Chương 183: Chapter 181 – Re-Enchanting.

"Now then… what shall I start out with first? Any advice?" Rusty stood in front of his makeshift forge in the basement of his home. The fire was unlit, and the room was dim, but as a living armor monster, he did not care. The only two sources of light were his two guides, who were hovering around his head.

"If you ask me, my dear Rusty, how about first getting this rundown excuse for a lair in order?"

"Run down?" Rusty recoiled, his helm turning toward the walls of his lair. The place was cracked, the ceiling sagged in places, and his forge was little more than a pile of scavenged stone rather than a true craftsman's workshop. Still, it was his lair and his smithy.

"Yes, run down." Aburdon said with a sneer.

"You expect to draw customers here? To lure them into this dark pit? Ha! You need refinement. A place that dazzles them the moment they step through the door. Bright banners, rich scents of enchanted metal, and perhaps a few good-looking servants as well."

"Banners and servants?" Rusty was baffled by the response. The home he had bought was at the edge of the slums, near the gate leading out toward the dungeon. It looked more like a shelter for the homeless, yet Aburdon seemed to want to turn it into a luxurious inn. Before Aburdon could continue, Alexander cut in.

"Servants and dazzling banners? Are you trying to get us killed? And where would we even get the money for that? What we need is the opposite. We cannot afford to draw too much attention. The last thing we need is curious nobles, guild inspectors, or thieves poking around. We should start small, build up our reputation slowly, and see how it goes." There was some truth there, but once Alexander continued, Rusty wasn't sure if he was that happy about his plan.

"We need to start with a modest smithy, ordinary work like horseshoes, nails, and kitchen knives. Then, slowly, build a reputation. Patience is the key."

"Hah, kitchen knives? Why not have Rusty pick up pottery instead?" Aburdon started laughing at the proposition, yet Rusty wasn't opposed to the idea.

"Kitchen knives aren't a bad idea, actually." Rusty muttered.

"Everyone needs them for cutting up monster parts and they don't cost as much as daggers!" Alexander's glow pulsed warmly in a sign of approval.

"Exactly. If people see you as just another hardworking craftsman, they won't suspect anything."

"Yes but I'm not making any horseshoes or nails…" While Rusty was not completely opposed to the idea of making knives, he had no intention of becoming someone who crafted household items. His system enhanced the forging of weaponry and allowed him to copy them, with the only limitation being SP and essential resources such as metal. The system did not permit him to copy everything, and pottery was one of the restricted items.

"Yes, yes, let our Rusty waste his time forging horseshoes and nails. What an idiotic idea. If you wish to be respected, Rusty, you must shock and awe!" Aburdon had started monologuing again, and Rusty had already begun ignoring him. His forge was nearly ready, but he first needed to visit the Soul Forge once more since the cooldown had ended. While Aburdon and Alexander continued to argue about how he should begin his smithy, Rusty simply accessed the forge again.

"Did anything change?" A shimmer swept across his vision, and he found himself back inside the Soul Forge. Everything looked the same, yet he sensed that something was different. As he searched the area, he noticed it. The hourglass that measured the time he could remain inside was not as it had been before. It was slightly larger.

"So that must mean!" The last time he had been here, he was not allowed to stay for long. Now, with the hourglass larger and more sand within it, he could assume the time limit had been extended.

"It must be because my level has increased. I wonder if something else will happen if I raise it further." There were many things he still did not know about this miniature version of the Soul Forge. One limitation was that he could not visit other places, such as the library or the summoning area where he had once received rewards.

Now that changes were beginning to occur, he wondered if eventually all restrictions surrounding the Soul Forge would be lifted and if it would no longer be a space he could access only during evolution.

"That would be great…" Rusty spoke again, though no one could hear him. This version of the Soul Forge lacked his two guides, and for some reason, he could not summon them. Perhaps that, too, would become available later, but for now, he decided to focus on work.

