Enchanted equipment was a broad category assigned to gear which have been infused with mana.
Humans have created a grading system for their equipment, starting with Normal-grade for the most basic of weaponry and armor, followed by Exquisite-grade for higher tiered versions of normal gear. Anything above that are enchanted equipments which have their own grading system as well. It similarly starts with Low-grade, followed by High-grade, Epic, Semi-Divine and finally Divine.
Each grading has a specific set of definitions assigned to it. Normal-grade weaponry and armor refers to the equipment forged by an adept apprentice. These equipments are usually mass produced and used to outfit a normal army.
Equipment crafted by an official blacksmith falls under the umbrella of Exquisite-grade equipment. The majority of their users are either mercenaries, adventurers or are elites of a large country’s army. These equipments are significantly more durable than Normal-grade gear.
While they are more expensive than their lower grade cousins, they are still considered affordable and provide a good value for money, essentially you wouldn’t be too upset if they broke. This grade was one of the more commonly used grades of equipment.
Anything after that was a watershed in equipment grades; a master class craftsman was required to craft low-grade enchanted equipment. In order for them to craft these gears, they needed a certain degree of magic knowledge. The crafter has to know how to incorporate magical ingredients during the crafting process without causing a magical explosion.
This expertise is important as a large amount of magical ingredients has to be incorporated in order to infuse a small degree of mana into the gear. Furthermore, the degree of infusion was random as a master class craftsman was unable to create a complete magical array with the ingredients given.
Without an array supporting the equipment, it will only possess the bare minimum degree of mana. For example, it will only be able to cast one wind blade of average strength or create a weak magical barrier. This degree of mana is suitable for temporary spells such as levitation or other non-combat spells.
Grandmaster class craftsmen are able to create high-grade enchanted gear. In order for a master class to advance into grandmaster class, he or she has to be able to incorporate magical ingredients while creating a complete magical array.
During the crafting process, a grandmaster craftsman is able to engrave a magical array of his choice, bestowing a specific magical property onto the high-grade gear. The strength of this property is determined by the skill level of the craftsman.
Not only does the strength vary between craftsmen, the number of spells infused are different as well. Some are able to infuse one high level spell while some are able to infuse several spells simultaneously into a single piece of gear. Each piece of high-grade gear is a crystallization of their knowledge and hard work. Thanks to their impressive creations, grandmaster craftsmen enjoy a prestigious position within society; even a king would welcome a visit from these craftsmen.
Epic enchanted gear are a unique case of equipment. These gear used to be high-grade enchanted equipment but had undergone an evolution. However, they shouldn’t be mistaken for any old high-grade gear. Due to having undergone a strengthening of some sort, they are several times stronger than a high-grade gear.
Semi-divine equipment are slightly harder to explain as a concept. If a divine piece of gear could taken as a deity, then a semi-divine equipment has a mortal and divine side to it.
Semi-divine equipment are failed attempts at creating a divine gear. While they can only be considered a defective product, they still possess a fraction of a divine equipment’s might which explains the term “semi-divine”.
Divine equipment, an equipment with a divinity inside it. It is said they can rip the skies apart and shatter the earth. The defining feature of these equipments are the spirit residing within them that allow them to choose their own master.
I know of only one way to describe them: these are works of God and aren’t things a mere mortal can handle.
——From <<Basic Introduction to Enchanted Equipment>>
Having reunited with my subordinates, my next destination was the nest of Mo En. Before that however, the issue with Harlow still has to be settled.
If I had to describe his problem, it would be that he faced the problem all sons-in-law face. Habona wanted Majosha to stay with Harlow in the demonic werewolves’ nest while Manasha would not budge about having the couple live with the medusas.
This was a difficult situation to resolve. Normally in such a marriage, the female side would follow the male side which means Majosha should stay with the werewolves. However, Manasha had vehemently made the point that Harlow was simply too weak and so he should stay with them instead.
A strong wife with a weak pretty face of a husband…it was a pretty disgraceful matter when one thought about it…well, I guess furry face would be more appropriate for Harlow.
This stalemate nearly caused the two older sisters, Habona and Manasha to come to blows as both sides bickered with no signs of a compromise in sight. Thankfully, the pair were each restrained by their younger siblings. Finally, the matter was settled with the mediation by the senior werewolf.
They agreed to having the couple rotate between the clans where Harlow would first stay with the medusas. After a period of time, the two would then come over to the werewolves’ nest.
However, this wasn’t the end of this matter either. With the schedule worked out, the two older sisters got into another heated argument over the couple’s future children. Even though their child would definitely be a medusa, Habona was rather accepting of this fact and had already counted her future niece as a part of the werewolf clan. She adamantly laid her claim on their future child who had not even been seminated.
