Adventurer of Many Professions

The Alchemist Guild building stood proudly, the most luxurious structure in Wittes after the temple. Though only four stories tall, its walls were covered in expensive marble tiles, and the logo of the Alchemist Association gleamed brightly at the top, plated in gold.

The symbol; combining a craftsman's hammer and a pharmacist's leaf, was as tall as a person, dazzling in the sunlight. Raymond's eyes widened as he calculated the cost. "Two kilograms of gold to plate that logo? That's at least a hundred gold coins! What a luxury!"

Raymond couldn't help but shake his head in amazement. He had come to the Alchemist Association for one thing: to enchant the Dark Moon sword he held in his hand.

It had been five days since he had forged the Dark Moon, and now, finally, he was ready to take the next step.

In the past five days, Raymond had learned the simple process of requesting an enchantment from President Beno at the Alchemist Association. It was straightforward, just visit the front desk, let them know, and they would check with President Beno if he had time. If he did, you could go upstairs to arrange the enchantment. If not, they'd inform you when he would be available, and you could bring your weapon back then.

However, the enchantment process came with a hefty price. Enchanting any magic device would cost fifty gold coins, but if the item wasn't magical, the price would be a bit lower.

Raymond sighed, feeling the weight of the fifty gold coins in his purse. "I hope today's a good day for this. But, wow, enchantments really are expensive!"

He touched his purse, which was almost empty. This was nearly all his wealth. Due to the ongoing bandit situation, the Knights hadn't caught them yet, and Raymond's income had slowed down significantly. Manik had only been able to provide enough herbs for five bottles of 'Primary Magic Recovery Potion' a day, which meant his cash flow was barely enough to cover his expenses.

"If it weren't for Pierre selling more weapons lately, I'd be broke after paying for this enchantment," Raymond muttered, a bitter smile on his face.

But despite the financial strain, Raymond knew it was worth it. Skill points were a much harder commodity to come by, and enchanting Dark Moon was an investment he couldn't pass up. After all, he needed those skill points to prepare for the Berserker awakening and the eventual battle with the Mad Baboon.

The bandits had made his life difficult, limiting his opportunities to earn money and kill monsters for skill points. "I can't stand them," Raymond grumbled.

"But I've heard the Knights are stepping up their search for the bandits. They've even brought in outside help, so things should wrap up soon... Even if they don't catch them, the bandits will probably move on once they realize this place isn't worth it."

He shrugged and refocused. "Let's get the Dark Moon enchanted first."

Raymond entered the Alchemist Association, and as he looked around, he couldn't help but feel both speechless and envious. The place was decked out in magnificent decorations, every inch screaming wealth.

He approached the receptionist. "Hello, my name is Creed, and I'd like to see President Beno about enchanting my weapon."

The receptionist looked him over with a smile, noticing his fierce appearance thanks to his disguise. "Certainly, Mr. Creed. Please wait here for a moment while I check if President Beno is available."

"Thank you," Raymond replied, his grip tightening around the Dark Moon as he waited.

A few moments later, the receptionist returned with good news. "Mr. Creed, President Beno is available. Please follow me."

Raymond's face brightened with excitement. "Great!"

He followed the receptionist up to the fourth floor and arrived at a room at the end of the hall.

Knock, knock, knock!

The receptionist knocked on the door, and an elderly voice from inside responded, "Come in."

However, instead of entering, the receptionist gestured for Raymond to go in himself.

Raymond nodded, walked to the door, turned the handle, and stepped inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was the shelves lined with rows of medicine tubes filled with various colorful liquids. Beside them were glass bottles of all sizes, each containing different substances, some with metal, others with herbs, and some with strange, unidentifiable items. Each container was carefully labeled.

The room felt like a laboratory out of a science fiction movie from Raymond's past life. But wait; didn't President Beno claim to be a craftsman? Why were there no blacksmithing tools in sight?@@novelbin@@

As if reading Raymond's thoughts, an elderly man in a white coat, looking about sixty with a bald head and white hair, stepped out from behind the bottles and jars.

This was President Beno, the head of the Wittes branch of the Alchemist Association.

