Origin Seeker

Since it was still morning when they talked, Dream decided to talk to Graff and go to that enchanter.

He entered the study and found Graff at a table, scribbling on some pages and reading the tablet. Graff also sensed him and turned to him.

"Dream! More forging?" (Graff)

"Not really. I actually came here for a favor."

"What might that be?"

Graff sat up and faced Dream.

"I was wondering if you knew anybody proficient at enchanting items. I was hoping to learn enchanting and even if they couldn't directly teach me, I could at least watch or maybe get some pointers."

"Hmm, I do know some enchanters. I worked with plenty while developing my communication wires. I'll introduce you to one. He might be willing to teach you. If not, I'll grab a book or two for you. When did you want to?"

"Anytime. I was hoping maybe today if you weren't busy."

"Sure. I needed to get outside anyway. Let me get ready and I'll meet you in the living room."

The two left the study and Dream left Graff to get ready. 10 minutes later, they were walking out the door.

They hit the streets and Graff led Dream towards the busier areas. They passed by many shops and businesses. Many people walked the streets every which way. The morning seemed to be a busy time, like rush hour in the cities on Earth.

Graff never stopped at any of the buildings, even though it seemed to be a heavily commercial area. They kept walking until they reached a much more desolate area. Dream saw hardly anyone walking in the streets. And any carriages he saw were completely covered up as if hiding something. It seemed to be a sketchier place. 

"What is this place?"

"This place is where a lot of the underground operates. Things that aren't illegal, but aren't something regular people want to see in the commercial areas. It is by no means less popular though. Gambling, black market trading, auctions, slave trade, drug production, all kinds of things that have plenty of customers."

"And the enchanter lives here?"

"He does. As do many craftsmen. In this place, much larger amounts of money are moved, which means the people who come here are far from poor or low class. So the higher level craftsmen do business here because the buyers are almost always wealthier. Low-level craftsmen stick to the commercial areas doing basic business with common people."

"I see. You said there's slave-trading here? That's legal?"

"Of course. Though the slaves are most commonly nonhuman. There's also monster taming, which lets people buy monsters as pets or hunting companions after they've been made obedient."

"How do they keep the slaves and monsters under control?"

"Magic. There are contract bindings that you can engrave on people and monsters which makes it so that they can't do anything you don't want them to, like turn on their masters. Though the process is very complicated. All I know is that contracts are made using magical script, similar to enchantments."

"Magical script?"

"The enchanter will tell you about it."

"Ok."

Dream left it at that while also expanding his senses to take a look around. He reached into the buildings with his mana, looking at what was inside.

He found that a lot of buildings were isolated, not letting anyone peek. But others weren't, and he quickly found out why.

He actually saw some slave houses. When he looked, he could see many different species sitting in rooms, tied up, or sitting out on display. He wondered why the buildings weren't isolated, but figured that powerful people would do the same as him and be looking. So it was like an advertisement. Why would you hide your merchandise from people who wanted to see?

Dream wasn't sure how to feel. Did he believe it was a good thing? No. But this wasn't Earth. He wasn't about to go and abolish slavery. Not only that, but this world ran on the laws of the jungle. The strong won, and the weak bent to their will. That's how it was. 

Though one thing he was interested in was the pets. He had been wondering if there was monster domestication, and now he knew. Depending on the pet, he wouldn't mind getting one. Whether it was for fighting or just to have one. The girls would enjoy it as well.

"We're here."

Dream snapped out of it and looked at the building in front of him. It was a two-story shop. Not that big, but not small. Rather basic.

Dream followed Graff and walked inside the place.

The first floor looked like a small lobby. Some chairs were set out and there was a desk, with a doorway to a room in the back.

Graff walked over to the desk, ringing a bell put there for service.

*Ding*

"Coming!"

A girl looking around 20 soon came walking out.

"Hello! How can I help you?"

"Hi. My name is Graff. I'm here to see Eddie."

"The enchanter is busy right now. Do you have an order?"

"No. I'm here to see him. I happen to be a friend of his. Go down there and tell him that Graff is here. If you don't want to, I'll go myself."

"N-No, that's ok. I'll go tell him."

