Chapter 160 - 157 - The Aspirant Knight's Order
"As far as I can tell, the knowledge of James' second Class hasn't spread beyond Baronet Izguardia. Although the Enchanter's Guild leadership has some suspicions, only Enchanter Melinda and Elder Enchanter Xavier are paying much attention to James, even as he studied in their more exclusive archives." The Steward summarized what was known about James.
James nodded in agreement. "Elder Xavier let me into the Elder exclusive archives, and I was able to memorize every enchantment pattern I saw inside, though I wasn't able to study as thoroughly as I would have liked." He tapped the side of his head. "But, m'lord, are you certain you want to restrict your armor and weapons to Basic and Intermediate enchantments?"
The Aspirant Knight nodded. "There are several mages among the Knights that will be participating in the Tournament of Duels in the Spring. They will certainly be able to determine the level of the enchantments being used, if not also what the enchantments actually are. The element of surprise, then, lies in how strong the enchantments are, more-so than using an advanced or journeyman level enchantment." He frowned. "The duels are not to the death, you know. It's just for sport. I wouldn't say no to your best work for use outside of the Tournament, but for the Tournament, I don't want something so strong I accidentally kill or maim somebody."
"As you wish, m'lord."
"As for the forging, do your absolute best. The quality of your Smithing will speak to your credit, as well."
James grinned. While he had to be more circumspect with the Enchanter's Guild, the Smithing Guild had been incredibly open with their archives—Smiths generally weren't big on reading anyway—and the Guildmaster, Jez, had shown him quite a few Master-level techniques, and a few he suspected were Secret Master level.
Oversmithing, the process of repeatedly forging the same piece folded over and over and over again, was a given. Substrate compression, to increase essence and magic capacity, as well. As for the alloys…
The Steward sliding a sheet of paper to James across the table pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Generally, our lord wants to keep to the same basic design as standard Knight's armor."
James nodded. It was a good, solid design, refined over centuries by generations of Knights and Smiths working together.
Generally the only flaw was that there was only so much room for enchantments, and that a full set of the armor was expensive to commission in the first place. Few Knights bothered to get their armor enchanted at all, given the expense and the generally weak effects enchantments could produce. It was far easier and essentially free to simply train one's Skills as a Knight, which would improve the use of the armor as armor.
It was also much cheaper to replace unenchanted armor, compared to the cost of the armor AND enchanting it again.
This was no problem for the Aspirant Knight and his personal Smith and Enchanter, however. When the biggest cost was raw materials and the labor was, essentially, free, there was no reason not to go all out. And that was before the synergy between the two crafting Classes was taken into consideration.
The efficacy of even James' Basic level enchantments punched into the Journeyman level. His Intermediate level enchantments pushed into the Master level.
His personal record for enchanting efficacy was eighty-seven percent of theoretical maximum. And he was certain he could break through ninety percent if he had higher quality reagents for enchanting. It just wasn't cost-effective.
The discussion continued, focused now on the Aspirant Knight's Skills and the boosts from his Classes. In his Knight Class, he had all the relevant Skills for wearing armor and using a variety of weapons, and boosts to Dexterity and Vitality. In his second Class—which he called Aspirant, though that was not the actual name—he had no real combat skills, though he did have a Skill for detecting bluffs. The boosts from that Class were to his Charisma and Intelligence.
With no real synergy, he was lacking in Strength and Endurance, key attributes for success in combat as a Knight. Certainly, he made up for these with rigorous physical training, but it simply wasn't enough compared to his peers. As a leader, he stood head and shoulders above most other Knights, but the consistent losses in one-on-one combat had prevented him from rising further through the ranks.
This was where superior equipment would see him through.
Wise use of one's resources was considered an important part of being a Knight just as much as being personally strong was.
"Weight will be an issue," the Knight said as the Steward took notes.
"The Basic-level enchantment Feather should be enough, unless you want to incorporate Green Steel?" James replied. Mythril would be the best, being the strongest metal in all respects except melting point—Red Tungsten won on that front, before ceramic blends were considered—but mythril was laughably expensive and rare. Even the Royal Family merely hoarded the material, rather than actually using it and risking losing it. Due to its enchantment capacity, the highest of any material, it was at most used for tiny pieces of jewelry.
Pure mythril was the standard by which theoretical enchantment efficacy was calculated.
The Knight shook his head. "No, Green Steel would be overkill; I would rather the armor be more durable, even at the cost of weight."
The standard thinking of Knights at the time.
"Titanium, then?"
"Would that interfere with the enchantments?"
Titanium generally had a lower enchantment capacity than steel, despite its lower density and higher strength. It would have been a more common choice for Knights' armor, if it weren't generally harder to smith and thrice as expensive by volume.
"Normally, yes, but with enchantment levels Intermediate and below, it will be fine. I can weld copper in as necessary."
Pure copper, it turned out, was the most suitable material for magic power storage.
Multi-substrate enchanting was considered a Secret Master level technique in the Enchanter's Guild, and even today it is almost never even attempted.
Editor's Note: Even in modern times, the technique is rarely successful. The weld itself is incredibly difficult, and requires Strength and Heat Resistance beyond all but the most capable Master Smiths.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Good," the Knight nodded, entirely unaware of how high level a technique the Smith and Enchanter was offering. He didn't need to know: he was an end user. All that mattered was how effective the tools were.
"So a weak [Feather] on all pieces?" James confirmed.
"Yes, and [Solidity]." The Steward wrote this down, but James frowned.
"That's pushing it, even at the Basic level," he refuted. "[Feather] is an Air enchantment, [Solidity] is Earth. Titanium is element-neutral, but the enchantments will still oppose each other."
