly, he had stumbled on a taboo. Behind him, Kara shifted a bit, having originally intended on doing the same thing.

“Now Saya, there’s no need to be so rude. It’s a common mistake among those who’ve never held a bow.”

The [Archon] avoided chuckling at Saya’s ‘I’ll show you rude’ mumble right after.

He glanced over at Mala, the Founding Head, as she slithered over after reprimanding her granddaughter. When he had asked Ele to organize some lessons on archery, citing a magical reason, he certainly hadn’t expected her to take up his request. Let alone her granddaughter.

While Ele had mentioned that some might move to test out the waters with their daughters to see if there might be a match, he doubted they’d be willing to do so with Saya given the Lamia’s ludicrous strength and dislike for him. Of course ignoring that they couldn’t make the woman herself do anything she truly didn’t want on virtue of that strength alone. So he imagined this was just a general attempt to improve relations. Or perhaps Mala wanted to deal with her granddaughter’s prejudice towards Magi and determined him a suitable vehicle for that effort?

Then again, the Lamia clan already had done several confusing things. So Rainer put little faith in any of his guesses.

Apart from a few prods from Mala to her granddaughter the rest of the training was oddly focused. Which only made Rainer even more suspicious with what they wanted from him. There was no need for them to personally do this.

Rainer had pretended that he had practiced archery before, no matter what Saya’s disbelieving gaze said. Even with his [Archon] bonus, it took him close to half-an-hour before managed the first level of the skill.

[Skill Gained: General Marksmanship Mastery lvl 1/10]

[Skill Gained: General Archery Mastery lvl 1/10]

Rainer did his best to hide all the small changes that occurred to his stance and form, but the Lamia most certainly noticed the marked improvement.

“Why is it I feel you’ve done something shifty?” Saya asked, having gotten a bit more comfortable at the forced situation.

“Because I’m a human?” Rainer responded, wondering if that was even a valid stereotype in a place where Humans weren't the only intelligent race. Judging by the combination laugh and snort he got from her, he guessed so.

“You can say that again,” Saya agreed, the discrepancies with his Archery skill brushed off.

“Manners, Saya,” Mala from the background prodded, earning a grumble from the Lamia in question.

The rest of training continued on, with Rainer not yet able to learn any of the other skills related to Archery in the last hour they had together. Not that they were teaching him any of the more magic and mana related ones, those being secrets of the clan.

Back at the guest mansion, Luna sat on Rainer’s head and hummed a song he had just played for her, while he looked through the enchanting-related classes he had available. It was technically a trade, but it wasn’t as if he would have said no to playing music for his Fairy.

While a part of him wanted to put his full attention on getting stronger, he knew that by working on his Avatar and enchanting he’d be doing both. There was little he could accomplish that could compare to having two of himself fighting in battle. That and he fully planned on abusing the unlimited Mana of [Sleep Learning] to design and create a full armor for Kara’s werewolf form. He’d be damned if he didn’t put his full effort in preparing the Half-Demon for her Trial.

And who knew the benefits general enchanting knowledge could have on his own [Arcane Awakening].

[Enchanter: An individual capable of using Mana to implement effects both mundane and impossible into objects. 50% General Improvement to All enchanting-related skills and magic. 25% Improvement to Mana Manipulation. +2 to Affinity, +1 to Willpower per level after 1.]

[Draconic Enchanter: An individual capable of infusing the very power of Dragons with their will. Their enchantments sing with draconic might. 60% General Improvement to All Draconic Enchanting related skills and magic. 50% Improvement to Mana Manipulation. +3 to Affinity, +2 to Willpower per level after 1.]

Given his achievements in enchanting he felt his options were lacking. Then again, while any Draconic enchantment was an achievement, but he had only accomplished the most basic of basics. And perhaps it was an absolute lack of a Mana talent that prevented different classes as well. He’d have to check with Sarah if or when she went beyond just using [Enchantment Manipulation] and practiced actual Enchanting.

He chose [Enchanter], knowing he’d level the other in any case. The class skills and Attribute were his goals rather than the actual bonuses. He practiced and made new enchanted items throughout the rest of the day, and during [Sleep Learning]. Leveling his [Avatar Control] all the while.

Rainer held up one of his recently made necklaces. It had taken him a week to get this point, something that felt quite long to the [Archon] given his unlimited resources in [Sleep Learning] and added on to all the practice he had already done.

[Necklace of Vitality and Constitution: A necklace of silver enchanted with +2 Constitution and +2 Vitality.]

A set of rings lay by it’s side. He had opted to separate the three attributes, as he had been advised by Ele he’d either need to undercut himself and future enhancements or sell his version of the [Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood] at a too high price. Neither were ideal, so he took another route. While he’d be creating better items in the future, these would serve as a nice base.

[Ring of Endurance: A ring of silver enchanted with +2 Endurance.]

He had even managed a [Ring of Strength] by borrowing from the various enchanted items he’s seen.

[Ring of Strength: A ring of silver enchanted with +2 Strength.]

All items were to be sold separately or as part of a set. As most people lacked any enchanted items apart from their Trial reward, if that, there was little reason to expect issues of items not going together.

