The Arcane Emperor Chapter 82 Bard of the Moonligh

Chapter 82 Bard of the Moonligh

After sending everyone into an Auto-piloted [Sleep Learning], Rainer decided to do the same for himself. It wouldn't do for his mind to be foggy in what could be enemy territory. And his [Arcane Weaving] was currently at a point where he could automate the shrinking of a ritual circle and thinning of the lines while maintaining the magic.

Everything else he had planned took much longer to accomplish. The morning came soon after, and the party went to the dungeon as usual.

"Have fun," Rainer said, as he waved off his party on their way to the dungeon. Feeling a bit like a mother sending her children off to school, he immediately stopped the waving part. He had originally thought that, after spending nearly every waking moment with his party, he'd welcome some alone time. But it didn't turn out that way.

He Void-walked back towards the lavish Inn they stayed at as he thought over his plans. Figuring out a way to vet Kara's father was a top priority, but, in the meantime, getting a better source of funds and general information about the Royal family came first.

There were few solutions to their current lack of funds. Stealing from organized crime wouldn't do. Rainer doubted he'd be able to find any - if they even existed - under the Wolf King's governance.

Public crime bosses and corrupt individuals that flaunted themselves in his previous world would never survive in a place where the King could take a stroll and wipe them out. Any sort of existing organized crime would be hidden deeper than where Rainer could find it or even protected by the law. That, or of the non-violent type, which would not be as easy for him to discern.

But there was another ready solution to their monetary problems, though one that would take more time and practice. With [Sleep Learning], he could study and learn to enchant any item to perfection. While he couldn't compare to better enchanters outright, they couldn't practice on the exact copy of an item an endless number of times as he could. No one would be more familiar with the wood or metal that made up a weapon than Rainer in [Sleep Learning] could, even if decades or centuries of experience could let them fill in that gap.

At the very least when it came to simple strengthening, he doubted anyone but the best enchanters in this world could match him with his unique sight. Add on the Mana-well and his high Willpower, and his enchanting costs were next to nothing compared to anyone else. No sane master Enchanter would waste Mana Crystals or weeks of time to enchant common clothes like the ones he bought for Lilia. It was an opening that Nalmar used and it was an opening he would use for funds. Nor would said masters even bother with enchanting something like a [Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood] as anything more than a stepping stone in their practice.

Buying clothes and selling them back for even twice the price on the guarantee they'd last far longer wouldn't be impossible. And in a city as safe as the Wolf King's capital, there would be less worry of theft. Even swords, he could likely sell for far more than twice what he bought, though he'd need to keep himself as the provider secret. Or rather buying, enchanting, and then re-selling weapons was probably a far better idea. Given the presence of the Dungeon, he'd have a decent sized market willing to buy them. But, there was a problem in that as well. It was hard to prove a strengthening enchantment. And gaining the kind of trust to sell such things would take time.

Deciding that he may as well practice weaving as he thought it over, Rainer sat on the red-colored bed that made a King-sized one look small.

A weave formed between his two hands as he tried to make a string. Finding a careful balance between flexibility and strength proved difficult. Flexibility wasn't an issue as he made it weaker and taut between his two fingers like a guitar string, but it lacked the same sort of feeling. It lacked tension. He found himself stuck between a stick or a noodle, with the in-between a difficult prospect.

After some more attempts, Rainer opted to head out into the city. Leaving the lavish white stone Inn behind, he headed down the street as various smells entered his nose. Beside the Inn, likely used by traveling merchants of wealth and n.o.bles, restaurants aplenty filled the street. Given the fragrance coming from one of them, if Rainer hadn't already satiated himself with [Arcane Invigoration], he doubted he'd have been able to hold back.

Further down the street, Rainer found what was a tailor's shop for the upper cla.s.s, denoted by a sign with it's name. He marked this place for later as he ventured those of the upper cla.s.s would love to claim their clothes as enchanted even if the enchant itself wasn't particularly impressive. He spent quite a bit of time around those types back home. It was an effective market strategy to make an item more expensive even if the product itself almost didn't change apart from some minor things not warranting the price.

Noticing a line of people seeking to enter a specific place, Rainer headed there next. Any place that could make the upper-cla.s.s suffer the indignity of waiting in line should be worthwhile. The adorned circular wooden building had two guards at the front and within he could hear a faint voice and music. The very air tinged with magic.

Ignoring the line in front, Rainer used [Void Detection] to scout out a place for himself. He appeared moments later sitting atop of a railing. His eyes instantly drawn towards the musician he heard. Rainer, of course, completely ignored that his sudden arrival caused several patrons to spill their drinks. One of which soaked a now quite angry date.

