Omni-Magician – Chapter 34, The Mithril Hammer and Chisel

Hi

2009

Translator: Mirausean; Silavin

Proofreader: Skoll

 

Stardust Avenue is the most prosperous street in Stan City. Prosperity does not only refer to the liveliness of the avenue but also refer to the high level of patronage of every shop in Stardust Avenue.

 

To be able to purchase the best-quality merchandises in Stan City, one must go to Stardust Avenue. Similarly, most of the highly-esteemed Enchanting Masters own their very own enchanting stores in Stardust Avenue.

 

However, the Enchanting Master, which Cara had brought Ye Chui and Debbie to find, had his shop in an inconspicuous corner of a small alley within Stardust Avenue.

 

The small alley, where the Enchanting Master’s shop is located, was right behind Cara’s Magic Bookstore.

 

Right at the end of the alley was a simple straw shed, which had a dirty mess and gloom underneath it that was never before seen in the streets of Stan City. *cling, clang, clong* Sounds of continuous hammering reverberated from deep within the shed. From afar, the shed would seem like an ordinary blacksmith shop – definitely not a very good one in fact.

 

“Here?” Debbie’s face was filled with worry as she thought of the disparity. It was a known fact that Enchanting Masters were people with high statuses. Seeing this decrepit shed in such an isolated alley caused Debbie to consider the five gold coins that she used, to be wasted.

 

“Girl, all the races have differing views on the idea of an honoured status.” Cara turned her head back to speak as she heard Debbie’s complaint. As they moved closer to the shed, a short and strong figure could be seen. Referring to that figure, Cara introduced him, “This is Dove from Mount Blue and is recognised as the best Enchanting Master within Stan City’s.”

 

Hearing her introduction, Ye Chui’s heart palpitated with excitement.

 

[Mount Blue?] Through reading the Aigen-Dazs Continent encyclopaedia, Ye Chui knew many things about the world, such as the fact that Dwarves were split into five tribes. As legitimate Dwarves live in caves within the mountains, their tribes were naturally named after mountains. They were namely the Mount Blue, Mount Purple, Mount Black, Mount White and Mount Dragon tribes.

 

Cara addressed the stout silhouette of the Dwarf underneath as ‘Dove from Mount Blue’, thus it was obvious that he originated from Mount Blue.

 

dwarves love to live in the mountain caves, which had a dark environment. Looking at the messy and dark conditions under the shed, it seems like the dwarves had similar customs and habits like the Giants.

 

“Dove, come out quickly. I’ve brought you a disciple.” Cara bent down and shouted into the shed.

 

The *cling, clang, clong* stopped almost immediately. Then, the stout figure put down his iron hammer and walked out of the shed slowly.

 

Although the man appeared approximately 50 to 60 years old and was no taller than 1.2 metres, he did not give one the impression of being weak. Though petite, he had a muscular built and endless strength seemed to be stored within that miniscule body of his. Dwarves were born to fight wars, thus their battling abilities will definitely not pale in comparison to the Beastmen. Furthermore, since dwarves have a lifespan of about 200 years, he was considered relatively young.

 

He had grimy black, long hair hanging from atop his head, and a long beard that was tied into two plaits. While carrying out his work, sparks would fly close to his beard, but thankfully it would only cause it to light up slightly and was insufficient to burn his beard.

 

This Dwarf was wearing a thick layer of linen clothing and a dark coloured apron. However, light spots of pale discoloration could be seen on it, which was obviously the doing of the sparks.

 

“Dove, this little brother is called Hammer. He is very interested in the enchanting technique and he hopes that you can impart your knowledge on enchanting to him.” Cara stood at the side, laughing.

 

Remaining expressionless and silent, Dove extended his callus-filled hand, towards Cara.

 

Both Ye Chui and Debbie stood there in a daze, before becoming furious – Cara fished out two gold coins from her chest pocket and handed it to Dove, “This is the lesson fees.”

 

Having noticed that Debbie and Ye Chui were fuming, Cara tried to explain in an innocent tone, “Without my introduction, how would you know this place?”

 

Debbie angrily brandished the great sword on her shoulder and stabbed in into the ground with a *clang*, before staring at Cara.

 

However, Cara wasn’t intimidated or influenced by Debbie’s actions. She even started smiling sweetly and curling the ends of her long hair playfully.

 

Dove’s eyes quickly shone brilliantly after seeing Debbie’s great sword. He quickly walked towards Debbie and used his hand to knock on the blade of the sword. *Ding, Ding* With a crazed voice, he exclaimed, “This is forged from good-quality black iron. Although your great sword is made of quality material, it is a pity that it isn’t enchanted. So, do you want to enchant your sword? At a token of only two gold coins, I can enchant a <Windwalk> magic matrix on your sword!”

 

”No!” Debbie cried out in a depressed state.

 

Dove apprehensively shook his head in regret and glanced at Ye Chui. Dove confronted the boy in a commanding posture, though he was only till Ye Chui’s waist level. In an arrogant and imposing manner, he spoke. “I heard that you wish to study enchanting. Good, good. Now, come with me.”

 

“So, am I now your apprentice?” Ye Chui asked, and continued to question. “Is there any ceremony that I have to perform?”

(Silavin: LOL?! Ceremony?)

