Sitting on his bed, Alex began reviewing the enchanting information again in his mind. He wanted to make sure he had a basic understanding of it before he began to experiment.

  From what he could gather, the enchanting profession allowed him to infuse mana into things with set patterns. These patterns would imbue the item with specific properties, or allow it perform a certain function.

  So with enchanting, I could do a lot of different things, whether that’s enchanting a weapon to increase its sharpness, enchanting armor to increase durability, or enchanting a crossbow to shoot farther. I also feel I could enchant other things, with varying difficulty, such as trees, walls, and even a large area of earth. But some of these types would use a different “style” of enchanting.

  These styles could be runic or glyphic inscriptions across the area, using a large pattern similar to a magic circle, or simply imbuing mana directly into an item with a specific design, focusing it on what I need it to do with a strong intent.

  Enchanting is extremely varied. But most of those are different specializations of the profession and are things someone wouldn’t normally be able to achieve without specializing. Even though I don’t need to pick a specialty, I don’t think I’m skilled enough to do most of those things anytime soon. Maybe far, far into the future.

  So let’s start with the basics.

  Alex pulled a dagger from his [Dimensional Storage] and looked over it for a few seconds. It was a basic, low-quality blade with nothing remarkable about it.

  Dagger (Common)(★)

  This is a basic short blade of low quality.

  I don’t really know much about different dagger types, but this one looks super basic. No curve, pointed tip, T crossguard, large grip, and both sides of the blade are sharp.

  Alex moved down and sat on the cold stone floor, legs crossed, as he leaned back against the bed. He held the dagger out before him, with it lying across both his hands. Eyes closed, he reached for the [Enchanting] skill and grabbed onto it. He didn’t know how it worked for normal people who had it as a profession, but for him, it felt very much like a normal skill. So when he reached for it, it answered.

  The skill flooded him with knowledge, quickly overwhelming his mind and causing him to lose concentration. The skill slipped from his grasp.

  “Damn, okay.” Alex breathed to calm his thoughts. When the knowledge burst through his mind, it came so fast his heart rate spiked.

  “That was way too much, too fast,” he mumbled. “I need to slow it down and see if I can tease small amounts of knowledge out at a time.”

  He closed his eyes and focused again. Alex lightly reached for the skill, barely touching it, as if it were a hot plate on the stovetop. He didn’t want to get “burned”. When he grasped the skill, it tried to flood him with knowledge again, but he quickly released it before it could.

  Alex sighed. “How the hell do I do this? It keeps trying to overwhelm me.” He sat there, pondering the problem for a few minutes. Alex was always the kind of guy to talk to himself. He liked to hear his thoughts aloud, as it helped him work through things.

  “Maybe I need to do something more specific?”

  Instead of simply reaching for the [Enchanting] skill, he focused on the dagger instead. Alex then channeled some mana towards his fingertips. As he did that, he reached for the profession skill again.

  Lightly, he tried to pull out information from the skill. Doing that, while channeling mana and focusing on the dagger, proved difficult. But it was a challenge he could handle.

  This time, when the skill released information, it came with specific details, rather than just broadly bombarding him with general knowledge. It was focused and related to the item of his intent–the dagger. It was still a bit too much information for him, but manageable for now.

  The knowledge that the skill gave him was the different things that he could do to the weapon. Most seemed too complicated or above him for a first attempt, so he picked the easiest he could see.

  Alex saw knowledge related to increasing the sharpness of a bladed weapon, so he decided to try that one. It felt like one of the easier enchantments. At least he hoped.

  The skill is telling me that I need to lightly thread the mana throughout the dagger into a specific pattern. This pattern will then draw in mana, reinforcing and sharpening the edge. But only the edge. This sharpness enchant won’t increase the metal's overall durability or protect it from snapping in two.

  Let’s see if I can do this. Seems easy enough.

  While holding the [Enchanting] skill lightly, he took hold of his mana and tried to weave it into the blade as the skill told him to. Instantly, it fizzled out, causing a minor backlash to surge through his mind, forcing him to release the crafting skill.

  What the hell was that?! Alex thought as he rubbed his head with one of his hands. The pain was already dissipating, but it stung like a small bee sting, directly inside his brain.

  Is that what happens when I fail? And why did I fail, though? I did exactly as the skill showed.

  He shook his head and dove back in for attempt number two. Repeating the process, he held the dagger in his hands, lightly touched the crafting skill, and channeled his mana. The second that the mana entered the blade, it was rebuffed, and Alex was hit with a backlash again, ending the attempt.

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  Why the hell isn’t it working? This doesn’t make any damn sense. I have the crafting “profession,” and I’m doing exactly what it’s directing me to.

  Not letting frustration rise up inside him, he dove in again. A few minutes later, he had tried three more times, and every time it failed.

  Is it the weapon I’m using? Or maybe the enchantment itself? Let’s try changing them and see what happens, I guess.

  Alex pulled out a sword he still had inside his [Dimensional Storage]. It was a normal, basic sword he had taken from somewhere; he wasn’t sure where. He set the dagger off to the side and put the sword in front of him, with the blade resting on both of his hands.

  Now with the sword, he decided to try the same enchantment, sharpness. Alex went through the same steps as before. He lightly touched on the skill, focused on the sword, imagined what he needed to do, and channeled his mana. When the mana touched the sword, it started to slowly sink in, making him think it was working. But after a second, it repelled him as the dagger had, sending a quick shock through his brain.

  Why isn’t the sword working either? It felt like it started too, but was stopped a second later. I don’t understand what’s going on here. Given my skill, I should have succeeded. I don’t see any other steps involved.

  So am I doing something else wrong?

  He decided to try a different enchantment on both the dagger and sword to see if there were any differences.