The Rings were simple silver with runic-like carvings that would be incredibly difficult to do without [Metal Manipulation], along with a faux Arcane Rune on a square mark.

The necklace was similar. He figured he’d leave the more gaudy looks for customized orders he eventually planned on doing once his [Avatar Control] reached a certain point. Given his Avatar’s eventual permanent role in guarding the Mana-Well, it’d be silly to just sit there like statue.

Ele appraisingly played with one of the rings he made, her eyes occasionally roving over the total twenty sets of necklaces and rings he completed. It wasn’t that the wealthy of this city couldn’t afford better items, it’s that the labor costs associated with it were too much to be custom-made.

One had a choice between cost and time when it came to enchanting. Even with provided Mana Crystals, it didn’t mean the Enchanters could use them with abandon and expect to have enough to fully finish the item. Only the Mana-Well allowed such a thing.

It gave a new perspective to just how much the Wolf-King must have spent to have Kara’s blades rush ordered.

“While I understood what your goals mean, it is another thing entirely to see the actual result. You truly made all this in a day?”

“It took a while to actually design them, but yeah,” Rainer responded, not mentioning that rather than designing he was learning.

“So then, this is to be the base tier of what is sold? Did you already create designs for the more lucrative items?”

“Plenty, it’s just a matter of making them.”

“I’ll handle issues of sale. Until a Guild is created, it would be best to avoid anything like a store. Ignoring possible thievery, it cheapens the items and lessens the prestige to be displayed in a common store.”

Rainer, or rather his Avatar, nodded and went back to his room, where he currently had all the scraps and metal for making further items.

A month of training had passed, and the only thing Kara needed for Trial was the armor Rainer promised to make. Otherwise, she continued working on whichever skills had evolved into another, making sure she was more than ready for her Trial. The last couple months of access to the unlimited Aura of [Sleep Learning] saw a marked improvement in all her skills across the board. Rainer had added several Body Enchantments on her as well from the Fae books he had memorized. Though, Void-Step remained the by far largest advantage she could have.

Rainer himself had continued his training with Aurora, even if his current lack of a [Harbinger] class hurt the efforts, though, not enough to make it a waste of time. On top of that, he leveled his Enchanter classes with both Gunthar and their new shadowy friend in the mountains.

In the White Void of [Sleep Learning], Rainer stared at the set of mixed metal and leather armor he planned on enchanting in reality for Kara. The sale of the Necklaces and Rings through Ele’s effort went well, and it wasn’t hard to get a rush order from a blacksmith to create an armor suited for Kara. On top of getting a suit of armor made for a giant. Though, he’d have to use [Metal Manipulation] to alter it for a Werewolf.

He set off to create a simplified version of the Dwarven Trial Armor he saw earlier. Sarah had already created several weaker versions of it with [Enchantment Manipulation]. The hardest part it seemed was how the items all interacted with one another so there were no issues in wearing them together. Often items with similar effects would not stack when worn by the same person, and it was exactly what made such a set of armor so valuable.

With [Avatar Control] reaching level 4, using a combination of constant practice and Amer’s advice, his Avatar could not only do enchanting as before but could also use [Time Manipulation] on his own.

It left Rainer free to work on [Arcane Presence] with his main body, but only during lulls in the enchanting process. With the constant burden on his mind, he couldn’t wait for the day when [Avatar Control] became an afterthought.

The night plodded along and Rainer put his all in making the best possible defense for Kara.

Two weeks later, Rainer looked appraisingly at Kara as she donned the armor he made. Her [Werewolf Avatar] was covered in plate armor suited for her unique body.

Both his Enchanter classes had reached level 10, and the class skills from [Draconic Enchanter] proved especially useful. Combined with [Archon]’s +1 to all attributes, the hidden attributes were no slouches either, acting as the lynchpin in this enchanting effort.

The Werewolf’s armor had taken quite a lot of work and money to buy in the first place, then more work to adjust the plate armor with [Metal Manipulation] without compromising integrity. Money easily gained with Ele’s sales of his enchanted items. A trade welcomed by the city. It wouldn’t be long now before the idea of an Enchanter’s Guild within Neutral City would be presented, given that talks with the other messengers from the Dragon Isles were ending.

With her Werewolf form already having high attributes, pure addons were almost useless and percentages were beyond Rainer’s current abilities, so he went the draconic route, making the actual armor as strong as possible.

But all the same, he told her to sacrifice it at need. And to not hesitate for even a moment if she needed the extra speed that throwing it away would grant. He had repeated that to her several times already. Thankfully, she had a similar view of money as he did, and so assured she’d value her own life as much as possible over any item.

“Ready?” he asked. Moments before, Luna had helped him change his class to [Harbinger] once more and now sat shrunk in his overcoat.

Kara nodded before unsummoning her Avatar and placing the armor into her spatial ring, something she had gotten much quicker at. The reverse having also been practiced.

“Let’s go.”

After a blood tracking spell and a quick check with [Void Seer] on Kara’s mother, the pair disappeared through the Void and to the land of Demons.