Zeke took out one of the square metal disks from the cabinet and inspected it. Despite being made from a much cheaper material, the practice plate had almost the same weight as the Voidiron. As he walked over to the clamps, Zeke rubbed the smooth surface of the material with his thumbs, trying to get a sense of its hardness.
After strapping it in, he remained motionless. Instead of using his eyes, he used his [Perfect Spatial Awareness] to get a good idea of the properties of the dark gray alloy. He found that the material used in these practice plates barely conducted any Mana as well. This made them appear shaded in his spatial awareness. It didn't show up as complete nothingness to his senses, as the Voidiron had, but the Space mana still had a hard time penetrating the plate.
Zeke grinned. It would actually be more difficult to work with these plates than the real ones. If he managed to carve the Runes on them, he could be certain to do at least as well on the final version.
Before he began, Zeke moved to the top-grade Enchantment Henry had engraved today. The majesty of the finished product left Zeke in awe, his lips curling as he laid eyes on it. But his expression turned serious the very next moment. A lot depended on his ability to be able to craft high-level Enchantments. He would not be able to find a sufficiently talented Metal Mage in time, and as much as he would like to hire Henry, he couldn't afford to.
Zeke took a deep breath and focused his mind. With an effort of will, he dialed up the effects of his [Perfect Spatial Awareness] and [Perfect Sensory Recall]. His goal was to create a flawless imprint of the Rune in front of him. The two spells would already document anything around him at any given time. However, Zeke suspected that his usual recordings wouldn't be precise enough for his current purpose.
After he was certain that he had an absolutely immaculate imprint of the rune, he walked back to the workbench. Zeke fished out something from his pocket. This object was the key to his engraving strategy. With expectation clear in his eyes, Zeke put the projection diadem onto his head. As usual, the silver band fit snugly around his head, which, in turn, pressed the projection crystal flat against his forehead. This was the moment of truth.
With a thought, Zeke turned on the device and looked down. A wide smile spread across his face as he saw the outline of the rune appear on the surface of the plate. The hundreds of connected and overlaying lines and curves were all neatly displayed. Not only the position but also the depth of the carving was indicated through a color coding system Zeke had developed. This was the fruit of his effort over the last couple of days. It felt like cheating, and he loved it!
With the grin still plastered on his face, Zeke took out the hand carver. Compared to the chisel, this tool was faster but needed a lot more finesse. Before he began, he closed his eyes for a few beats and took a deep breath. When his eyes opened again, they displayed pure focus. It was like he was under a spell. This wasn't far from the truth, as he was using a special version of [Perfect Body Control] right now. He had come to refer to this as Puppet Mode.
Zeke had found out how to enter this state a while ago. The discovery had initially been an accident. He had been playing around with some concepts of Soul Magic. He didn't get far, as the notes he had found in the Giger ruins were anything but comprehensive — or complete, for that matter. So far, this state was his only attainment and Zeke had long since wanted to use it for something.
In Puppet Mode, he was almost like a machine himself. His body was being piloted instead of controlled; it was a strange state of existence. It didn't even feel like he was inhabiting his body at all. He seemed to exist in a form that was removed from anything physical. To him, it almost appeared as if he was looking over his own shoulder.
For a split second, Zeke sensed a movement out of the corner of his eyes, like a shadow that had darted away. But even after searching for the strange specter for a while, there was nothing to be found. With a mental shrug, Zeke put it out of his mind and began to familiarize himself with this new state of being.
Zeke began to move. With the tool in hand, Zeke tried to mimic the movements he had seen Henry do. He started out slow, his body more akin to a rusty hinge than the precision instrument he wanted it to be. Over time though, his initially clunky movements became more fluid. And despite the ever-increasing speed, he was able to remain precise in his motions. It took him around an hour until he was comfortable enough to start his work.
When Zeke finally felt ready to start for real, he was infinitely careful as he lowered the tool's edge onto the plate. The Sharpness-Enchanted blade of the carver cut through the practice plate like butter. In his shock, Zeke almost ruined the plate he was working on. Luckily, his body adjusted with lightning speed, saving him from the embarrassing mistake.
He was much better prepared on his second attempt, the blade smoothly gliding along its intended path. One cut led to the next, and as time passed, a Rune slowly emerged on the metal surface. After roughly two hours, Zeke finished his work. With a thought, he exited his trance, returning to his body. With expectant eyes, Zeke studied the result.
The Rune was an eyesore. There were many lines Zeke had messed up. In his inexperience, he had handled the tool poorly on more than one occasion, damaging the plate in the process. Zeke could honestly say that he would be surprised if this would even qualify as a Lowest-Grade Enchantment. Even so, a smile emerged on his face.
The reason he was able to smile was twofold. For one, he had refused to limit his speed, finishing a carving that had taken Henry a dozen hours in roughly two. And the second reason was that he had made remarkable progress during those two hours.