In the center stage on a circular platform, sat the attraction that called so many people of wealth here. A moment of surprise went through him as he noted her ethnicity, Asian. It was the first time he saw someone that wasn't Slavic or Nordic-looking in this world, including various kin-races, with the exception of a few who were dark-skinned.

Her ears were pointed, though not like the long ears of Fae. Shining hair of a mix of black and dark blue cascaded down her purple gown. A lute-like instrument adorned her hands as her black eyes looked out into the crowd. Her eyes themselves slightly slanted upwards and naturally narrowed across her pale face.

[Moon Elf, Female, Magic Bard lvl 14]

[t.i.tle: Bard of the Moonlight]

Each movement of her hand carried magic into the air, and every note of her voice left even the audience that Rainer disturbed entranced once more. The man himself forcibly turned off his translation skill so that he could hear the voice in it's original language.

[Skill Gained: Aldori Elvish Language lvl 1/10]

Words came with disjointed understanding, but Rainer never bothered to try and translate. He merely closed his eyes and let the magic and the elegant words wash over him. Minutes pa.s.sed unregarded and for the first time in ages, Rainer dropped any detection skills while in public. For this brief pause in time, there existed only the sweet words and the sound of the music.

Any fogginess from [Sleep Learning] seemed to wash away and in a bright moment of clear-headedness Rainer opened his eyes, now covered in [Arcane Revelation]. The enraptured audience paid such a strange sight not even a glance.

He watched the magic swirling in her body. In her hands and her voice. And finally in the instrument, as it followed its natural pathways down through even the strings. That the instrument was enchanted went almost unnoticed as an afterthought. He felt himself sink into a state of equal parts relaxation and single-minded focus. His entire being only paid attention to the notes coming his way.

The notes, that seemed to end far too soon. She finished her set and quickly made to leave. Two men of the second tier glared at a n.o.ble who stood and seemed as if he would request her to stay. He promptly returned to his seat.

In a moment of inspiration, Rainer's own power swirled as [Arcane Weaving] formed an object between his two hands. Mimicking not only the strength and texture, he mimed as well how magic would flow through the original item by making pathways in the weave. A five-stringed instrument formed in his hands under this new method.

[Arcane Weaving has reached level 9]

[Experience Gained: 0.1%]

And almost instinctively, he began to play music, infusing Arcane in the air not with his voice, but his hands and the Arcane Weave itself. With [Arcane Presence] added on, the world took on a violet hue.

A brief look of shock pa.s.sed through said Elf's eyes as she glanced at the man sitting on the railings. Even as she lost herself for a brief moment as their eyes met, she noticed the words he mouthed.

She moved back to the center stage and joined him in playing. Rainer felt the music once more, and instead opted to follow her lead. Smiling lightly to herself, she started altering the song and switching between paces in not only the music but her magic itself. Rainer couldn't match her in sheer skill of music, nor did he try to. Instead, he wielded his magic to follow along with hers, matching that every step of way.

With a final quiet strum, both musicians ended their playing.

Rainer glanced at her a moment longer before mouthing 'thank you'. Just before he left, he noticed not only his messages, but two men who appeared to be her guards talking to her and clearing a way for her out of the place. After confirming they were friendly, and in fact her guards by viewing their conversation with [Void Seer], he disappeared.

[t.i.tle Gained: Bard]

[Experience Gained: 0.1%, 0.1%]

[t.i.tle Gained: Bard of Magic]

[Experience Gained: 0.1%, 4%]

[t.i.tle Gained: Bard of the Arcane Arts]

[Experience Gained: 0.1%, 11%]

[t.i.tle Gained: Weaver of Arcane Sound]

[Experience Gained: 0.1%, 14%]

Standing in a alley outside of the place he just left, Rainer let out a long breath and stared at the guitar in his hands. After a moment of reflection he let it dissipate. There was still some work to be done on the guitar, as it relied far too heavily on his magical a.s.sistance, but he was happy with it thus far.

"Perhaps for Arcane Weaved ritual circles it's not just matching the actual magic flowing through the blood, but also matching the inherent pathways that magic follows that exists in the blood. To recreate a weave that is closest to the blood in substance. Even if the result is the same…" Rainer mumbled to himself as he walked on.

