Ren sighed as he strung his new bow. A bow crafted with the branch of a spirit tree carved with numerous enchantments. Norse runes were carved on the wood. It was a gift from Aela, who made sure to pass on her skills.
"Move, move, move!" Inside the dungeon, Aela watched with a smile as her younger brother was chased by the numerous monsters from the upper floors.
It was terrifying but worth it. It has been a week since Hircine took the veterans, Vilkas, Farkas, and Aela, with them on the wild hunt. Only Kodlak, Torvar, Athis, and Njada were in the mead hall and the city.
"A new bow?" Looking over his shoulder, the hunter of Hircine watched as Ais Wallenstein, the sword princess, sat beside him, holding a book. A book he gifted to her during her last birthday. The spine was worn, and it had some carvings.
"Yeah, just finished enchanting it," The young man said as he showed her the bow.
Ais held it in one hand and gently plucked the bow. The string created a pleasant sound as it vibrated. "Light,"
"Yeah, enchanted it to be easier to pull," Ren replied as he pulled the bow from her hands.
"New armor?"
"Changed it up. My old armor was better for hunting at the first 12 floors, but I needed an upgrade to go to the safe floor." Ren told Ais. He now wore a dark green Aketon that clung to his form, a pair of steel gauntlets crafted by Eorlund, along with a couple of cuffed boots. They were pretty comfortable to wear, and the gauntlets were fingerless. For pants, he wore a special pair made from the hide of the black infant dragon he killed, the same material present in the leather parts of his boots, gloves, and undershirt. The black infant dragonhide was quite durable as it could resist magic (although it made it harder to enchant.), flames, and heat.
The padded upper armor he wore was made from the threads harvested from a sacred tree that Kodlak ordered through one of his former clients. Each new member of the Harbingers has one and most often fashioned them for formal events. Ren had his made not only for formal occasions but also for combat. Some quick enchantments here and there made the Aketon his favored upper armor.
"Let me guess; you broke your sword?" The young man asked the blonde, who suddenly found something interesting on the ground. Sighing, the hunter of Hircine patted her head.
"Come on. We'll use your Familia enchanter. Loki owes me something from that necklace she ordered, and I'm cashing it in." The young man said as he casually picked up Ais and carried her like she was a kitten.
Arriving at the twilight manor, the hunter of Hircine walked beside Ais, casually entering the manor without any problem.
Ren blinked as he saw a peculiar sight. Seeing this followed suit with Ren and watched as Loki, the deity of the Loki Familia, was launched out of one of the windows with underwear sticking out of her pockets.
"I'll convince the others to let you stay if she tries to perv on you," Ren offered the young woman, who gave him a nod.
Suddenly, the red-haired goddess pushed herself off the ground and launched herself toward Ais.
"Ais-tan!" Sadly, there was a problem in the form of Ren Cruz. The hunter of Hircine moved and caught the perverted deity by her head and made her land on her feet.
"Loki," Greeted the hunter as he watched the redhead open her eyes. the trickster noticed him, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Tch, what do you want?! ou here to steal Ais-tan?!" Roared the redhead as she gave him the best glare she had. one that the hunter ignored.
"Payment," The young man answered her question, and Loki noticed how Ais inched behind the hunter, using him as a shield.
"No! is-Tan is mine!" Whined the androgynous deity as she tried to launch herself at the sword princess, only to be stopped when the hunter used his hand to stop her effortlessly.
"I don't want Ais. I just want the payment for the item you had me enchant." Suddenly, the trickster stopped herself from tackling the blonde behind the hunter, and a smirk appeared on her face.
"I have the payment ready, but I want you to enchant something else,"
"No- Ren promised to enchant my sword," Ais cut in with a pout on her stoic face. Seeing this, the perverted redhead had a massive nosebleed and passed out on the ground, muttering about how cute her sword princess was while giggling.
"Pack what you want me to enchant. I'll be gone for a week." The young man told the passed-out deity as Ais led them to a part of the manor dedicated to the mages, a library. Ais, can you gather all those who want something enchanted? I might as well get some money for this,"
Ais froze but decided to do what he said. She loved having her sword enchanted but seeing the process of an item being enchanted was beautiful, and she loved it more.
Watching the young woman leave, the hunter of Hircine prepared the enchantment table, pulling out several vials of potions and setting them on the table.