The girl quickly left seeing how Graff really would go back there and disappeared into the back room. A minute later, they heard a voice.

"What?! Well don't make him wait up there! Graff! Get down here!"

Graff smiled and walked into the back room. They saw a staircase leading underground and followed it, arriving in another room.

"Graff! How's my favorite engineer been?"

A fat man who Dream assumed to be the enchanter greeted Graff.

"I've been doing fine. How's my favorite enchanter been doing?"

"Haha, living life as always! Come, sit."

The enchanter led them to a table and sat down. The girl let herself out and headed upstairs.

"It's been a while. What brings you to my humble sanctuary? Another project perhaps?"

"Not today. I actually have this here kid with me. Dream, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is Dream."

"Nice to meet you." (Dream)

Dream put out his hand, which Eddie promptly shook.

"Nice to meet you as well, Dream. I've never seen any young people other than his kids hanging with Graff. So, I'm guessing you coming by has to do with this one. Looking for an enchantment?" (Eddie)

"Well, not exactly. You see, this kid is looking to learn how to enchant."

"..."

Eddie went quiet after he heard that. Graff explained.

"I know its rude, but hear me out. I'm not asking you to take him as an apprentice or anything. He's learned blacksmithing and got curious about enchanting. What I was looking to ask is if you could let him watch you or maybe even give him a basic lesson. Just so he could get a glimpse as to what enchanting is."

"...Well, I know you wouldn't bring him here and ask this if he were some random kid off the streets. *sigh* Alright, I guess I can teach him a thing or two. Consider it a favor."

"Thanks Eddie. And don't worry, I got some big projects coming up that I'll want you there for."

"How big?"

"Bigger than the wires."

"Really?! What the hell have you been doing?"

"It actually has to do with this him. But that's something for another time. For now, just know that this is a very smart kid who's adding one more thing to his list of skills."

"Hmm... Well, enchanting isn't so easy. Come, I was actually beginning an order. We'll start by showing you how it goes."

Eddie waved them over and walked to another table. On it was a longsword and some paper.

"So, the first step in enchanting an object is writing out the script. Do you know what script is?"

"I do not." (Dream)

"Script is basically a set of instructions. Depending on the enchantment, there can be a lot of script or only a little. Either way, you need to write out the entire script before you begin. This is the most important part since if there are any imperfections or the language is messed up, the whole thing can go to shit." 

"There's a language for scripts?"

"There is. If you were to go to a school, that would be the first thing they teach you. Now, after you've gotten the script written, then comes the enchantment. But know this, everybody can write a script, but not everybody can enchant. The reason why is due to the process. To enchant, you need to first isolate the object. This means that you need to seal the existing mana that it's filled with inside of itself. Second, you need to break a hole in the seal, sending your own mana inside. Next, you need to engrave the script.

Engraving the script takes precise mana control. This is why not everyone can enchant. To engrave, you need to form your mana into the actual script you wrote. This must be entirely done in one sitting since if you stop, the mana will lose control and dissipate. But if you've successfully engraved it, you then move on to the hardening. The hardening involves freezing the mana inside the object. From that point on the enchantment is permanent. Lastly, you remove the seal on the object. Any questions?"

"..."

Dream took everything in for a second. First, he needed the script, then isolate the object, then engrave it, then harden it. It sounded simple enough. 

"Do you have the language?"

"I do. Hang on."

Eddie turned to a bookshelf on one of the walls. He looked through the books before grabbing a thick one.

"This book holds the language. It is not for you to keep. These books are not only expensive but uncommon. I've had this since my days at the school."

"..."

As Eddie spoke, Sophia had already scanned the book cover to cover. Dream flipped through the pages as information popped up in his head.

'It's like somebody took a runic language and made it cursive. Seriously, what the hell is this crap?'

[This is so much more complicated than it needs to be. It literally is an entire language. It's got letters, how to connect letters, which words do what, all that stuff.]

'Well here's what I'm confused about. Since when does mana follow a certain language?'

[It doesn't. What I believe this to be is an organization method. A way for people to precisely guide their Will and have it do certain things. Without it, they would get confused and mixed up. In fact, this is almost exactly like a programming language. Think about it. Computers think in 1's and 0's. But we can't read that. So we give it a language to follow. It's like that but with souls, Will, and mana.]