Within the Dungeon, Kara and Gunthar watched on as Sarah and Luna took care of the next wave of monsters. Gunthar had stayed behind at Kara's request as she talked about her recently gained skill to deflect magic. They stood in the center of the white stoned arena. Near them was a pedestal with a enchanted plate they could press down to call the next wave early.

"Interesting...and you believe it is because of the magic within your enchantments rather than just the nature of the Aura shield itself?"

Kara nodded as Gunthar sank into thought for a bit longer. The topic had actually brought up something else he had been considering about Kara.

"Have you ever tried to use your Aura pools separately when you have both available to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Such as...while hiding as a Wolfkin, you suppress your Aura and your presence. Now normally you'd need a bit of time to recover after hiding your Aura before you could use it, making it not as useful in ambushes or sneak attacks. But what if you suppressed it while hiding as a Wolfkin but then-"

"Brought out my Demon half?" Kara questioned excitedly.

"I believe it's worth a try, little Wolf," Gunthar added. He was truly curious as to whether this would work. Several other thoughts swirled in his head on that subject.

Kara began focusing inwards as Gunthar shifted his attention on guarding Lilia and Tiamat.

Rainer left yet another high-cla.s.s tailor shop. He searched for the common market prices and general ideas of parts of clothing to enchant. The only problem was that a large part of their orders were custom-made, and only smaller pieces being readily available. But he had come across another idea after he saw a older plump lady covered in gaudy jewelry.

He could take the most common product of Nalmar's Enchanting production, [The Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood], and try to enchant and sell jewelry to stores. He didn't have confidence in the current him mastering the full enchantment, but doing something that had at least +1 Const.i.tution or otherwise, he had some a.s.surance in. Especially since he had a full guide for creating the Nalmar Ring along with an actual example he could view with [Arcane Revelation].

Rainer spent the rest of the time, while the party was clearing the dungeon, walking around the city and popping into random places that hosted musicians. He cloaked himself as to be less noticeable when he used [Arcane Revelation] and also wore a mask, an extra one that Gunthar currently wasn't using. Though, he guessed that his face lighting up with violet due to the cloak wasn't exactly inconspicuous. But, so long as it hid his ident.i.ty, he didn't particularly mind.

Not only did he practice [Arcane Weaving], creating a better and better guitar, but he did the same in trying to use the harmony method he saw last night from the Wolfkin street performer, though with no success thus far. But his Arcane skills still made him sound far beyond his current level. The stunned silence followed by clapping was a pleasant backdrop to his practice. Not that the audience knew he could hear them. He would immediately Void-walk out of the place as soon as he finished playing any set.

Towards the end of the night, and when he guessed his party would be done with their dungeon runs soon, he headed to different parts of town to find some cheaper jewelry to buy just to get started. He ended up choosing a place somewhere in the middle, eventually settling on an emerald necklace made of silver colored metal.

"Who's the lucky miss?" The aged Wolfkin managing the store said with a sly grin. She had been pretty unreserved about nudging Rainer as she guided him to different places around the store.

"We'll see. She may be closer than you think," He added with a grin of his own, enjoying the discount he got for playing along with her harmless flirting. Is this why women like shopping for jewelry? He wondered to himself.

"Now you got her all riled up," Her husband of the same race mumbled in the background.

She waved him off with a chuckle as Rainer took the packaged necklace with him.

Now waiting in an alley by the Dungeon entrance, Rainer moved away from prying eyes and stared at the necklace with [Arcane Revelation]. He marked every single nook and cranny of it and even released his Mana similar to how he did when inspecting his now sunken ship and made sure there wasn't any trace of it left unseen.

With a notification from Gunthar he vanished from the alley, going to pick them up and see any results.

"So? What does [Enchanted Blood] do?" Rainer asked Sarah as he was in Lilia's and Sarah's shared room preparing a bath. She had bought the new skill after reaching level 21 with [Manaborne]. Though, she was still undecided about what to do with her attribute points. Her unlocked attribute was Enchant Control but she wasn't sure if it was worth increasing the attribute just yet seeing as it was already 23 from her years of training with [Enchanted Flesh]. Rainer himself ventured there may be a strong synergy effect if she instead raised Strength or Dexterity.

Kara, Tiamat, and Luna were here too, accepting her earlier idea of 'girl time' once Rainer was done making the bath.

Well fine, me and Gunthar will do something that will make you all jealous...

He had retorted in his mind when Sarah had suggested it and they had all accepted. Well, it was hard to say if Tiamat accepted it.

