Clang—
Mikhael raised the heavy iron hammer and struck down hard on Menchi's two knives. Menchi winced and shut her eyes in pain at the sight.
Clang—
The hammer came down again. There was no fire meeting ice, yet sparks of aura scattered in the air!
Will my knives break like this? Menchi was worried.
Fortunately, her knives were infused with her own Nen, and Mikhael's skill was honed to perfection. The worst-case scenario she feared wouldn't happen.
Clang—
Mikhael swung the hammer once more, striking the knives.
But this wasn't just brute force. Each time he raised the hammer, the strange symbols covering the stone walls and floor lit up, activating like some kind of ritual.
It was as if countless hands of Nen reached out, drawing elemental energy from the Alchemy Plants and then infusing it into the knives.
This seamless combination of hammering and Nen manipulation was Mikhael's ultimate technique—"Ultimate Forging."
The symbols, etched into the walls and floor like intricate magic circles, were a legacy left behind by Don.
The Mikhael lineage had mastered the art of utilizing these Enchantment Glyphs.
The stocky centaur craftsman focused entirely on his hammering, paying no mind to the reactions of those around him.
Ging stood with his arms crossed, watching intently. He tilted his head slightly and whispered to Germain beside him, "In the end, this is still within the capabilities of Nen."
"Yeah."
"You noticed it too?"
"Yeah." Germain nodded. "I had a similar thought before. Don's Nen ability is most likely related to 'words' or 'symbols.'"
"That's what I figured."
Ging stroked his stubbled chin. "We've found the source of this 'enchantment,' but replicating it is gonna be tough."
"These symbols… you can't just copy them down or move them somewhere else and expect them to work."
"Don, the 'Vows and Limitations' of Nen likely requires the first inscription of 'words' or 'symbols' for them to take effect."
"In that case, his first volume of the 'East Edition' and 'West Edition,' the ancient labyrinth's 'Möbius Ring,' and the 'Enchantment Array' here should all serve their intended purposes."
"However, if we simply copy or move them as they are, they won't work."
This is why Mikhael's ancestors have been forging weapons in this very room for generations.
Clang—
Another heavy strike landed. But this time, Mikhael quickly set down the massive hammer and took the towel handed to him by his apprentice, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"It's done!" he announced loudly, his voice brimming with pride. This was the greatest masterpiece of his enchantment craft.
Menchi barely opened one eye. Seeing that her knives hadn't been shattered under the hammer, she cautiously opened the other eye, her face filled with relief and excitement.
She shuddered at the thought.
What was I thinking, letting Germain, Ging, and Bisky talk me into enchanting my twin blades?!
If it had failed, my best weapons would've been ruined. Then I'd have to forge new ones and go through the whole process of getting used to them again...
But the moment Mikhael handed her the two knives, now imbued with fire-element enchantment, all her worries disappeared.
Not only were they perfectly intact, but the edge, the sheen...
"Try them out!" Mikhael bellowed, as if afraid no one had heard him.
Menchi gave the twin blades a simple swing in the air. Nothing seemed unusual.
But the moment she infused them with Nen—
The blades transformed.
Strange patterns appeared across their surface, resembling roaring flames.
Hiss—
And in the next instant, real fire engulfed the blades!
The twin knives were wrapped in blazing flames, and as long as Menchi continued channeling her Nen, the fire wouldn't fade.
In other words, the fire-element enchantment markings on the blades acted as a conduit, converting Menchi's Nen into pure flame.
She happily swung her reforged twin blades, playing with them for quite a while before finally stopping.
If it weren't for Bisky joking that she wouldn't need fire to cook anymore, and Menchi getting caught up in arguing back, she might have kept wasting her Nen.
Menchi was a Manipulator, which meant she couldn't naturally convert her aura into elemental forces like fire or lightning, unlike Transmuters.
However, with the Fire Enchantment Rune, she had achieved the impossible. This was the true value of Enchantment Script and Alchemy Plants.
But when Germain and Ging pressed for more details, they eventually learned from Mikhael about two additional Vows and Limitations tied to the Alchemy Plants.
First, under normal circumstances, Enchanted Elemental Runes could only be engraved on real, non-living objects.
This meant that a person's body—or even a Conjured object—couldn't be enchanted this way.
In other words, right now, the only thing benefiting from Enchantment was Menchi's twin blades.
Second, typically, a single object could only have one elemental rune engraved on it.
Since Menchi's twin blades had already been inscribed with the Fire Element Rune, they couldn't be enchanted with any other elements.
Germain, Ging, and the others weren't too disappointed. Using Alchemy Plants to improve Menchi's weapons was still a solid choice.
After all, Menchi was one of them—strengthening her meant strengthening the entire team.
At that moment, Germain's gaze met Shizuku's for a brief second before shifting toward the inverted cross necklace around her neck.
Ah, that's right—he had almost forgotten. Didn't Shizuku always wear that inverted cross? Should they enchant it too?
Hmm?
Noticing Germain's stare, Shizuku glanced down at her own chest—and completely misunderstood.
At a time like this… he's still… s-so bold…
Flustered, Shizuku instinctively raised her arms and hugged her chest, shifting slightly to the side while averting her gaze toward the ground.
The slightly seductive gesture was something Shizuku would never have done in the past.
It was as if, under the temptation of a greedy serpent, she had become Eve eating the forbidden fruit—understanding what shame truly meant.
However, it was what Germain said next that made Shizuku realize she had misunderstood the situation.
"Shizuku, if I want to 'enchant' your inverted cross necklace, would you be willing?"
Shizuku, with her short black hair, paused for a moment. Then, without hesitation, she took the inverted cross necklace off her neck.
"Sure."
She handed the inverted cross necklace to Germain.
"What 'elemental runes' would you like to inscribe? 'Wind,' 'Fire,' 'Water,' 'Earth'?"
"How about 'Wind'?" Shizuku blinked her eyes and said it casually.
Germain then handed the inverted cross necklace, along with a "Wind Elemental Alchemy Plant" after being unlocked, to Mikhael.
********
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