  The next easiest, from what I can tell, might be a durability boost. It would simply make the items more durable and less likely to be damaged or broken. Sounds simple enough.

  Well, as simple as a magical enchantment that fundamentally changes an item would be. He chuckled to himself.

  Alex traded the sword for the dagger. Now with the dagger in hand, he sat for a moment, envisioning the durability enchantment. He had to create this mana pattern and inlay it inside the blade, which would then disperse it throughout the weapon, even the handle. It would reinforce the dagger throughout, reducing the risk of chipping or breaking.

  When he felt ready, he performed the actions and started to imbue the mana into the dagger. But Alex’s mana rebounded again instantly.

  “God damnit!” He muttered in frustration, throwing the dagger down onto the stone floor. “Why the hell isn’t this working? It doesn’t make any sense!”

  Rubbing his head from the rising headache due to all the backlash, he decided to try one more time before he took a break. Alex reached out and picked up the sword, planning to try the durability enchantment on it.

  Alright. Last try for now. Let’s do this!

  Sword resting over his palms, Alex went slowly. He focused intently on the blade, very lightly touched the crafting skill, and pulled on his mana. He did his best to keep the enchant pattern in his mind. When the mana touched the blade, it acted exactly the same as last time. The mana sank in for a second and was kicked out, forcing the small bee sting into Alex’s mind.

  Son of a bi–. Before he could finish his thoughts, Sam interrupted him.

  “Knock, knock.” He heard, before Sam walked in. “Hey, man, what’re you up to?”

  “Hey, Sam. I’m just trying to use my profession, but it’s not working worth a damn. I keep failing every attempt.”

  “Yeah? That seems weird. I haven’t gotten mine or tried one yet, but I assumed they came with instructions, since the name is literally ‘guide’.”

  “I know, right? It’s weird. As far as I can tell, I am following the instructions it’s telling me. I don’t see where I’m screwing up.”

  Sam sat down, leaning against the wall. He looked lost in thought for a moment. “Want to try explaining it to me? Maybe I’ll see something you’re missing. Couldn’t hurt.” He shrugged.

  So Alex did. He explained what he was trying to do, both enchantments and with both weapons.

  “Hmm.. so you need to draw knowledge from the skill, while pushing mana into the item, in a specific pattern. So your variables are… how much knowledge your drawing from the skill, item quality, and mana throughput? Item quality can’t really be changed much right now, and I assume you're already pulling the lowest information possible from the skill, so what about mana?”

  “Uhhh.. what do you mean? I’m just pushing my mana into the weapons. And since when are you smart?”

  “Hey, just cause I was a pothead doesn’t mean I’m dumb!” he said with a grin. “I actually enjoyed chemistry, cooking, and gardening-type things. Details matter when you're dealing with chemicals, recipes, or pesticides. You need exact measurements and instructions. But with your mana… You’re just pushing it in. Are you throttling it back, or just letting it run rampant? You might need to adjust the flow. That’s just a guess, though. I actually have to do that when I use my [Ember Veil]. The smoke-like mana takes much finer control than the fire does.”

  Alex laughed. “That’s fair. But no, I haven’t tried to change my mana flow. I hadn’t even thought of that, honestly. I assumed the crafting skill would take care of that automatically, but maybe it didn’t.”

  “Give it a shot. I’ll hang out and watch. If that doesn’t work, maybe we can come up with some other ideas, since I’m so smart and all.” Sam grinned like a fool, enjoying the moment.

  “Yeah, yeah, just hold on, Mr. Genius, I’ll give it a go.”

  “Also, do you need to pull on the crafting skill when you do it?”

  “According to the skill information, yeah. If I just try to shove mana into the weapons, without activating the skill, the System won’t count it as enchanting. It would just be throwing mana at some metal. Even if I did it with the specific patterns, they wouldn’t take hold and cause an enchant to appear on the weapon. If that was the case, I assume anyone could just mimic professions by knowing how to do it.”

  “Hmm… that’s interesting. It’ll probably be the same for my Alchemy profession when I start.”

  While Sam was lost in thought, Alex took a few breaths to relax and get back into the mindset. With the dagger laid across his palms, he reached for the crafting skill until a small thread of information came to him. When it was active, he focused his intent towards the dagger and got ready to pull on his mana. This time, when the mana started to flow, he tried to track the amount going into the dagger.

  It was a normal amount of mana to him. Alex didn’t know if it was a lot or a little. As expected, the enchantment failed, and he felt the small backlash. Quickly shaking off the head pain, Alex tried again. This time, when the mana flow came, he increased it, pumping more into the blade. He instantly regretted it.

  The dagger in his hand exploded. Metal fragments from the blade were launched in all directions, including into his flesh. Bits of the weapon were embedded in his hands, arms, and chest.

  “Shit!” He yelled out from the surprise of the small explosion and the pain. Luckily, none of the pieces hit him in the neck or head.

  “HOLY HELL!” Sam screamed, diving to the side. “What did you do?!”

  “Are you okay?” Alex asked him, wincing from the pain he was in, as he bled from multiple areas. His hands were a mess. All his fingers still existed, but they were severely cut up and bleeding profusely.

  “Uhhh… I think so. I don’t think any hit me.” He said in relief, as he patted over his body, making sure it was intact. Then he stared at the large chunks of dagger sticking out of the wall near him.

  “Damn, this hurts.” Alex was pulling metal shards out of his body. None of the pieces sank too deeply into him, and the wounds weren’t too bad, aside from the ones on his hands.

  “No shit. A dagger exploded right in front of you. Your hands look like Swiss cheese.” Sam got up, walked over to Alex, and began helping to extricate some of the metal shards. “I’ll go grab a healer real quick. Those wounds on your hands would take forever to heal, assuming you didn’t bleed out.”

  “Alright, good call.”

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