After the home's location was settled, I decided to go talk to Percivil about the process of enchanting items. Alara was dissatisfied with the state of the house, the furnishings all covered in sheets, and wanted to stay to prepare it. Naturally, Zara remained with her. I piled everyone's belongings from the palace out of my item box, and I left them to deal with it.
Nina and Alto asked to accompany me to Elmesia. Nina was inexplicably excited to help Alto qualify for her A-rank assessment, so she could move to S-rank and get her golden card. Alto also wanted to buy supplies for the house.
I teleported Nina, Alto, and I to our inn room, which still has a few days left paid for, and told Nina and Alto that they could head off without me for their tasks. After they left, I tossed the remainder of Nina's and I's belongings into my item box – I don't plan on keeping this room anymore. Then, I teleported to Percivil's back room at his shop.
Now, I'm in his storefront looking around. After a few moments…I call out for him.
"Percivil! It's Mizuki! Are you here?" (Mizuki)
I hear some slight clattering in another section of the building, which I've never visited – I'm guessing his forge. After a few minutes, Percivil comes running out bewildered.
"Mizuki!? Aye, it's been a long time since I seen yah! Also, how did yah get in here? I thought I had the door locked so I could do some work in the back." (Percivil)
Oops.
"Hey Percivil! Long time, no see! Uhm…yeah…about that…I just teleported into your back room. Sorry, I didn't know your shop would be closed." (Mizuki)
Percivil stares at me dumbfounded for a moment, then shrugs and sighs deeply before giving me an exasperated expression.
"Well, if it's yah who's interrupting, I don't mind. What brings yah to me today?" (Percivil)
Wow, that was a quick recovery. He's stroking his beard, looking at me curiously. I smile at Percivil appreciatively.
"Thanks! I'm coming to you about a job, actually. How would you like to help me build some stuff in the Elven Kingdom?" (Mizuki)
Percivil raises his eyebrows at me, and he appears thoughtful. After a moment, he smiles and nods.
"Aye, I'd be honored. I haven't visited since I was a young dwarf. Knowing yah, I'm sure the pay is good. So, my only question is what I'll be working on?" (Percivil)
Perfect.
"Definitely – I'll acquire all your materials for you, and provide your transportation, food, and shelter. You can just bring yourself and your tools, and I'll give you five silver per day for your help. As for what you'll be working on…we'll be building a small city, and I need your help with all kinds of unique projects. The first is going to be building a magic item that transports dozens of people almost twenty times faster than a horse and cart." (Mizuki)
Percivil's face slowly reveals sheer excitement.
"Oh ho, you're getting this old man excited, Mizuki. When do yah want to start?" (Percivil)
I smile back at him.
"How about right now? Can you explain to me how making a magic item works?" (Mizuki)
"Aye. First yah need to make the item, and it needs to have a pure metal component to it. I'm not sure why, but only some metals will work. That black metal for Zara's sword is one, and copper is another, but pure copper is expensive, less sturdy, and harder to smith with. Then, yah got to use an enchanting spell on the item, focusing on that metal. Finally, yah or someone else needs to quickly cast the spell onto the item that yah want to enchant it with." (Percivil)
I feel the color drain from my face. No way…an enchanting spell that primes only certain metals to absorb magic and another spell's properties. Could it be what I think it is? I might be able to replicate this spell.
"Percivil, don't freak out. I need you to show me something. Hold on." (Mizuki)
Percivil eyes me curiously, but I also see a bit of wariness. He nods his acknowledgement.
I focus on forming a water sphere the size of a baseball from the air's moisture, then use that as fuel to alchemize a small sphere of pure copper. Glancing at Percivil, he's gone pale. I'm left with a copper ball the size of a gumball, and I hand it to Percivil.
"Here, that's pure copper. Can you cast the enchanting spell on it that you mentioned?" (Mizuki)
Percivil nods to me in a daze.