Enchanter, a skill he developed and used to find a way to fight efficiently and effectively. Crutch, so to speak, while not as well-known as Perseus, Ren had a steady stream of customers from numerous sources and some of his potions.
While weak at first, it allowed him to catch up with his shield siblings and his guild before joining the Hircine Familia.
It took around 15 minutes for Ais to come back, carrying numerous weapons and equipment. He was followed by a pink-clad elf with brown hair tied to a ponytail.
"Here," Ais said as she handed him the weapons and pieces of equipment piled up neatly. Riveria is not back yet, but she might have some equipment she would have you enchant,"
"Nine Hells isn't here?" The hunter of Hircine asked; there was something about the high elf that was quite... enchanting. Shut up, Aela!' the hunter roared in his mind as the phantom voices of his older sister.
"She went to the secret hop," Ais said, a bit impatient that her weapon was not being enchanted. The reply she got was a finger flick to the forehead.
"Wait, enchanting is a serious business." The young man said with a smile as he removed his gauntlets and Aketon, leaving him in his pants and a black shirt. Drinking a potion, the young man took a large monster crystal and held Ais' sword, enchanting it.
Enchanting was a form of magic that allowed people without the ability to use magic to wield magic. The most basic form of enchantment was a simple durability enchantment. t requires the enchanter to have knowledge of the enchantment they were about to put on the item, and it requires a tremendous amount of concentration.
While it is souls that power enchantments, Monster Crystals were just as good and unlike soul gems, one can use multiple crystals in a single enchantment. There is also the fact that soul trapping is a spell bordering on necromancy and necromancy is highly frowned upon in Genkai. Not like it stopped me before.
Dealing with that witch was troublesome as always. While annoying, she offered a lot of supplies. Opening the door to the library, a place where I could often be seen supervising the training of my apprentice, I felt the way how magic sang and danced in the air.
I belonged to a human. One that I often see being followed by Ais, the same human that had helped kill the black infant dragon. He must be enchanting a sword for Ais, as usual, he must have been here for a while. Enchanting a single item often took a while and it was not uncommon for enchanters to tire themselves and require an hour of rest or so to finish an enchantment.
Speaking of Ais, the young girl was fast asleep with a book in hand and a green jacket around her form as a blanket beside a sleeping Lefiya. The enchanter, someone Ais had taken a liking to in a way similar to a sister following her brother. I could feel my eyes widen as numerous orbs surrounded the human as he enchanted items one after the other in a trance. That locket... my father gave it to me, a gift of reconciliation.
"Would you mind enchanting this locket?" I was not able to stop myself and our eyes met. Dark eyes burned with a passion that bordered madness, hidden well by the blank mask on his face.
"I could," The human's voice was rising in a way similar to excitement. "What kind?"
"Something that would not let me lose it."
"I see," I heard him say as he held the locket, eyes focusing on the small piece of metal adorned with jewels. He muttered several things and I could not help but wonder how could he enchant something. I could only watch as he dug and took out a handful of common-quality monster crystals.
Light, normally an enchanter created a light whenever they succeeded in enchanting something, the more beautiful the light, the stronger the enchantment is. But the light this human produced with his enchantment was beautiful, similar to the ethereal construct constellations give out, only the constellation vaguely forming a robed figure of varying shades of blue until it dissipated to the night sky of regions found in the north.
Beautiful, for an elf raised as a princess I have seen numerous things that an ordinary mortal would never see in their lifetime. This light, this skill, it was insane. How could something like this exist? As the light remained, a beautiful sight previously unknown to me let itself known, stars in a song, each one creating a symphony that resulted in a harmony of beautiful sights.
Ais, you have seen this before, haven't you? Is this why you follow this man?
"Here," Dark eyes met with mine. The locket! I forgot. "I'll send the invoice later," I watched as he picked a sword, one of Ais' blades. Taking a handful of crystals, I could not help but never want to look away.
The light that the enchantment on the blades was different, if the one produced by the enchantments on my locket were outside of this world, the sword's light gave out a faint glow similar to a breeze and wind found in the northern sky.
"Beautiful," The words escaped my mouth.
Finally finished this chapter! Anyway, who wants to see Ren on his way to Alf's royal forest? Oh, don't worry, I have some plans for the harem and no, Lefiya, Ais, and Tiona are not part of the harem.
These are the skills Ren has:
1. Outsider's Mania
2. Mad Enchanter
3. Beast blood
4. ?