But in reality, Rainer wouldn't be able to leave the hallway on account of Gunthar needing to stand guard with [Soul Detection]. Perhaps he'd teach Gunthar to play chess? Rainer thought. After all, he wasn't particularly knowledgeable about it apart from knowing the rules, and his Intelligence would only let him think of more moves rather than necessarily the correct one. Reminding himself to make a chess set with [Arcane Weaving], he returned his attention back to Sarah..

"I'm… not sure what [Enchanted Blood] really does yet. I'd have to do some tests, but I just sort of feel all-around better?"

"Stronger?"

"No. Like more healthy."

"Might have some applications for ritual magic, We can test it out some in [Sleep Learning]."

"Maybe, can't say I'd really like to cut myself frequently. I'll play around with the skill myself first."

"Why'd you change your cla.s.s by the way?" Apparently after getting the last skill point, she had opted to become an [Runic Brawler].

"It's probably going to be my first tier 2 cla.s.s, but [Manaborne] right now isn't that useful to me. It's just a bit more than 100 extra Mana. Not a big deal to me."

Rainer nodded, the gain from Yazir pushed her Mana pool over 500 even without that cla.s.s. It was of course a situation that wouldn't be easy to replicate, but nonetheless she didn't need the mana provided by the [Manaborne] cla.s.s. Her current skills didn't require much with her [True Mana Affinity] and [Manaborne] Talents and she wasn't much of a spell caster.

"Well, all done. You girls can enjoy yourselves,"

"We will, thank you," Kara said, kissing him, "And we'll still have fun later," She practically purred into his ear.

"Eww, get a room. But for now, just get out of the room."

"What? No thank you from my little sister?"

"Thank you for getting out of the room."

Rainer chuckled as he started weaving a chess set on the way out. The thought of selling this idea or maybe certain books for money went through him, but he decided his current idea with jewelry not only would significantly improve his skills but be profitable. He knew he wouldn't feel comfortable doing something that didn't have a benefit for his overall strength, which made enchanting for profit the perfect idea.

And it wasn't as if he had much of anything else to do during the day.

In the White Void of [Sleep Learning], Rainer focused on minimizing the Arcane Weaved Ritual Circle. Off to the side, the rest of the party focused on their usual tasks, though Kara now demonstrated and explained the skills for the various enchants for Sarah. Rainer had added a new one to Sarah last night, the 'Strength of Giants.

Luna offered to be Rainer's experimental subject this time. Though, he guessed it was more of her being bored and she'd likely go on Auto-pilot shortly after. Once they were done with dungeon delving, he should really find something for them to enjoy in the city.

He watched with [Arcane Revelation] the sleeping ritual circle painted in blood on her forehead, this time noting not just how the magic flowed, but also the pathways it flowed through.

"Luna is getting sleepy, sleepy," She hummed over and over again as Rainer then used a bit of Arcane-water to splash her.

"Hey! Interrupting my song...Rainer is playing a dangerous game," The fairy mumbled as he wiped the blood from her forehead with a towel. Luna, of course, ignored how pleasant the warm towel felt and how much she enjoyed it during her declaration of revenge.

"Alright, that's it for now."

Luna went away humming again, though now the song had a far different message.

"Vengeance, vengeance, Luna will have her vengeance,"

Rainer felt himself shiver for a moment. It wasn't the song itself, as its later pa.s.sages sounded quite silly. Rather, it was her burning various things created in [Sleep Learning] while singing it.

He refocused on miniaturizing the Arcane Woven circle on the ground. With the new method, he found it easier to form the weave itself with the viscosity of blood. All that was left was to properly do the details and then finally see if the woven ritual circle worked on a person the same way the blood one did for sleeping.

Hours pa.s.sed and it seemed he'd need another night. So, Rainer now decided to work on enchanting once again. He recreated the necklace in [Sleep Learning] and continued his earlier process of inspecting every nook and cranny. At times he used a bit too much Mana while figuring out its pathways and ended up damaging it.

Taking out a copy of both the book on the subject and the [Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood] itself, he prepared to start the enchanting. He switched between the two, with his [Arcane Revelation] covered eyes. Even with the huge advantage [Arcane Revelation] provided, he would need more time to begin work on this type of enchantment.

And so, [Sleep Learning] gradually came to a close.

In the morning, Rainer decided to share his idea of selling enchantments with the rest of the party. While they lacked any real experience in the enchanting aspect, he realized he might be overlooking something when it came to selling them.

"Buying from cheaper shops and then selling to rich ones isn't a bad idea, but I believe making them yourself would be the best option," Sarah started.

"How so?"

