CH784

“And are the circlets absolutely necessary?” Thera asked him, looking like she was willing to do anything else if it meant avoiding putting one on while leaving Ben to think over how he intended to teach them.

“Hmm, I suppose I have something in my back pocket that might help you get a level immediately so I guess you can hold off on using yours until the harder bits of enchanting start. Jake however has no choice.”

“What? You’re letting her off the hook but not me? This is tyranny! This is favouritism!”

“Yes it is, but it’s also inescapable. Now, put yours on or I’m making sure to tell Amy and your teachers you haven’t been working hard enough.”

“…Ugh.”

He slid his on, feeling his mind split before Ben materialized a bucket for him.

“Okay, first things first Jake, dedicate four of those minds to materializing marbles of any substance you can think of. If it feels like you keep doing the same ones I’m going to go in your head and start instructing you on which ones to make instead so do your best to be creative. With your last two and for Thera as well, let’s begin applying the basics of enchanting.”

Despite the fact that they were both holders of non-affinitied magic, a second-tier skill that was by its very nature in essence already an awakened form of enchanting, or at least included those aspects within its broad power, Ben started them off on the absolute beginnings of the branch he wielded, not worrying about finer techniques at all but instead getting them to place down a spell on a knife each, not doing anything fancy but just having them blanket the item with their magics to create the outcome they sought.

Both were simple earth spells out of consideration for Thera given she had less options, designed to help strengthen the items as much as such a simple means of enchanting could accomplish but despite both being new to it, neither showed any issues when it came to such an application. It was the easiest way to enchant that even holders of the zeroth level of the magic could accomplish, for two who were by all accounts masters of their skill in non-affinitied magic, such a spell was nothing.

Still, he had them practice that way a few more times, teaching them to make and break their spells on an item and getting them to try to apply more complex options as well before moving into something slightly more advanced as one by one, he forced them to go through the three core systems he worked with, the weave, ring, and blended.

It was there that troubles popped up, but on a small scale. These were the low to intermediate ways of enchanting and while the latter two were rare to the point that only he himself and the people he’d taught would use them, they, along with the weave system were all means of placing magic upon an item that would be refined with practice, taken further and further in a constant cycle of improvement and it was there both of their individual weaknesses shone.

Thera’s control now that she was the holder of four awakened magics, with two at a high level at that, was incomparable with how she’d been in the past and had gotten to the point that she was officially better than any first-tier mage no matter the level, but in delicate work like that she still showed signs of her past struggles. The enchantments she tried to place were thick and some still broke under her magical weight. Easily fixed after a second or third attempt, but still somewhere she had her problems.

Jake on the other hand, having no issue with his control, suffered from a different one. A lack of self-discipline. While Ben himself could construct enchantments at an unbelievable rate, thanks to both his fundamentally broad understanding of his particular magic tied into both his natural talent and the unnatural speeds he could think, enchanting by its nature was still patient work. One needed to decide the best configurations of mana to place upon an object to obtain the best results once mana was sent through by its wielder to power it, something the other man didn’t seem to have the patience for, leaving the enchantments he placed as messy and less effective for that fact. Again, it was something that could be overcome with practice, it was just a matter of getting it.

But as the time wore on and they slowly improved that day under his guidance, they each slowly got better. Far from masters, it was still their first day ever doing such a thing, but given the power the two could wield their work was already good enough to sell despite that, with the touches of any awakened skill being enough to give an item some value.

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There was still more to teach them both but there were also still days to do it though, no need to rush them, at least not yet, and as the time wore on it wasn’t long until evening had come, once again freeing them all from his lessons.