"Well then, first I have to take care of this thing." From within his inventory, he materialized a halberd. It was the same one he had used in the dungeon against the monsters formed from mining equipment. The lesser lightning enchantment on it had proven to be powerful, but it had been completely used up during only one dungeon run. That would become a serious problem if he could not repair it.

"I need to restore the enchantment, otherwise I will not be able to progress." Rusty knew that only a small number of blacksmiths in this world could handle enchantments, mostly because of the skill requirements. A blacksmith needed the ability to develop mana sense, a rare talent. While there were ways to obtain it, from what he knew they were costly for humanoids. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Fortunately, he fulfilled that requirement and had already enchanted a few items on his own. Now he needed only to restore the magical pathways and reawaken the mana within the metal. The main reason the halberd had lost its enchantment was that the mana inside the metal had been drained.

"This process should be easier than forging new enchanted steel." After placing the halberd on a workbench, Rusty rummaged through the forge to find mana crystals. When crafting an enchanted weapon, he first had to ensure the material could contain mana and then carve the magic circles into it. Those circles were dormant now, waiting to be reawakened. For this, he would not need his engraving skills. Instead, he would use a process called mana re-infusion. Mana re-infusion was a delicate task.

If the flow was uneven, the weapon's engravings could fracture, leaving it unstable or, worse, volatile. Rusty placed the mana crystal into the Soul Forge's crucible, watching as its hardened edges began to shimmer, then soften, until the stone bled into a glowing azure solution. Once in this liquified state, it was ready to awaken the sleeping energies within the weapon.

"Now the conductive bath." There was a reason he had waited until he was inside the Soul Forge rather than working within his own workshop. Restoring an enchantment could be done in several ways. Some methods required nothing more than a craftsman with a specialized skill in mana manipulation. Others, like the one he planned to use now, relied on a special mana-conductive solution available to him here. He could eventually obtain it in the real world, but it was costly.

The solution looked deceptively ordinary, faintly translucent like water. Once he poured it into the basin, however, it began to warp the light in strange ways. When he lowered the halberd into it, the reaction started. The etched pathways of the enchantments gave off a faint glow. That glow signaled the weapon was ready to accept the pure mana from the melted crystal. In some cases, weapons would show no reaction at all, which meant mana reinfusion would be impossible unless the metal itself was replaced.

"Good, now the hard part." Rusty needed to concentrate now. After the melted mana crystals mixed into the solution, they would saturate it with magical energy. The metal of the halberd would begin absorbing this mana on its own, but that was not enough. He needed to use his mana manipulation skill to direct the flow into the proper places and focus on the sections where the enchantments had been etched. In situations like this, his metal body proved useful.

A humanoid craftsman would have to keep their distance from the smoldering hot solution, but for him it posed no problem. His body was made of enchanted steel, which allowed him to keep holding the weapon throughout the procedure. He could even guide the mana by palming the weapon directly, which made the process both easier and faster. He called upon his mana sense, allowing the lines of power to come into focus. The engravings along the weapon's surface pulsed faintly, like dormant veins waiting to be filled.

The key was not to force mana inside but to maintain control. If he poured it in too aggressively, the enchantment could rupture, and if he gave too little, the result would be weaker than before. Rusty concentrated, and the solution shimmered as the mana swirled around the weapon. Slowly, he pressed the liquid mana into the halberd's spell channels. The engravings sparked briefly, then light spread across the patterns carved into the surface.

At this point, he no longer needed to hold the shaft, yet he kept his hands in the solution a little longer. Only when enough mana had settled into the enchantment did he finally lean back.

"There, that should do it. Success." The process did not take long, only about ten minutes. Although he had practiced this procedure during his last evolution, this was his first real attempt with something important on the line. He had two properly enchanted weapons, but this one was the stronger of the two. The fire enchantment he had placed on a poleaxe was bound to inferior metal, and for the time being, he had no way of transferring enchantments, even with the help of his system.