"Well if your goal is to sca...sell to n.o.bles and the upper-cla.s.s, then isn't having a distinctive brand the most important thing? I mean, how many things back home are really outdated, c.r.a.ppy, and all-around grossly overpriced. And yet just as grossly successful because of branding?"

"So I'd need a partner then?" No matter how much faith Rainer had in his own abilities, he didn't think he could learn to become a jewelcrafter, which likely required blacksmithing depending on the process, in a short period of time. At least not to a standard that was worth it, unless he had a way to do so with magic. Even then, with his target audience, it needed to be visually appealing.

"Can't you learn something like [Metal Manipulation]?" Kara asked. Him learning any sort of skill at its first level was just a given for her.

Rainer paused as he recalled the underground metal city he ran into in the past as he fled thousands of Devils and their Kings. Even with modern technology, the shape and architecture of those structures should have been impossible. Even moreso, since they appeared to come from only a single piece of metal with no marks of welding or otherwise.

He went through his memories, but he didn't find a single spell relating to metal. He decided he might as well go visit Laneth and Amer in the Fae Realm and see if they had any knowledge of it.

"While you're in the dungeon, I think I'll head over to the Fae Realm then. Learning a manipulation skill without a spell as the base, well... I don't doubt it's possible, as that's one of my theories for how runes were discovered in the first place, but the time frame is likely too narrow for me."

"Oh, bring back some of those swirling red and orange colored berries. Those were the best," Sarah asked. She had been able to enjoy Fae-Mana type foods unlike any normal person who would just find them tasteless.

"On that subject, can you enchant me some blades?" Kara chimed in, "These just have a strengthening enchant on them," She said taking the blade out of her storage Body Enchantment.

"Yeah, I'm learning how to add the attributes that are on the [Ring of the Nalmar Knighthood], so once I make some progress we can go shopping for some blades to enchant together," Rainer added, before he suddenly realized that blade shopping would be far different, or rather worse, than before. A sense of dread came over him, but seeing Kara's tail moving back and forth he couldn't backtrack his words that he'd go shopping with her. Also, certain materials were more conducive to enchantment than others, something that would be difficult for Kara to figure out on her own. Rainer had little choice in the matter.

"Sorcerer, perhaps having different degrees of your necklaces as well? I know a big part of our trade was intentionally selling worse products first."

Rainer nodded, "I'll think on it. Let's go to the Dungeon then."

After sending his party off, Rainer used the [Soul Trace] to check on both Amer and Prince Laneth before visiting. Using [Void Seer] on Amer, he then immediately turned it off now rubbing his eyes as if hoping for the image to disappear from his brain.

He had of course considered such a use for the Avatar Ritual. It was hard not to, given that he was with more than one woman as well. But he didn't need to see an old Devil demonstrating it on a single Fae.

d.a.m.n Mana-lovers…didn't they stay away from physical affection?

Rainer muttered in his head. He had no one to blame either. The usage of [Void Seer] was his choice, but it still made him irrationally angry at the Fae and their attraction habits. He cautiously checked on Laneth next. Fortunately, Laneth maintained his usual morning habit of training.

After [Void-walking] several times to leave the city where him tearing s.p.a.ce wouldn't be sensed, Rainer started ripping up the way to Laneth as he called Arcane from beyond. He focused as he tried to sense his way forward through the disruption of the magic of the Dragon Isles, but having only himself to worry about and prior practice jumping to Aurora, he managed just fine. And so, he vanished through the Void.

"It's a pleasant day as always, huh," Rainer said, enjoying the jump in Laneth as he spun around, sword in hand.

"Rainer? It's good to see you," Laneth responded in-between breaths.

"And you."

After some catching up, Laneth organized a meeting between him and one of the Seeker's Circle higher-ups. She was happy to come to his call. Along the way, she brought the current progress they made transforming their tier 5 spell, [Maelstrom] into tier 6 hoping for his opinion.

"So how might I a.s.sist you [Archon]?" The neon green-haired Fae asked.

"I was wondering if you had any magic at all relating to metal?"

The Seeker's Circle mage sat in thought. She knew very well it'd be hard to ask him for help after failing his request, so she called to her two apprentices who came with her to go and search the records while the two sat in the meeting room not far from the main library.

"Ah, I do believe I remember one. I do not think there are any others," Halay suddenly thought, of course, forgetting about her apprentices still fervently searching, "It was for finding deposits of Gold," She said as she started writing it down on a piece of paper she created.

"Looks like I - and the Order owe you a debt," He said, just now remembering the role he had here. It's good the Fairy in front of him seemed too distracted to wonder why his order would need such a simple metal spell.