"Aye, here we go. Divine structure, alter thyself and accept my charge in earnest!" (Percivil)
Azazel…you've got to be shitting me…you actually put 'accept my charge' in the incantation. You even mentioned the structure. I'm confident now…something about this process is like making the metal into a superconductor, at least temporarily. I have zero idea why a superconductor would absorb spell properties the way Percivil is describing, but that doesn't matter so long as I can replicate the process.
The copper ball begins to hum with magic in Percivil's hand, then he passes it to me quickly.
"Here, act quickly. Yah only have a few seconds before it wears off." (Percivil)
I nod and grab the copper ball. I take it in my hand, and I will my magic to pass through the copper ball before settling on the ground for a gravity spell – I intensify gravity so I'm about three times as heavy.
I hold the spell until I can feel something about the magic flow through the ball shift, then I release the spell. I wonder if it worked. I hand the item back to Percivil.
"Percivil, do me a favor and try using that. I'm new to the sensation of casting a spell on an item to enchant it, so I need to know if I did it correctly." (Mizuki)
Percivil smiles and nods excitedly, then takes the copper ball and holds it in his hand. After a moment, he yelps as his knees buckle, and he doubles over on the floor. The copper ball gets dropped and goes rolling, and then Percivil climbs shakily to his feet after a moment. He looks at me in bewilderment.
"Mizuki, what the hell did yah do!?" (Percivil)
Oh yeah…that was kind of unfair to not warn him.
"Ah, sorry I should have warned you. It's a special spell that makes things heavier." (Mizuki)
Percivil shakes his head and looks at me in exasperation.
"No, Mizuki, I don't mean the spell, I mean the enchantment! The ball didn't get heavier, I did! It felt like I gave it my magic, and then it cast a spell back on me!" (Percivil)
Uhm…yeah, isn't that the point? You enchant it to perform a spell. I give him a puzzled expression.
"Well, yeah, I thought that was the idea behind enchantments. You teach an item to cast a spell." (Mizuki)
Percivil shakes his head again like I'm insane.
"No, that's not how it works at all! Usually, the item itself takes on the properties. Nina's daggers and Alto's armor work that way. Even Nina's bow that imbues fire and water element onto the arrows only does that because the arrows are knocked within the bow at the time! What in the world did you do!?" (Percivil)
I…think I understand better now. I don't think people here view magic like I do, as a separate particle or entity that you move around and will to change properties. That would explain some of Alto's early confusion when I described forming magic itself into shapes. My spells always work, so I assume that I'm thinking about magic in the accurate way.
If I'm right, it makes sense that when people here cast spells, they're focusing on something specific like a target, instead of the properties and location of the magic itself. They must view the magic as their own innate power, without form, and just subconsciously will it to a location they focus on.
In that case, when they're told to cast a spell on an enchanted item, they naturally focus on the item itself. They don't think of it as a conduit for other magic activity in general.
I glance at Percivil, and he's staring at me expectantly. Hmm…explaining all that fundamental magic theory is probably a rule violation with Azazel, so I'm going to avoid it. I shrug at Percivil.
"I don't know for sure why it worked. I've never admitted it openly, but you're right about how I'm different from other humans here. I'd guess it has something to do with that. I wouldn't recommend trying it yourself, it could be dangerous for people from here." (Mizuki)
Percivil is surprised by my open admission, and calms down slowly as he thinks. He seems to accept the explanation and nods.
"Aye, you're probably right. So, what now?" (Percivil)
I sigh internally, I'm glad he let it go. I give him a smile.
"Well, that's enough for now. Feel free to take the rest of the day to make whatever arrangements you want and gather the tools you need. Tomorrow morning I'll come pick you up and teleport you straight to the Elven Kingdom. How's that?" (Mizuki)
Percivil nods excitedly and then heads off to the back of his shop with a frantic goodbye. The suddenness kind of shocks me. I guess he's excited to start working on these projects with me. I shake my head in amusement. What should I do now? Nina hasn't reached out to me.
Hmm…I suppose I could start preparing for the railway. I should probably get the elven royal family's permission before suddenly dropping a strange structure outside their city, though. They have roads, so I should see how those were made and with whose approval.