Enchanted Weapons 101; Art by Charmrage; Story By Ezekiel_K (Patreon)

Life could be hard. No one ever said it would be easy. Sometimes you had to set aside your pride and take what you could get.

The enchanted sword had been a great find. Jalana understood the advantage of such mighty talismans. She knew how lucky she was to find one out in the wilderness. Her new friend Corvo, the mage, explained the principles behind it. In the end however, she still didn’t quite properly know how to draw upon its arcane power. She’d been fortunate so far. She had no idea how, but something had changed inside of her. Something had awoken. The fox’s emotions formed a connection to the weapon and it had been enough to save not only her own life, but the life of her friend as well.

It was relatively simple to use a ‘Core Armagus’. The ability to wield such arcane weapons was surprisingly intuitive. Mastering them however, was a different matter entirely. The intricacies of arcane talismans was a deceptively difficult endeavour to grasp. Aside from needing a stronger æthereal link to the weapon, she would also need knowledge and experience that Jalana just didn’t have. There was so much more she needed to understand first.

An opportunity to gain such understanding had come by chance when she’d encountered one of the renowned Raven Knights. A pretty, if not exhaustingly well groomed fellow. Jalana had a feeling he was a bit haughty and imperious; from the way he walked and carried himself. With his well shined armor, crisp clean tunic, and fabulously well kept, long, soft, rose-gold colored hair; everything about the knight just screamed ‘Aristocracy’.

Unable to pass up a chance to wield her new weapon against a knowledgeable opponent, and perhaps gain a bit of experience from the encounter; Jalana decided to challenge the foppish knight to a friendly duel. He did not disappoint.

She’d known she hadn't any real chance to best a ‘Raven Knight’, not at her current skill level; but losing still ‘left a spoiled egg in her fur’. It always did. The vixen hated losing, though she bore her defeat with all the dignity she could muster. There was very little cursing and she’d refrained from disparaging the feline's parentage and family line. It was a considerable triumph for self control.

Swallowing her pride, Jalana looked up to the effeminate knight, standing over her in his gleaming armor and conceded the match. She didn’t really have any other choice. While the aura of arcane energy around her own weapon sputtered and faltered, unable to establish a stable connection with the flow; his weapon felt like a warm breeze upon the plains. Jalana respectfully asked for his help. He graciously agreed.

“Watch me now, vixen... this is the easy part!” he cooed, holding his blade casually in his hand.

The soft luminescent ring of a mana halo grew around his pupil as he began his arcane manipulation. The fastidious fox watched closely as his weapon glowed rose and waves of ætheric energy wafted off the blade like fire. Sparkling and crackling in the wake were large, random concentrations of ætheric energy that whirled softly off the blade, like cherry blossoms dancing in the wind. She could tell the ætheric link between him and his talisman was exceptionally strong.

That was the first lesson learned. The Raven Knight, a marbled cat named Maelyn, was controlling the distribution of the flow around him like nothing. Quintessence was emanating from his hand to the sword with little effort; amplifying its power and allowing him to control it’s enchantments with ease. Though she could feel the density of the flow heavy around him, he wasn’t expending as much ætheric energy as it seemed. There was a calmness to the way it all swirled around him, that gave her an idea on what she should be doing herself.

After taking a moment to catch her breath and find her center, the cherrywood haired vixen foxed on finding her center. Inside her she touched her ‘Spirits Well’ and visualized drawing from it with her ‘Mana Bucket’; just as the knight had instructed. Carefully she visualized letting that ‘water’ out of her bucket to flow down into her hand and out into the talisman she held; slightly the blade began to glow.

“Like any lovely lady, you can’t force it. You must take her by the hand and make a connection. She doesn’t want to be dominated or deterred; but she will let you lead if the rhythm is right. Encourage her to take your hand and walk beside you;” he instructed in a flowery tone that almost made her ill. Jalana rather hated all that romanticism and mysticism with magic.

“Can’t kin just talk straight?” she huffed, gritting her teeth. It was difficult to keep her snark and wittisms to herself and just listen to the marbled cat, but the vixen managed. If only just thus. This was an investment in improving her own abilities. A crash course in; ‘How to Use Magic Sword for Dummies!’. Let the sassy little fop be haughty with his flowery words and superior demeanor, she wouldn’t let it bother her any. Like everything in life, this was a business transaction. A careful negotiation for knowledge and skill. She’d take whatever he was offering and more, if she could. The vixen would do her best to come out ahead in this deal.

Smiling, the kempt kitty was thinking much the same thing. Maelyn too knew how the game was played, and knew it well. He pushed her. He knew he could. The inexperienced mercenary had asked to learn as much as she could and the little time they had, so he would oblige her.

She’d be sore in the morning. It was a painful endeavor for new awoken to learn how to control their own internal flow of ætheric energy. He did not pity her the aches and pains she was sure to have later; but there wasn’t any other choice. There was no work around for the basics.

Maleyn wasn’t completely unsympathetic to the suffering of his ‘suddenly student’. Though he would drive her to her limits, in order to get the most out of her, he also planned to make it up to her at a later date; a silent promise.

New to her control of ætheric energy, Jalana was inexperienced at controlling her aura. With the enchanted vision of his kirlian eye, Maelyn could discern much about the fox that she’d probably wish kept to herself.

The vixen burned with an intense desire; scrutinizing every little thing he said. He spoke fast and was detailed only where he needed to be. She seemed to pick up on the important bits, but seemed to be slower with more intricate explanations. He made offers to explain in other ways, possibly demonstrate; but Jalana never took the bait. As an experienced businesswoman, she was far too smart to be baited. She only wanted what she wanted and everything else was superfluous. She would not be ‘sold’.

Jalana proved to be a fast learner, her stubbornness and determination matched only by the amount of exasperation in her tone. She cursed and insulted herself, demanding that she ‘get it right!’. The verbal abuse seemed to work as after a short time the energy surrounding her blade flashed and then waived, before stabilizing. The energy may have been weak, but it was a reliable connection.

“Impressive,” Maleyn purred. With a smile he stood back and just observed Jalana.

Despite her rough edges, she proved to be a rare find indeed. Not many kinling had enough awareness to listen, comprehend, and then execute instructions in an earnest manner. Most were obstinate in their training, often resisting good guidance. If you told them to slow down; they sped up. If you told them to hold back; you’d get everything they had; and probably a premature ætheric reaction too. He’d seen many a novitiate explode a mana manipulation in their face. You had to break them down and then build them up if you wanted to get anywhere. You had to dispel any and all preconceived notions.

Jalana was surprisingly different in that regard. The Ayeri girl would need lots of practice, no one was discounting that; but... she had already figured out how to grasp quite a few basic mana manipulations; with just a little experience she’d be well on her way. He thought her swordplay left a little to be desired, and he had no time to help her improve there, but other than that she was solid. If she could learn to control her flow and keep a stable connection to her weapon... well...

Maelyn smiled again. This time without any hint of his early flippancy. Jalana’s natural ability meant she could really be dangerous if given a chance. She was going to be a terror for the next fool who underestimated her.

Somehow, the inmoodest marbled cat found that eventuality absolutely amusing.