 

“There is no need!” Dove said in an indifferent tone. He turned his head to take a look at Ye Chui, revealing a slight intent of teasing in his eyes.

 

The whole shed was scorching hot, especially the site closest to the enormous stove that was blazing. Fuelling the stove was a pile of charcoal which was burning furiously. Dove was trying to smelt down an iron rod into a sword. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead, Ye Chui took a look at Dove, who was wearing a thick layer of linen clothing and could not help but be impressed. [It seems like the dwarves have a physique that is really unique…]

 

“I will only explain important pointers of enchanting once.”

 

Dove walked to a cabinet and took out two silver coloured items, a hammer and a chisel. He then explained, “Enchanting requires the use of these two items, a Mithril Chisel and a Mithril Hammer. The pointers of enchanting is very simple – you just need to transfer the magic matrix onto the Mithril Chisel, transfer the magic power onto the Mithril Hammer, then hammer the armour or weapon, before the enchanting is completed”

 

Finishing his piece, Dove tilted his head to look at Ye Chui, who became silent.

 

After waiting for a few seconds, he realised that Dove had actually explained the entire process of enchanting to him. He then shockingly asked, “Is that all?”

 

“Yes.” Dove nodded his head with an even more teasing look on his face. [Only a few words are needed to explain The Enchanting Technique.]

 

Debbie, who was standing outside the store, was about to erupt into rage. She looked at Cara with bloodshot eyes, as if she was about to brandish her great sword to have it cleave into Cara.

 

However, Cara remained indifferent to Debbie’s anger and explained, “I’ve already said that The Enchanting Technique cannot be written in a book. It is because few words are needed to explain it. As said previously, those without talent will never be able to learn the art of enchanting, even if they were to spend their entire life trying. Instead, those that do have talent, like the dwarves, are masters upon hearing these few words.”

 

Ye Chui’s expression quickly changed from that of anger to a state of calmness. While in deep thought, he got a better look of the Mithril Hammer and Mithril Chisel in Dove’s hand, “Master Dove, can I try?”

 

“Ha!” Dove casually placed the Mithril Chisel and Mithril Hammer in his hands onto the wooden cabinet in front of Ye Chui, and took out an iron sheet. “I will give you three chances to experiment. *Hahaha!* Enchanting is a talent possessed by dwarves, even if human Magicians are able to learn it, it would be impossible to succeed within three attempts. If you manage to succeed, I will give my Mithril Hammer and Mithril Chisel to you for free!”

After Dove said his piece, he took out a black liquor bottle from the same cabinet, which he stored the hammer and chisel in, and twisted off the cover. *gulp, gulp* he drank, with eyes sparking, waiting to see a good show.

 

It was common knowledge that no other race besides the dwarves would be able to grasp The Enchanting Technique in just one attempt, using the Mithril Hammer and Mithril Chisel.

 

Cara, who was standing outside the shed, showed a curious expression but at the same time, also looked as though she was enjoying a good show.

 

On the other hand, Debbie was filled with anticipation, wishing that Hammer would create a miracle; although she had absolutely no confidence in him.

(Silavin: Pfft! *Spits out blood*)

 

Ye Chui felt that he had an epiphany and held up both the hammer and chisel.

 

He could feel a sense of connection with the two objects once his hand connected to it. It felt as though he was holding onto his magic wand. After all, the hammer and Chisel were both made by Mithril, a marvellous material that was extremely responsive to magic. Thus, engraving a magic matrix onto metal or other objects was similar to him making scrolls with magic ink, but the effects were much stronger.

 

Ye Chui was prepared to carve out a magic matrix with the Chisel while pouring magic into the hammer.

 

This was a simple feat, but there isn’t anyone who is able to complete it effortlessly, unless that person has a deep understanding of magic matrixes and is able to view all the magic symbols as one entity. Transferring the magic matrixes to the Magic Chisel is something that is at least 10 times harder compared to using a magic wand to cast a spell. If one does not have the means to transfer the magic matrixes to the Mithril Chisel, the whole matrix would simply collapse and disperse in contact with Mithril, resulting in failure.

 

However, such an occurrence would only come forth to those without sufficient knowledge and preparation, something Ye Chui would not fail to overcome.

 

In the eyes of ordinary Magicians, rows of magic symbols would seem just like magic symbols. However, in Ye Chui’s eyes, magic symbols were akin to a programming language that he can manipulate and create tens of thousands of different magic effects from his understanding.

 

As the sharp end of the Mithril Chisel came into contact with the iron sheet, magic power is transferred to it. *Bang!* Ye Chui swung the Mithril Hammer and landed it on the top of the Mithril Chisel.

 

Gradually, a marvellous pattern started emerging on the surface of the iron sheet.

 

Dove took a gulp of the liquor and anticipated the failures he had seen when others took the same test of enchanting. He showed a look of ridicule towards Ye Chui, but as he continued to watch a beautiful silvery pattern form on the iron sheet, his mouth stuck open with his drink flowing out. In astonishment, he exclaimed, “Did the enchanting succeed?”

 

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Silavin: Wow, this novel is getting really popular lately. Sorry, I can’t exactly up the number of chapters in this novel. Already have too much going on with life (signed up for A Levels this year.)

Well, good news, there are 3 applicants for editing. However, two of them did not reply over time… So, cross fingers that the last one is good!

Anyways, that’s background stuff.

 

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