"You created that blinding helmet, no?" the Steward challenged.
"Aye, I did, and it was so shoddy it didn't even properly blind me in a lux-saturated environment. Granted, that was a good thing at the time, but as an enchantment…" James shuddered in professional disgust at the quality of his earlier work.
He hoped someone had melted the damn thing down.
At least he hadn't signed it.
Though certainly if anyone cared to ask the Merchant's Guild could tell them where it had come from.
"So you can't do both [Feather] and [Solidity]?" the Knight said to confirm. James furrowed his brow.
"No, I could, but that would be it. There wouldn't be capacity left in the material for more, and anyway, Titanium is plenty durable. Especially if I Oversmith it." James remembered his mother's Brawler wisdom. "Why not lean into Air enchantments? [Fleetfoot], [Rapid Blow], or even [Haste]. It's intermediate, but Isabella is more than capable of a really strong [Haste] enchantment."
There were two types of Haste enchantment: Air and Light element. The Light element Haste was usually stronger, but by using the Air version, he could saturate each piece with sylph essence, and get more synergy between the enchantment and the substrate, and between the enchantments themselves.
The Knight was lacking in Speed as well, after all.
Suero rubbed his jaw as he thought.
"Plus," James added, "if I incorporate [Haste] into your armor or an accessory, I won't need to put [Rapid Blow] on your weapons. You'll simply be faster overall. Which means I can incorporate [Heavy Blow], [Keen Edge], [Piercing]—"
"Not [Piercing]," the Knight interrupted. "Not for the Tournament."
James frowned but said nothing. He had seen the Knights' training, but they had missed last year's Tournament. He was having a hard time understanding a fight that wasn't to the death, with lives on the line.
He wasn't sure he wanted to understand. His mother's wisdom and insistence had kept him alive so far. The last thing he wanted was to develop a bad habit and hold back in a crucial moment.
"Right, no [Piercing], then," he conceded.
"I believe [Sap] or [Drain] would be best on the weapons," the Steward offered. "Did you still want to bring a Longsword, Mace, Dagger, and Great War Hammer?"
The Basic-level [Sap] and Intermediate-level [Drain] would reduce an opponent's stamina and mana each time they were struck. The higher level [Plunder] would transfer some portion of the drained stamina and mana to the wielder, but this was considered dishonorable for duels and was prohibited in the Tournament.
"[Drain] is normally frowned upon, but even a particularly strong [Sap] should be fine," the Knight said. "I've been sapped often enough, and it was always considered a test of a Knight's Endurance." He grinned sadistically. "It'll be good to be on the other end of it, for once."
James shrugged. "[Sap] doesn't seem like it'd make much sense on a Great War Hammer."
The Knight kept smiling. "No, that'll be for intimidation only. I want [Heavy Blow] and [Solidity], and I'm going to going to smash a hole in the ground on the edge of the arena before setting it aside. I need to make a show of things, but if I need a blunt weapon, the mace will do."
The Steward noted this down.
In the end, the Knight's equipment was delivered thusly:
[Appraisal]: Gnome-saturated Compressed Grade A Brown Steel Great War Hammer, Quality: Master, Durability: 200 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Heavy Blow (87), Solidity (67)
[Appraisal]: Nox-saturated Compressed Grade A Black Steel Longsword, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 120 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Keen Edge (15), Sap (45)
[Appraisal]: Nox-saturated Compressed Grade A Black Steel Dagger, Quality: Master, Durability: 90 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Keen Edge (18), Sap (40)
[Appraisal]: Nox-saturated Compressed Grade A Black Steel Mace, Quality: Master, Durability: 144 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Sap (66), Heavy Blow (25)
[Appraisal]: Gnome-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Heater Shield, Quality: Master, Durability: 145 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Solidity (35), Impact Resistance (45), Magic Dampening (10)
[Appraisal]: Sylph-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Visor-less Knight's Helm, Quality: Master, Durability: 120 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Feather (20), Protection (30)
[Appraisal]: Gnome-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Gorget, Quality: Master, Durability: 150 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Solidity (48), Impact Resistance (15)
[Appraisal]: Sylph-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Pauldrons, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 110 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Feather (20), Haste (40)
[Appraisal]: Nox-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Cuirass, Quality: Master, Durability: 180 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Feather (30), Magic Dampening (55)
[Appraisal]: Nox-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Faulds, Quality: Master, Durability: 80 (Oversmithed), Enchantment: Magic Dampening (80)
[Appraisal]: Nox-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Codpiece, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 76 (Oversmithed), Enchantment: Magic Dampening (67)
[Appraisal]: Salamander-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Rerebraces, Quality: Master, Durability: 96 (Oversmithed), Enchantment: Heat Resistance (78)
[Appraisal]: Sylph-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Couters, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 75 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Feather (20), Second Wind (40)
[Appraisal]: Lux-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Gauntlets, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 56 (Oversmithed), Enchantment: Might (99)
[Appraisal]: Sylph-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Cuisses, Quality: Master, Durability: 120 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Feather (35), Fleetfoot (55)
[Appraisal]: Sylph-saturated Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Sabatons, Quality: Master, Durability: 118 (Oversmithed), Enchantments: Feather (26), Fleetfoot (62)
[Appraisal]: Compressed Grade A Titanium-alloy Chain Mail, Quality: Journeyman, Durability: 67
This armor was worn over a set of separately commissioned leather underarmor, enchanted with Journeyman-level [Impact Absorption]. Beneath that was Undine-saturated cloth underclothes, enchanted with [Cool].
The crafting took two solid months of work, leaving the Knight with only six weeks to become accustomed to the new armor and weapons.
And before James knew it, the Tournament was upon them.