Austin’s face felt cold as he started to regain consciousness. The cold feeling was accompanied by a sensation of pins and needles poking at his face. As he opened his eyes, he felt slightly lightheaded. For a moment, he felt confused and unaware of his surroundings. Once he started to gain his awareness, he noticed a crusty feeling around his mouth. Drool had covered his mouth and dried. With the sleeve of his uniform, he wiped the drool off and began to stand. As he stood, he felt weakness in his legs. Weakness might not have been the correct word for the sensation that Austin felt. It was more like Austin could barely feel his legs. He almost fell over, but he was able to catch himself on a tree. He leaned against the tree for a moment as he tried to regain his feeling in his legs.
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It took Austin a moment to become aware of his surroundings. While he could see everything around him, it was like his mind did not process anything he looked at. His mind was more focused on regaining consciousness and strength. It was like his mind was trying to regain balance in a current that constantly threw it off.
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Austin did not even notice when Artas approached him until he was right in front of him and began to speak, “How are you feeling?”
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It took a moment for Austin to process Artas’s words. Once he did, he responded, “I guess I feel weird. My body feels really weak.” The words came out with a little pain as Austin’s throat felt dry and scratchy.
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“Most people feel a little weak after ascending to Copper,” Artas explained. “There is a bit of a backlash from the process. You just had more of a backlash than I expected.”
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“Why is that?” Austin coughed.
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“The backlash comes from the influx of power of Copper,” Artas explained further. “Your body needs to adjust to it. Most people get just enough power to make it to Copper. So, the adjusting process is not too intense. The power that went through your body brought you to around the level of a mid-level Copper. Right now, you are sort of suffering from being too successful.”
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“I don’t feel like I’m at that level of strength,” Austin commented with frustration.
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“Well, yeah, your body is getting used to it. Most people don’t even pass out when they reach Copper,” Artas replied. “Once your body acclimates, you will see how much stronger you have become.”
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Austin pushed himself away from the tree as he felt strength return to his legs. His balance was still a little unsteady, but he could at least use his legs. He swayed back and forth as he tried to keep his balance.
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“Okay, so what am I supposed to do while I am recovering?” Austin asked.
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“Rest, eat some food, read a book,” Artas listed off. “I don’t know how much you’ll retain, but you were excited to learn alchemy and enchantment, right? Well, you can start familiarizing yourself with it.”
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“I guess that’s true,” Austin said. “It would be nice to learn some about it. How long do you think this will take?”
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“I anticipate about a day to get back to full strength,” Artas replied. “We are still ahead of schedule. If you want, you can return to your family after you recover.”
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“I think I would like to,” Austin nodded. “While I know I can fit in more study time here. I am ready to see them again.”
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“I thought so. That works for me,” Artas smiled gently. “I can’t blame a father for wanting to see his family.”
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“Thank you for your understanding…master,” the last word came out quietly. Austin did not fully know how he felt about having a master, still. But he knew that he appreciated everything that Artas had done for him. “I am incredibly grateful for everything you have done.”
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“That’s the first time you have called me master,” Artas pointed out. “I’m guessing that means after seeing results, you finally accept me.”
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“You could say that,” Austin said. “I guess I was not sure how I felt about our arrangement until now.”
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“Understandable, understandable,” Artas nodded. “But I also have to ask. Why are you acting like we will never see each other again?”
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“Well, after today we won’t, right?” Austin responded with confusion.
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“I don’t know what made you think that,” Artas said. “I don’t just get my students to Copper and never contact them again. I wouldn’t be much of a teacher if I did that.”
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“How am I supposed to see you again?” Austin asked. “After the Survival Game, I won’t have any way to connect to your shrine.”
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Artas let out an exaggerated sigh, as if he were disappointed. “I wanted to wait to give you all your gifts before you left. But I guess I’ll spoil one of them now.”
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Artas reached into his pocket and pulled out a wooden medallion on a string. On closer inspection, it could be seen that the string was actually thin, flexible wood that banded together. On the face of the medallion was the symbol of a fist. Artas handed the medallion over to Austin. When he did, Austin immediately noticed that there were characters inscribed on the back of the medallion.
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“This medallion marks you as my student. On the back, you will find characters that form several enchantments,” Artas explained. “The first enchantment allows you to never lose it. The medallion will always find its way back to you, no matter what. The next enchantment will allow us to have limited communication with each other after you leave. The final enchantment will allow you to return to my domain. You won’t be able to just do it at any time, but it does give you that connection.”
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“Whoa,” Austin’s eyes lit up as he pulled the medallion over his head to wear it like a necklace. “This is amazing.”
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“Yes, these medallions are some of my finest work. The amount of effort I had to put into getting the enchantments just right was tremendous,” Artas said. “So please treat it with respect.”
