Chapter 62: As Easy as Turning a Hand
A Simple Experiment
Wenger rummaged through her belongings. She had items worth trying. For instance, a stone like creamy jade—or perhaps a milk candy. The church warehouse held more. Its touch was cool, its elemental nature unclear. Truthfully, she couldn’t pin it down.
Since this was a simple test, she wouldn’t waste high-tier materials. She’d try first. In a private room, she prepared and focused. A wooden sword, steeped in mana particles, lay before her. The jade stone was wrapped in gentle mana. Concentrating her mental energy, she closed her eyes. The world appeared hazy yet vivid.
Objects weren’t solid but dense, free-flowing elements—light clusters of different colors. She urged them closer, tighter. The elemental glow vanished. Yet, she sensed their faint vibrations, elusive to mental probing. Her mana extended her perception, touching the active essence again. The jade emitted soft light, but she felt it was mere appearance, not its core.
The Essence of Enchanting
Beneath the mixed four elements, she gazed at a shadowy mass. Though “black,” it radiated pure power. What would enchanting yield? She pressed the elements onto the sword’s surface. Enchanting required reordering elemental structures. Without experience, she couldn’t predict the combinations’ effects. For now, she relied on instinct.
Following her thoughts, she mimicked church runes from magic circles and symbols from Reila’s Enchanter’s Notes, proceeding cautiously. Enchanting demanded patience—a meticulous task. Fortunately, as a transcendent, she could handle it. Immersion made time slip away unnoticed. Fixing the last element, she exhaled. The sword’s appearance hadn’t changed. Touching it, the jade’s physical shell dissolved.
A chime sounded. [Enchanting Lv.0: 0/100] Effects would show at the next level—likely boosting the skill. How many repetitions to level up? Was the enchantment active, or half-done? She couldn’t tell. Identifying attributes might require leveling [Enchanting] first. Or perhaps learning an appraisal skill.
Testing the Results
She swung the sword a few times—no change. Probing again, it felt like the two merged. Wasn’t that just amplification? Yet, it added [Enchanting] experience. It wouldn’t have activated otherwise. Perhaps it was no different from a peachwood sword. The church’s holy light would fall where the blade pointed.
It felt simple—was she a prodigy? Storing the sword, she greeted Fenrod and prepared to leave. A child, George, stopped her, offering a pumpkin pie wrapped in oak leaves. “George?” “You remember me!” “My memory’s sharp,” she smiled, taking one pie and encouraging him. “Study hard.” “I will!”
The Harvest Festival
The Harvest Festival was in full swing. How nice. A child’s gift warmed her heart. With nothing pressing, she could join the evening festivities, sipping barley juice. Village food, partly her influence, had improved, but she preferred cooking herself. At a banquet, though, she wouldn’t play chef.
Munching the pie, she headed to the village. No specific goal—just checking the school’s progress. The new schoolhouse was built; she wondered if it was in use. Strolling past last night’s bonfire, she saw a girl circling it. “Wenger-sister!” “Hm? You know me?” She paused, patting the girl’s head as she approached.
“Mom talks about you—a kind, white-haired sister in the village.” “Your mom?” “She’s in the fields. I’m playing for a bit.” “Not studying?” The girl shook her head. Puzzled, Wenger probed with a touch, guessing she was too young.
A Visit to the School
“Want to see the school with me?” “That big new house!” The girl spread her arms wide. “I wanna go!” Hand in hand, they walked west along the river. “What’s your name?” “Qian!” Wenger didn’t love kids—she found them annoying at times. Yet, seeing them felt like living anew. Children carried shadows of the past, bearing hopes for the future.
The schoolhouse’s glass was high quality. From nearly a kilometer, she saw classroom scenes. Some unfamiliar teachers, not village natives by their accents. One in a tiered lecture hall glanced out, as if sensing something. Surprised, Wenger withdrew her mental probe. That angle couldn’t spot her, but detecting her probe was possible. Unlikely, though—she was a fourth-tier transcendent. Instinct might explain it.
A Curious Child
She led Qian into the campus. The grounds were bare—understandable, as planting hadn’t started. It looked stark. They paused at each classroom, sneaking peeks at the students’ focus. At the last room, she asked Qian if she wanted to study. Frowning, the girl thought hard, then said she liked the big lecture hall.
Kids rarely grasped “learning”—she was likely curious about the room. Before college, Wenger studied in cramped classrooms. Even at university, new rooms didn’t spark interest. She simply didn’t care for studying. The lecture hall discussed The Four Elements Theory. Qian, interested? Unlikely. Still, she slipped with Qian through the back door. The teacher noticed but said nothing.