Naturally, Manasha didn’t agree to this, after all, what right did she have to lay claim over the child? Majosha’s future child would definitely be a medusa. She had only borrowed Harlow’s seed. If this lady’s sister wanted to give birth to a child, it didn’t have to be your brother’s seed! Anyone else would’ve been fine as well!
Such an unyielding statement…if she had said this in the human world, I guarantee a river of blood will flow right after.
In the end, the old werewolf had to step in once more to mediate. The matter ended up being set aside for now.
A while later, the agreement between the two in-laws was finalized.
As Harlow prepared to leave for his new home, he stopped to discuss a matter with Habona. The two siblings barked to each other in the tongue of the werewolves, throwing me a glance from time to time. From the looks of it, Habona didn’t take too well to his suggestion but finally acquiesced with a nod after his determined persuasion.
All in all, the entire discussion about their child custody rights only took about an hour. Compared to the furious back and forths between a human couple, this could only be described as expedient.
With matters settled, it was truly time for the lovebirds to depart. He momentarily stepped away from the loving embrace of a smiling Majosha to bid his farewells to me.
“Master Mo Ke, I’m immensely grateful for your assistance, if it wasn’t for you, both my sisters might have been ensnared as well. As a sign of my gratitude, I have a gift for you.”
“Gift?” He actually wanted to give me a gift…sounds interesting. It shouldn’t be some bone or half-eaten jerky, should it?
“That’s right, it’s a token of my appreciation for helping me and Majosha.” He spread out his empty palms and continued in a slightly helpless tone. “However, the item isn’t with me at the moment so you will have to wait for my sister to give it to you.”
“Ah, in that case, thanks for the gift.” Knowing that I was about to receive a gift thrilled me. No matter what it was, a gift was still a gift and naturally I was more than happy to accept it. I respectfully thanked him for his generosity before asking: “About that, may I know what it is?”
He blinked his eyes playfully and said: “Haha, you will find out soon enough. Don’t worry.”
With this final bit of business done, the pair bid us farewell with a wave of their hands before disappearing around the corner. Soon after they left, Habona came up to me and gave me a tap on the shoulder, signalling for me to follow her.
I eagerly followed her, anxious to see what Harlow’s gift to me was.
After a short walk, we passed through a conspicuously large gathering of werewolves and came to a corner of the maze guarded by a team of werewolves. Right in the middle of these werewolves was a black pole stuck into the ground.
Hmm…black pole?
As I closed in on the item, the identity of this black pole became clear to me. This was no black pole! It’s a sword!
Or perhaps it’s a blade?
Habona walked up to the unidentified weapon and easily pulled it out of the ground. She gave it a couple of reluctant looks before tossing it to me: “Catch.”
“Ah…” I caught it reflexively. It was heavy. Roughly ten to fifteen kg in weight.
I slowly drew out the weapon to find an eye-catching blade that was tinted pitch black. As the last bit of the blade left its sheath, the first impression I had of its entirety was that it almost looked like a large katana except that it wasn’t as curved as one. However, this didn’t mean that it was completely straight either.
It was roughly two meters in length and only had a slight curve to its body that made it look a little like a single-edged blade.
It had a very fine edge. While it was a bit much to describe it as a cicada’s wings, the thickest point on its body was merely 7mm. I wasn’t able to determine its constituent material from a glance and so decided to give it a cursory touch. The moment I did so, I felt a jolt in my body as I was suddenly struck with a sense of lightness.
“This…” Is this the legendary enchanted weapon I heard so much about?
“Shadowfang, an epic enchanted weapon.” She said with a hint of grief in her eyes. I could tell right away that this was a upsetting subject. “It was my mother’s weapon.”
“Your mother?” I paused for a moment before stupidly saying: “Her relics?”
“…she’s not dead…” Her face froze as those words left her mouth. She didn’t elaborate any further.
Not dead. From the looks of it, she wasn’t in the clan either. That could only mean two things: she had either left the clan or wasn’t in this maze entirely. No matter how I looked at it, the latter seemed a lot more likely.
Strange…based on its length alone, Shadowfang doesn’t look like a weapon suited to demonic werewolves…shouldn’t Habona’s mother be a demonic werewolf as well?
In spite of her visibly sullen face, I decided to touch upon this sensitive topic once more: “I thought that demonic werewolves didn’t like to use weapons?”
“…” She gave me a furious glare. Just as I thought she was about to eat me, she suddenly turned to the side and gloomily forced out a sentence: “My mother is a pure werewolf…she tends to avoid her wolf form…”
(Pure werewolves or original werewolves were those who normally looked like a human except at night where they would shapeshift into a wolfman. Demonic werewolves were a subspecies of these werewolves.)
Phew…I’m so glad she didn’t hit me.
