I wake up to the smell of breakfast, so I figure it is time to get moving. I go to the bathroom to wash up before heading downstairs. When I look in the mirror though, I was surprised by the face looking back. Zan had told me that my appearance would be based on the appearance I had during character creation, and the unique beginning didn’t affect appearance. At that time I had short brown hair and eyes, with a smattering of freckles across my nose and cheeks, but now I have black hair and one pale green eye and one weird eye and no blemishes. It reminds me of Zan’s eyes with the swirling colors, but mine only swirls with silver, gold, and the same pale green as my other eye. In fact, aside from the awesome swirly eye, I could pass as Albert’s brother. Maybe it’s a homunculus thing? I push it aside for the moment and head downstairs.
Albert is already sitting at the table eating when I walk in and points me at another plate.
Albert: Eat up. We got a lot to cover and some tests to run, so it would be best if we started early.
I sit down and focus on eating, shoveling the eggs and potatoes into my mouth. After clearing the table, Albert pulls out a ring and sets it in front of my chair.
Albert: Alright, it is time to teach you about your ability. The artifact I took the ability from was called the Grimoire of Enchantments, a legendary artifact that could consume enchantments and then reapply them to its user at will. I have no idea where Lord Endos found this and I don’t think I ever will. I know that the ability was successfully integrated into your body, but there were some complications that lead me to believe that something about the ability itself changed during the transfer. So, more tests! First, that ring is a ring of minor strength, an uncommon magical item. Go ahead and pick it up.
I move to pick up the ring, but as soon as I touch it I get 2 windows.
Me: Albert? I just identified the enchantment.
Albert: Good, so that works as intended. The Grimoire was able to automatically identify enchantments for its user, which is a huge boon to any non-magical adventurer. Normally in order to identify enchantments, you have to use it and see if you notice a difference and hope it isn’t cursed. Alternatively you could find a wizard to use an identify spell on it, and hope he doesn’t lie to you.
Me: Yeah, this is going to be convenient.
Albert: I figured it would be. Now, onto absorbing the enchantment. With the Grimoire, the user would touch the grimoire to an enchanted object and say “Absorb Enchantment,” although I think in your case you can just use a mental command. The enchantment would then be added as a page in the grimoire for future use. However, I think this part may be different since, obviously, you aren’t a book.
Well, let’s try it and see. I focus on the ring.
Then the ring crumbled to dust.
Me: It worked, I got a strength boost enchantment and I unlocked a new system magic called Enchantment Management.
Albert: Excellent! Oh, and that was normal for the ring to be destroyed like that, so remember that when you consider absorbing an enchantment. I was a little worried about how to manage the enchantments, but since it is system magic it should be quick and easy once you fiddle with it a bit. Go ahead and open it up and tell me what options it has.
Of course I use the “additional information” command on everything.
This. Is. Awesome. I am almost drooling over these enchantments now. Oh, right, I’m supposed to be talking to Albert.
Me: Sorry, it’s just that this is so powerful. I zoned out a bit.
He laughs at me.
Albert: It’s alright, I understand, and it should be powerful. It is a legendary artifact after all.
Me: So it appears that I can have up to 10 enchantments active at a time, and that there is room for me to upgrade the enchantments I have, although it didn’t say how.
Albert: Fascinating! The Grimoire was only able to do one at a time so that is a powerful change. In regards to upgrading, that was a function of the original Grimoire as well. In order to do that, you would need to absorb the same enchant multiple times. I just so happen to have another one of those rings.
He smirks at the last part and pulls another identical ring from his pocket.
I take it and absorb that one too.
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Me: Alright, it boosted the power of the increase, although it wasn’t doubled.
Albert: The categories that the system magic uses actually cover a range of potencies. So the fact that the rings weren’t equal isn’t too surprising. Some academics actually break the categories down even further into low, mid, and high for each category, but most people just use the normal 7 categories.
He pulls out 2 more rings, a dagger, and an amulet and puts them on my side of the table. I frown at him.
Me: Where are you pulling these things from?! Were you really walking around with a dagger in your pocket?
He laughs at the look on my face.
Albert: Haha! No, I have a bag of holding hidden in my pocket that I’m pulling them out of. The bag is also something you will be absorbing, but I don’t really know how it will work so we are saving it for closer to the end. Go ahead and absorb all of these.
Woah! I can make sets!? This is going to be wicked. I can just see myself fighting and switching from a speed set to a strength set to a caster set. This is so powerful. I’m going to have to make sure I think about how all of these abilities mesh together before I go to sleep tonight. Right now I should be focusing on Albert’s testing and training.
Albert: So, you should have gained enchantments with slight increases for speed, damage, and health regeneration, as well as the night vision enchantment.
Me: Yeah, except the health regeneration is low. Wait, are enchantments arcane?
Albert: Yes, they are based on pure mana structures, which would be arcane. It is simply the effects that can be something else.
Me: That explains it. When I absorbed the first enchantment, I gained a trait called Arcane Vitality which increases the arcane healing I receive.
Albert: If only you weren’t the last. All of this is simply astounding, and I would love to look further into it. Perhaps…hmmm. Maybe later. Well, it is time for the last two enchantments. The bag of holding, which is a rare magic item, and an artifact. Here is the bag, go ahead and absorb it, I’ll go grab the artifact.
He lays the bag on the table and leaves towards the stairs. I go ahead and grab the bag and absorb it.
Hmm, well that was…informative. I go ahead and pull up the enchantment manager and use additional information on the dimensional pocket.
(A.N. an asterisk means that it is not a stat modifying enchantment.)
Oh look, I have an inventory. I guess everyone else is going to be trying to pick up bags of holding as fast as possible since the game doesn’t have an inventory system. Albert comes back into the room carrying two swords that appear to be identical.
Albert: Alright, this one is the artifact, the other one is an exact replica of the sword minus the enchantment since you will be destroying the artifact. Now, this artifact is of a type called greater training weapons, it is sentient, and its name is Autumn’s Song. Training weapons are weapons that are imbued with a weapon master’s skills, and are, as the name says, train a person in the use of a weapon. The weapons imprint the moves and forms onto its user, and when the user trains with it, it becomes heavier the more poorly a user performs the moves. This trains both the strength to wield the weapon and the skills to use it effectively. However, there are limits. If you are trying to learn a different set of forms with the same weapon, it will become incredibly heavy, preventing you from training. In addition, the weapon is limited to whatever skills and skill limit the weapon master gave it. This is where a greater training weapon comes into play. These weapons aren’t imbued with a weapon master’s skills, they ARE weapon masters themselves. A greater training weapon can both learn and teach, causing their value to dramatically increase as they age. Aside from this one, I only know of 3 other greater weapons in the world, although I’m sure there are more. Be careful when you absorb this one, I don’t know how its sentience will affect its absorption.
He hands me the sword and I look it over before I absorb it. It looks like a Japanese katana, with a black handle and a red and orange wrapping. The tsuba (the guard on a katana) looks like a swirling breeze carrying falling leaves. The sheath is just a simple lacquered deep red wood, with a tassel made of intertwined red, orange, and gold threads.
Wow, this is scary. I think I am going to rebind it, since I'm not too sure about my ability to contest the soul of a legendary artifact. As soon as I choose that, the world goes black.