When the process was complete, it was time to examine his work. A normal blacksmith would have used heavy tongs to pull out weapons that radiated so much mana, but Rusty simply leaned in and took hold of it with his metal hand. Once withdrawn, a faint glow lingered across the halberd's surface. The magical circles pulsed like a heartbeat before slowly dimming. He lifted it, droplets from the solution falling to the ground.

After using his identification skill to confirm that the enchantment had been restored, he nodded with satisfaction and set the weapon back on his workbench.

"Good, that went well, and it did not even take that long. What should I spend the rest of the time on?" Rusty had limited time inside the soul forge. During his last visit, he had created mana-enriched steel to aid in producing enchanted weaponry, but he had lacked the knowledge of what enchantments to place upon them. Now that he was here again, he wondered if he had enough time to improve some of the weapon models. There was also something he wanted to confirm.

He had been unable to copy the enchantments he obtained from the summoning chamber. In theory, he possessed all the necessary materials, such as mana conducting steel and mana crystals, yet the system would not allow it. There was one exception. He had successfully copied his own enchantments, as proven when he recreated Gleam's armor, which carried his light-element and dark-element enchantments.

If this were possible, then perhaps he could attempt one of the simpler enchantments, such as one that sharpened a weapon. If so, it was likely the system would permit it.

"But what enchantment would be best?" Time was running short, and he needed to decide. He was not limited to weapon enchantments since he could also apply them to armor and shields. One option created a barrier of mana around equipment, while another increased the weight of a weapon, making it especially effective for maces and hammers. Others enhanced durability and functioned as passive effects.

Some even increased stats, although those required a medium, a special item that could channel the effect once melted into the metal or attached to the weapon itself.

"I don't have any mediums, though. That leaves only regular enchantments…" He glanced at the hourglass, and after a few seconds passed he finally made a decision. His choice was not driven by the desire to make himself stronger but rather by the new blacksmithing store he had in mind. He had spent time exploring the city, studying his competition, and observing other adventurers. These people would become his customers, and most of them relied on a limited set of enchantments.

The most popular among them was the 'Lesser Durability Enhancement'. Many assumed that the most valuable enchantments were those that increased sharpness or added elemental damage to weapons, but this was not the case. Adventurers needed equipment that would last and not fail in the middle of battle. For that reason, durability was their highest priority. The enchantment worked by reinforcing weapons, armor, or tools, allowing them to withstand wear, damage, and the strain of combat or exploration.

It was inexpensive, required only common materials, and proved useful not just for beginners but also for seasoned adventurers.

"Yeah, that will be perfect. If I have enough time, I might even add an impact enchantment to my mace or a lesser aegis enchantment to my shield." With that thought in mind, he began his work. For some reason, the weapon most adventurers preferred was the longsword. To him, a being made of metal and resistant to slashing, such a weapon was far from ideal. Even so, he had to provide what the market demanded. He drew out a sword forged of mana-infused steel and prepared himself.

"Let's place these here…" To aid his task, he unrolled a large parchment he had brought from the real world. It held the diagram of the magic circle for the Lesser Durability Enhancement. The design had been created with the help of his two guides and stolen from one of the blacksmithing stores. Once the parchment was pinned to the wall with nails, he set to work. Using his mana sense, he studied the diagram and traced the proper sequence of lines, focusing on the flow of energy.

"Alright… this shouldn't be too hard." He steeled himself and picked up the engraving chisel, a tool designed for etching mana channels. The hourglass continued to drain, each falling grain reminding him of the limited time he had. He steadied his grip, pressed the tip of the chisel to the steel, and began to carve. Sparks of pale blue mana flickered with every stroke, the faint glow marking each line he inscribed.

Slowly and with care, he worked his way across the blade, tracing the intricate circles that would form the foundation of the enchantment. This was the proper start of his journey as an enchanter, and he would not fail.