As he studied the Rune in detail, his progress was obvious. At the bottom right corner of the plate, where he had started, there were mistakes on every second line. Even the lines that were correct looked wobbly and inconsistent. Zeke's gaze drifted to the opposite side of the plate. The final few lines were so well done, that it was hard to believe they had been carved by the same person. There were no obvious mistakes anymore and the lines looked far more elegant.
Zeke didn't start on another plate right away, despite his excellent progress. Instead, he used his [Perfect Sensory Recall] to observe how Henry used the tool, paying extra attention to the positioning of his fingers. Finger placement was the next aspect he wanted to improve on. He had decided to work on one thing at a time until he hit a bottleneck, before moving on. Only after being confident he had learned all there was to know, did he start on another plate.
Another two hours passed. This time, when Zeke observed his finished Rune, he was certain that it was at least functional. Was it Lowest-Grade? Or maybe just Low-Grade? Zeke couldn't be sure, but it didn't matter either. He had made progress and wouldn't stop here anyway. After another 20 minutes of observing the angles and pressure Henry applied, Zeke started on another plate.
This time, the plate turned out well — really well. Zeke observed his handiwork with a proud expression. He couldn't tell for sure how good it was, but it was definitely not Lowest-Grade. But before Zeke could get started on anything else, he heard a commotion outside the door of the workshop. Through his sphere of awareness, he noticed that Henry and his wife had come down from their apartment upstairs. The two of them were chatting with David, who had spent his night reading in front of the workshop.
Zeke glanced over at the curtain that covered the solitary window. Through the holes in the veil, he could vaguely make out that it was already morning. He hurriedly picked up his previous two attempts and hid them on top of a tall cupboard, a spot where Henry was sure to not check for a while. The moment he returned to the work desk, the door to the workshop opened and Henry stepped into the room.
"You actually stayed. 'Tis commendable, Laddie," the old man praised. He looked much better than the day before, but he clearly wasn't fully recovered yet.
"Are you doing better, Henry?" Zeke asked as he loosened the clamps on his latest project.
"Aye! Nothing a good night's rest won't fix," the old man boasted, but Zeke wasn't buying it. Through his spatial awareness, he had long since noticed that the hands Henry was hiding in his pockets, were shaking terribly. It seemed the old man had long since become reliant on his 'Enchanter Potion' to be able to even practice his craft.
Still, it wasn't Zeke's place to get involved in the man's business. More likely than not, the old man's pride would be hurt if he broached the subject. Instead, Zeke unfastened his plate and held it out for him to see, proudly displaying the fruits of his labor.
"Ohh? You actually managed to finish? It has only been what? Ten hours? I hope you didn't just waste my plates casually," Henry cautioned as he glanced at Zeke's work. His gaze became more focused as he inspected the plate in detail. So absorbed was he, that he didn't even notice when he took his shaking hands out of his pockets to snatch the plate out of Zeke's grip.
With great effort, the old man heaved the metal disk onto the table to take a closer look under a lens. He observes Zeke's work with ever greater wonder and amazement.
"Tax man take me!" he exclaimed. "'Tis almost a mid-grade! How long have you been doing this?"
"It was my first time last night," Zeke responded truthfully.
"Pah! Impossible!" Henry spat. "Tell me, have you done something similar before?"
Zeke thought about it for a moment. "My father is an excellent wood carver, sir. That's probably where I got it from," he said evasively.
"A carver, eh?" the old man said while rubbing his chin. "Must be the best damn carver in Tradespire, then. No matter, this is damn fine work. It usually takes somebody years of practice to get to this level."
As he spoke, he fumbled the bottle out of its hiding spot in his desk. But before actually taking a swig, he turned a suspicious gaze toward Zeke. "You didn't drink any, did you?"
"No, sir," Zeke reassured immediately.
"That's good then. Let's get back to work, laddie," he said, as he unscrewed the cap of the bottle, gulping down the noxious brew. It only took a couple of minutes for the effect to kick in. The old man's hands became as steady as a rock. Without wasting a moment, he began his work on the second Enchantment. Same as the day before, Zeke observed silently as Henry worked.
Just as the sun began to disappear over the horizon, Henry finished the second Rune. The man looked even worse today, and Zeke highly doubted he would be able to do another one without a week of rest, at least. Still, Henry was content with his work, giving it his seal of approval. Now all that remained was another round of powdering.
After the iridescent light of the Arcanite had dimmed, Zeke remained staring at the Rune. He couldn't tear his eyes away from it. Even during the goodbye at the shop and all the way home, his eyes and mind remained fixated on the Levitation Enchantment. Ever since he had first seen it, it had seemed familiar.
Now, finally, he realized where he had seen it before.