James woke slowly, as one does on those blessed mornings when one has slept well and woken naturally, without disturbance. Eyes still closed, he stretched, then sat up and stretched again, before rubbing his eyes and taking in his surroundings.

A dim cavern.

An ever present soft breeze.

A primitive campsite and open air smithy.

The remains of a monster, yet to be cleaned up.

The warding stakes, and the magical energy flowing between them.

With a rush of adrenaline James shot to his feet and scanned around the gloomy cavern-

Nothing. No changes, no monsters.

James breathed a sigh of relief and feeling peckish, decided to have breakfast for once. He reached for his cup and-

[Material Identification: Aqua Magia]

Oh, right, James thought. I haven't made any other cups or things.

Putting the cup down, James treated himself to some dried meat instead, and drank water from the wall with his hands. Good enough.

Today was the day! James couldn't help but feel excited, even in his perilous circumstances and objective material poverty (although poverty, as always, is relative based on how deprived the subject feels). For all that had happened, for all that had gone wrong since the morning he had chosen his Classes, for all that he had thought he would never get a chance to enchant anything, today there was nothing to stop him.

He had the tools. He had the materials. He was in a safe (ish) place. Nobody was there to stop him. To James, the conditions were perfect.

He set up his materials on a flat rock in one of the least dim spots within his campsite. He had a tiny scoop to transfer the Earth Crystal dust (the forging of which he had expected to be frustrating, given how small and thin it was, and in fact it had been even more frustrating than expected, yet he had accomplished it, managing to [Appraise] as a Tiny Scoop of Very Low Quality and minimal durability). He had his Earth Crystal dust. He had his brush, made with fur from the mole monster. He had his war hammer, design already etched. And, feeling the mana inside himself, he had the mana sitting heavily ready to be warmed up and used.

With a deep breath and a grin on his face, the Smith began his first Enchantment.

Carefully, he scooped the Earth Crystal dust out of the mortar, and deposited it into the etchings on the face of the warhammer. Oh so carefully he smoothed out the dust, filling the entire etching bit by bit and tamping the dust down into the impressions in the metal, until the dust filled the etching perfectly, the face of the hammer now as flat as it had been without the etchings.

Let's remind ourselves, dear readers, that this was a hammer of Very Low quality.

Eventually, having used about half of the Earth Crystal dust, the etching was completely filled with dust. The Smith continued to fuss about with the dust, ensuring it was just right, for some time. Once finished, he sat up, and then he remembered the breeze. He froze, observing the dust carefully, but strangely the dust wasn't moving at all. James almost breathed a sigh of relief before clamping a hand over his mouth and nose.

Not yet! Finish the enchantment, then relax!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Breathing carefully, the Smith now took his brush in hand, and dipped it in his cup of Aqua Magia-

It came up dry.

Puzzled for a time, eventually James tried warming up the mana inside himself like he had the night before, but didn't try to push it. This time, when he dipped the brush into the Aqua Magia, he felt a movement, a more or less automatic flow, down his arm, through his fingers and into the brush, and from there into the bristles which were now taking up the Aqua Magia. Awed by the magic and relieved that now the Aqua Magia was doing what he wanted it to do, he carefully started applying the Aqua Magia to the etched face of his war hammer. With careful, dexterous brushes, he applied an even coat to the hammer.

Unlike water, which would have naturally spread out evenly upon application due to its own surface tension, Aqua Magia was more like paint, content to lie where it had been applied, except when it didn't. James noticed that it would pile up in some places, needing to be brushed down, and avoid certain places, needing a little more brushing until it stuck and stayed put. He squinted, trying to see what was going on-

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Substrate Analysis] has reached level 2.

Aha! The previous day, James had tried to get all the Earth essence to pool in the center of the hammer's head, but apparently he hadn't managed it perfectly. There were a few stray wisps, oh so tiny little streaks, left scattered throughout the hammer.

James thought back to Meridox. He had commented on the undine essence in the sword, but he hadn't said anything as he had been applying the Aqua Magia. He just applied it with firm, confident strokes, and set about enchanting. Deciding he wasn't going to solve the mystery right now, James chalked it up to a difference of experience and returned to his work. He nearly had an even coat applied when, as he dipped his brush back into the cup, he found it empty.

He looked down into the cup. Somehow he had managed to use the entire cup of Aqua Magia, and he wasn't even done yet! Carefully, but as quickly as he could, he put some more Pure Water in the cup and turned it into Aqua Magia. This proved sufficient, and he managed to get as perfect a layer of Aqua Magia on the etched face of the hammer head as he could. At least, it looked even under the dim light of the glowshrooms.

Finally, finally, James put his tools down and raised his hands above enchantment, just as he had seen Meridox do with the sword.

He could feel it. Without proper training, without guidance, having only seen a single enchantment before in his life, he could feel the enchantment before him, ready to be fixed, needing mana. James tapped into the mana in his body and visualized smelting it, preparing to move it, heating it up as hot as he could with his will. Then, he willed the mana to flow into the enchantment.

But there was no flash like when Meridox had done it. The hammer glowed instead, starting off dim and brightening over time as James continued to pour in mana. He felt his mana slowly filling the etchings, filling the earth crystal dust, changing it, mixing with the Aqua Magia, settling into the Brown Iron that made up the hammer, changing it at a fundamental level.

James found himself breathing deeply. In and out. He naturally settled into a rhythm while maintaining his mental focus on his mana. It wasn't like with forging, where each swing of the hammer was a distinct movement from each other swing of the hammer, where one could reset and catch one's breath. This was like maintaining a tight grip on his hammer, a continuous effort. He squeezed, and continued to squeeze, forcing his slow, heavy mana into the glowing hammer. Beads of sweat broke out on James' head. His thin shirt and pants clung to his body, sodden with sweat. Still, James maintained his grip. The hammer continued to glow brighter and brighter, and then James saw it. The little bits of essence blocking his mana from enchanting the iron. With a mighty push, James forced them aside with his mana, affixing the pattern of the enchantment according to the template and his own slight modifications…

That last push did it. The war hammer glowed as bright as the sword had that day in the past, and then it was done. The hammer no longer glowed. James, trembling, fell back onto his sitting stone and could barely remain sitting after the exertion. He had thought that using mana was purely a mental exercise, given the slender frames of all the mages he had ever seen (just the one, in an adventuring party passing through his village, and then the slaves in the mining camp). Clearly, he was wrong.

It was at this point that the Smith became convinced that the use of magic required a trained physical body, a belief he maintained for the rest of his life. Research on the link between physical stamina and the ability to use magic has repeatedly failed to find such a relationship, but physical stamina, at least, has been shown not to impede the use of magic, and is beneficial for health in other important aspects. But no amount of physical stamina is enough to overcome the ill effects of mana depletion entirely.

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Basic Elemental Enchanting] has reached level 2.

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Aqua Magia] has reached level 2.

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Mana Manipulation] has reached level 2.

[Synergy] Skill [Efficient Crafting (Smithing and Enchanting)] has reached level 2.

The Smith, having caught his breath while letting the intrusive thoughts flow through him, leaned forward and examined his work.

[Appraisal: Brown Iron War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 15/15, Enchanted]

[Enchanter] Class Skill [Appraisal] has been acquired.

[Synergy] Skill [Appraisal] has been acquired.

[Appraisal: Earth War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 15/15, Enchantment: Heavy Blow (10)]

The Smith's very first enchantment was a success.

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