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“I will, thank you so much!” Austin bowed his head slightly. Austin had forgotten about the weakness in his body and almost lost his balance as he bowed.
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Artas caught Austin before he lost his balance and said, “Careful, you are still recovering. Why don’t you sit down?”
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Austin nodded and let Artas assist him back to the ground. His excitement over the medallion made Austin completely forget about the weakness in his body. Luckily, he knew that he just needed to rest over the next day and was not too disappointed that he had to sit down. He had made great progress and now just had to wait to see the results of his training.
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“So there are more things?” Austin asked as he looked up to Artas from the ground.
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Artas put a finger over his lips and said, “Shhh, those are for later. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”
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“Fine,” Austin huffed like a disappointed child. Austin’s face was not that different from Elliot’s when he was upset.
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“All in due time,” Artas smiled. “Now let me get you some books on alchemy and enchantments. Then I’ll prepare you something to eat. After that experience, you must be starving.”
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“That sounds really nice,” Austin replied.
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“Just sit tight then,” Artas said as he walked away.
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Artas returned with two large books. Each book was the fundamentals of alchemy and enchantment. Austin looked at the two books with excitement. The idea of using Essence to create various items filled Austin with curiosity. He decided to grab the book on enchantment and start reading it before he dove into alchemy. The storage ability alone made Austin think about how useful enchantment was and made him gravitate towards it over alchemy. He did want to learn both at some point, but he knew that he had to start somewhere.
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Austin found himself overwhelmed by just the fundamentals of enchantment. He thought that maybe it was due to the state of his body affecting his mind, but he also thought that it may be due to the subject matter just being plain difficult. The characters for enchantments were a specific set that had to be combined to form enchantments. The best way that Austin could understand it was that it was like creating a formula. The enchanter needed to understand how the characters came together to make specific enchantments. There were several example enchantments that gave a blueprint of how a formula was set up, but it still seemed incredibly complex.
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Creating a formula that interacted well was just the start of enchantment. An enchanter also needed to experiment with the right amount of Essence to imbue into the formula. Too much Essence could cause a major backlash. While too little could make it so nothing happened at all. Austin found it interesting that the characters needed to be written very precisely as well. The handwriting behind the character needed to be exact, or it would not be recognized for the enchantment.
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Austin soon came to realize how amazing the medallion from Artas was. It not only required very specific formulas to produce the intended effects, but enchanting an object with multiple enchantments was incredibly difficult. Because of the way that the characters of an enchantment interact, multiple effects needed to be done in a manner that did not accidentally create a new enchantment from the interaction. It required a good deal of knowledge and precision to accomplish.
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Austin reached underneath his shirt to pull the medallion out. As he flipped the medallion over, Austin ran his fingers across the various characters that made up the enchantments. He barely had any understanding as to what the characters meant, but he still felt awe as to the way Artas weaved them together. The medallion was a true masterwork of craftsmanship.
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“I told you that it took a lot of work,” Artas commented as he walked towards Austin with a plate of food.
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“Huh?” Austin uttered in shock as Artas interrupted his focus on the medallion.
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“I could tell that you were thinking about the enchantments I placed on that medallion,” Artas said as he knelt down and placed the plate next to Austin.
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“Yeah, the book made me understand how complicated enchantments can be,” Austin said. “I did not realize how much knowledge and understanding were required to do it.”
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“Yes, it does. Many Essence users don’t even attempt to learn. They would rather brute force their way to becoming more powerful than take the time to learn a valuable and useful skill,” Artas said. “But that makes enchanting all the more valuable. An Essence user will pay a lot for good enchantments.”
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“Pay a lot?” Austin asked before he took a bite of his food. He did not realize until that moment how hungry he actually was.
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“Did you think that people stopped trading just because of Essence?” Artas laughed. “Quite the opposite, actually. The various resources for Essence improvement start gathering as a means of trade. This means that a good enchanter could gain those resources more easily.”
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“So even more reason for me to learn how,” Austin nodded. “That’s good to know. It seems cool, like a combination of a math problem and a puzzle.”
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“I’m glad you think so,” Artas said. “I think it takes some passion to pursue enchantment and alchemy. Otherwise, a person may grow frustrated with it. I do recommend looking over the alchemy book, too.”
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“Oh, I definitely will,” Austin smiled. “I’m excited to see what that is about, too.”
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“Good, I’ll leave you to your studying then,” Artas said. “I’ll be back later to grab your plate.”
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Austin nodded in recognition before Artas walked away. He already started back into reading the book as he absentmindedly ate his food. His mind was completely transfixed on learning that he barely registered the food. It was almost as if he only ate the food to keep his hands and mouth occupied as he focused on studying.