As the man entered the room, a blue panel popped up in front of Raymond:

"Learnable skill detected: Enchanting [Craftsman], learning cost: 5 skill points."

"Learnable skill detected: Metal Separation [Craftsman] [Upgradable], learning cost: 1 skill point."

Seeing that "Enchanting" required 5 skill points, Raymond immediately decided to abandon the idea of learning it.

Five skill points were a lot, almost all the most important skills for any profession, excluding the basic awakening skills or explosive magic, required five points. This was something Raymond was already used to.

However, Raymond wasn't surprised by the sudden appearance of the panel.

After a brief moment of thought, he said, "I assume this has something to do with the promotion to 'Alchemist,' right?"

President Beno smiled and nodded, his face brightening. But then, his expression turned somber. "Ah, you're not wrong, but it's still a long way off. Becoming an alchemist and comprehending 'alchemy' is no easy feat."

Raymond's mind raced, alchemy, the way to awaken a second profession. It was just like 'Blood Rage' once you understand it, you gain access to the second profession's skill set.

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Before he could comment, President Beno sighed, shaking his head. "Why am I even telling you all this? It's far too early for you to worry about alchemy."

The old man's eyes then shifted to the ebony scabbard in Raymond's hand. "Is this the weapon you want enchanted?"

"Yes," Raymond replied, holding out Dark Moon.

With a curious glance, President Beno took the sword from Raymond's hands and unsheathed it with a quick motion. Upon inspecting it, his eyebrows lifted. "Hmm, black iron, I see."

He looked back at Raymond and asked, "Is this your sword?"

"Yes," Raymond answered with a nod, eager to get the enchantment started.

Raymond wasn't at all surprised when President Beno immediately identified that 'Dark Moon' was made of black iron.

After all, Beno was a master craftsman and the president of the Alchemist Association, it would be odd if he couldn't tell.

"You've had a craftsman do something special with this sword," Beno mused, inspecting 'Dark Moon'. "You probably don't want people to know it's a magic device. You must've sourced the black iron yourself... If it were a true magic weapon, the craftsman would be rushing to the association to boast about it."

Raymond stayed quiet, letting Beno believe whatever he wanted. It was easier that way, and the assumptions worked in his favor.

"Well then..." Beno continued, clearly not bothered by his own speculations. "What's the name of this magic device?"

"Dark Moon," Raymond replied.

"Dark Moon? Hmm, that's a solid name. Far better than that dwarf 'Grewell', who called his black iron gloves 'Death Gloves.' Awful name, really."

Raymond bit back a laugh at Beno's comments, imagining how 'Grewell' the fiery dwarf, would react if he heard that.

"Alright," Beno said, clearly eager to move on. "I'll enchant 'Dark Moon' now. I have other matters to attend to."

With that, he handed Raymond the scabbard, took 'Dark Moon', and examined it closely. Holding the hilt with one hand and supporting the blade with the other, he closed his eyes.

A soft blue glow appeared around Beno's left hand and began to flow slowly over the sword. The light enveloped 'Dark Moon', moving along its length, before eventually fading.

When the light vanished, Beno opened his eyes, a slight weariness in them. He handed 'Dark Moon' back to Raymond, saying, "It's enchanted now. Pay the receptionist fifty gold coins, and you're all set. If that's all, you may leave."

Raymond, sensing Beno's fatigue, nodded with gratitude. "Thank you, President."

He quickly left the room, paid the receptionist, and exited the building, 'Dark Moon' now in his hands. His heart raced with excitement as he made his way back to Red Rose Street.

Once he entered his house, he couldn't wait to try out the newly enchanted 'Dark Moon'. He rushed upstairs to the utility room, drew the sword, and swung it through the air.

With a deep breath, Raymond focused on the sword, then checked the panel.

"Magic value: 815.3/935.3."

He grinned when he saw the result 'Dark Moon' had halved the mana cost for his 'Taunt' skill, which normally required 240 points of magic. Now it only drained 120!

Raymond's excitement was palpable as he swung 'Dark Moon' in his hand. "These fifty gold coins were totally worth it!"

With 'Dark Moon', his magic capacity had effectively doubled! Now, with 935.3 mana points, he had a total of 1970.6 mana points!