'Interesting. But since I have you, I won't need to follow any language. It'll just be my Will.'

[Yup. But we definitely need to see how the engraving is done. We can also try it ourselves, but seeing someone do it will be good.]

'Agreed.'

Dream turned his attention outside.

"This language is rather complicated." (Dream)

"It is, but if you want to learn enchanting its the first step. Don't be intimidated though. It mainly involves memorization. Once you've seen it all, then you just have to put pieces together."

"Alright. The engraving process seems interesting as well. Do you mind if I see it?"

"Well, it's not something you can exactly see. Remember how you need to isolate it? Well, you need good mana senses to see through that. Are your senses good?"

"They aren't bad. Go ahead and enchant. I'll see if I get anything."

"Very well. Pay close attention."

Eddie grabbed the paper full of script and went over to the sword. He set the paper down and put his hands on the sword, channeling his mana into it.

[He has A level mana. Likely a class 3.]

'Are you able to see inside?'

[I am. Here's a visual.]

Dream saw his mana vision come on. After he did, he could see Eddie's mana flowing into the sword. Though the isolation barrier stopped any external mana from naturally flowing into the sword, it didn't have much effect against mana trying to get in.

Eddie's mana pooled into the sword. Dream was surprised by how much he put into it. It was a pretty massive amount, being a couple times his own total mana. After that, It then began to form the letters of the script one by one inside the pool of mana. Dream could see each letter almost solidify in the mana. It seemed to be a pretty slow process.

It took almost 15 minutes for Eddie to engrave the whole script, which took up 70% of the space inside the sword. When it was all engraved, Dream then saw the mana flow inside the sword stop. Everything within the sword became stagnant. Usually, the mana was like a liquid. But now it seemed solid like the sword it was inside of.

After that, Eddie undid the isolation, completing the enchantment. 

"*sigh* Alright. You see any of that?" (Eddie)

"I saw some of it. I think I understand now."

"That's good. So all you would need to do is learn the language and practice engraving. Graff will probably be able to find you a book on the market somewhere."

"Ok. So what does that sword do now?"

"This sword will be able to channel fire mana as well as cast spells. The person who ordered this is a high-level 2nd class. He's going to come later today to pick this up."

"Very cool. But why would he need to channel mana through it? Why not just cast it yourself?"

"Because then he can more easily use it in conjunction with his swordplay. He can slash and produce a blade of fire at the same time. Or maybe even heat up the blade. There are many applications for this enchantment."

"I see."

Dream nodded in half understanding and half scrutiny. He understood the concept, but knew that the wielder lacked proficiency in his skills in order to need something like this.

"So, there's nothing more I can really teach you until you learn the language. If you really are serious about learning enchanting, I recommend a school. Everything you need would be found there."

"Alright. Thank you for the lesson. It was very valuable information." (Dream)

"Sure. Well then, I need to focus on recovering my mana." (Eddie)

"We'll get out of your way. Thank you again, Eddie. I'll be sure to contact you soon with news on my projects." (Graff)

"Please do! I'll be waiting."

With that, Graff and Dream walked out of the shop. Graff turned to Dream after they exited.

"So?" (Graff)

"I'll have to try it myself, but it doesn't look hard at all. All it is is giving instructions to a pool of mana inside an object."

"Only you could say something like that. But it's good you understood it. Now, since we're here, I actually have some things I'd like to get. It'll take a while, so I won't drag you around with me. However, here's some money. You can go around to anywhere that interests you, maybe get some things."

"Oh..."

Graff handed Dream a sack and a small box. The sack was filled with coins, but he wasn't sure what the box was.

"That sack has a hundred or so gold coins, while that box has some gold plates."

Dream sensed everything in the box and bag. He also remembered the fact that each plate was 500 gold each.

"Wait, isn't this several thousand gold total?"

"As I said before, I got more money than I know what to do with. Don't worry about it. Compared to what you've shared with me, this is nothing. Now go on and get yourself something. Maybe get your girlfriends something as well."

Saying that, Graff turned and left, casually having made Dream a rich man.