"Actually…" Halay said with shining blue eyes to those words.

Rainer returned to Prince Laneth's mansion a bit later, but not particularly in good spirits. The metal detection he received didn't seem to have what he was looking for. Rather than specifically searching for metal it seemed instead to use the earth around it to find the metal. It was essentially just an earth spell. Though, he admitted he did enjoy dissecting their work on the tier 5 spell afterwards. His creation of [Absolute Frost] from both [Frozen Sun] and the still unlearned [Deliverance] gave him an insight into spells that tried to draw more power and offer more ways to manipulate that power. Essentially, it made him knowledgeable on the gap between tier 5 and tier 6 spells of ma.s.s destruction.

Out in the courtyard, Laneth was still training and Amer's real body sat at a table under the veranda, likely drinking some form of alcohol as usual. If he wasn't a centuries old Devil from another plane of existence, Rainer might have been slightly worried at how much he drank.

"[Archon], it's good to see you. I see you were looking for a place to travel through the Void rather than just being a voyeur," He added with a sharp-toothed grin. His teeth literally far too sharp. He chuckled at Rainer's pained groan.

"I think I'll be sticking to Void movement through Laneth…And before you make another crack at me, you should know teleporting to the Dragon Isles is probably next to impossible. So if you still want to go the Dungeon meet less than a year from now…" Rainer jokingly warned. As if he would give up having this Devil in his party for that.

"Do not pretend not to need me," Amer grinned, "What did you come here to achieve, anyways?"

Rainer explained his need for crafting metal and his desire to learn some form of [Metal Manipulation].

"Like the Ashen Dwarves…"

"You know who built that city in the mountain?" Rainer asked. Amer was partially responsible for surrounding him in there.

"An almost extinct race that p.i.s.sed off the Void-Lords one too many times. It was ancient history. Only living ones are either in the hands of the said Lords, or hiding with the Elementals."

Rainer frowned for a brief moment, reminded that Talvara was most certainly not always the teasing and good person she appeared. Or rather that she wasn't a person at all. Merely pretending to be one. Perhaps it was unfair to judge her by human morals.

"So you don't know any Metal Magic?" Rainer asked, getting back to the topic at hand.

"No I…"

"Metal Magic?" Laneth interrupted.

"Yes. Anything would do."

"You know, I wasn't originally planning on truly competing in the Dungeon meet…"

"You're welcome of course. No need for the veiled blackmail," Rainer grinned. He thought over for a brief moment who exactly he would already have with him, a.s.suming he truly decided to enter the Dungeon. Amer and possibly his Avatar, Kara if she reached the second tier in time, perhaps Gunthar as well given the unclear nature of his advancements, Mira, the powerful Aura using Fae he first enchanted, and now Laneth. A total of six out of fifteen, or seven if Amer was going all in without a safety net.

"But life's more fun with blackmail."

"Undoubtedly."

"I'll show you the spell then," Laneth said as Rainer then covered his eyes with [Arcane Revelation].

As usual, Rainer deeply admired the countless and headache inducing Runes that appeared in a Fae's body whenever they magically constructed anything. He wasn't anywhere near borrowing that racial ability any time soon. A pillar looking like wood rose from the ground.

"Watch carefully," Laneth said while switching his usual sword with an unenchanted one from a weapon rack nearby.

He stood still, sword still in sheath. With an explosive movement, but without moving his feet, Laneth slashed forward, barely nicking the wooden pillar. He resheathed his sword and did it again without moving any differently. At least physically.

Rainer marveled as, for a brief instant, he saw magic covering the blade, distorting and lengthening it so the sword could cut the pillar.

"I learned it quite a while ago from a Magic Swordsman in the South. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with enchanted weapons too well. Either the enchantment is strong enough to resist the spell, or the spell breaks the enchantment.

"It's exactly what I need. Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"I could also use your advice on something else, Amer."

The devil nodded for Rainer to go ahead.

"It's something that might interest you too," Rainer said and with a moment of concentration started drawing across the table with [Arcane Weaving].

"The sleeping ritual circle?" Amer asked curiously.

Rainer nodded, and then after finishing it in it's entirety, activated it.

"That...the feeling was just like a ritual circle activating...though a bit off. Have you tried this on an actual target?"

"Not yet. I can't make it small enough to fit that criteria yet."

Amer rubbed his beard and tentacles in thought, but as for now had nothing else to say on this.

"An unfair existence you are, as always…"