I quickly return to camp clutching the crystal as if I feared someone might try to steal it. I place it on a rat skin and pick up the new tools I made earlier and begin to slowly shape the crystal. First, I carve out the general shape and remove much of the excess material.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Gem Cutting skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Gem Cutting
- Level 2
- Intelligence +2.
- You can make rough gems.
Then, I carefully split it in half to have two identical pieces. Next comes the slow process of removing the small pieces and smoothing out the shape. I know the hardest part will be getting the blade perfect, I want it to be sharp but not brittle. As I plan each stroke of the chisel, I notice that all the little bits and slivers of glass are still glowing.
I thought only the large pieces would emit light, but it turns out I'm wrong. I may have to play with those pieces later just to see, but for now I have to concentrate, they have to be perfect. I finally figure it out and stop working long enough to go to the forge room, as I'm going to spend hours chiseling one slab at a time.
Once in the forge room, I concentrate fully on what I'm doing, taking care that each slab I'm removing is exactly the size and shape I want to remove. It's a long and painstaking process, but I spend time and effort to make it as perfect as possible.
"ITEM CREATED"
√ Solar crystal scimitar.
- Hit +2 Damage +4 Piercing +1
- Durability 25/25
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Gem Cutting skill has advanced to level 3!
√ Gem Cutting
√ Level 3
- Intelligence +3.
- You can make rough gems.
Okay, the durability is very low. It was to be expected, but if I can figure out how to enchant it, it should improve. Now, for the second one, I set aside the completed one and start repeating the process with the second one.
It takes me four hours to complete the second scimitar. I double check every inch of them to make sure I haven't skipped any points and that the balance is identical. Then I sit in my meditation posture with them in my lap and sink into the inner world.
Unlike normal, instead of looking inward, I look at the swords with my inner sight. What I find are dozens of motes of light inside each crystal sword. Now I have no idea how the enchantment is normally done, so I hope I can do something similar to how I modify the inside of my body.
So I concentrate on the motes of light and try to move one, once I can move it, I move it to where the blade meets the hilt. Then I move the next one, and the next one after that. I keep doing this for hours until all the motes of light are in the same place.
As I move the last speck into place, they all merge and form a little ball, like a miniature nucleus, which is what I was hoping for when I started this. Maybe I should have asked Ruby if she knew how the enchantment is made, or I could have examined one of the enchanted weapons I already have. But since when do I let common sense stop me once I have an idea?
Since I've already started, I might as well finish the process and see what happens. I then create a mana channel inside the sword to supply it with mana and then create mana veins that run all the way through the sword. This is much easier than creating them inside my body, as I can let the veins follow the crystalline structure.
√ Blue Fire Ray
√ Level 1
- MP cost 25
- You launch a bolt of blue fire that deals 50 points of fire damage.
I stare in shock at the wall where a one foot by one foot section is currently flowing down the wall like molten rock. That's much more intense than I expected and I didn't expect my spell to evolve, but I guess I've answered my own question about whether physics can be applied to magic. Now I guess all that's left is to try to see if I can infuse the spell into the core of the sword.
I set one sword aside and pick up the other with my left hand. It feels a little weird because the hilt is too small for my hand, but I can manage for now. Then I extend my left hand with my index finger pointing forward and cast my new fire beam spell. The blue marble-sized spell appears just beyond my index claw and I concentrate on holding it there.
Then I go into inner world meditation and concentrate until I can see the core of the sword and the blue fire beam.
I give all my willpower to move the blue fire beam toward the sword and merge it with the core. There is a blinding flash that brings me out of my meditation and I find myself lying on my back looking up at the ceiling of the cave.
I slowly sit up and look at the sword lying in front of me, where once it was a clear crystal emitting yellow light, now it appears that the scimitar is made of sapphire and small blue flames play steadily up and down the blade.
'Observe!'
"Magic object."
√ Blue fire crystal scimitar.
- Hit +5 Damage +20 Perforation +5
- Durability 250/250
'Hahahaha, it worked, it really worked the way I wanted it to, this is awesome!'
Although I don't think I'll tell Ruby how close I came to blowing myself up, I quickly check that I have enough mana left and grab the second sword to repeat the process. It works exactly the same way as the first time and the two swords look identical.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Enchantment skill has advanced to level 3!
√ Enchanting
√ Level 3
- Intelligence +6 Physical +3 Enchantment +3
- You can enchant objects.
'Perfect!'
Now, for the finishing touches, I first wrap the hilt of each with a strip of leather to give it a better grip, then make a set of sheaths for the scimitars. Once they are ready, I sheathe the scimitars and wait a minute to make sure the swords don't burn the sheaths. Then I hid
e both swords behind the forge, out of sight, and return to the cave outside. I reach out and touch the amulet.
"Ruby, are you done sulking yet?"