After tying up the horses and giving his pack a quick sort, Eric made a beeline for the warehouse.
He returned moments later, arms full of materials, and dashed off toward the industrial quarter. There, he began constructing a variety of forge equipment, setting up tools with the single-minded intensity of a dwarven blacksmith on a deadline.
First came the Dwarven Smelting Array—an absolute beast of a machine, nearly as big as the nearby smithy itself. Erecting the thing took an absurd amount of iron and more than a few bruised knuckles. But eventually, after a good deal of grunting and grumbling, Eric stepped back and admired his handiwork.
Next came an assortment of Dwarven Anvils and Forging Tables, large and small, each one forged for a specific craft. One of them even featured a massive counterweight hammer that needed overhead support—clearly designed for underground use.
So, Eric did the sensible thing.
He dug down.
Expanding the industrial quarter beneath the surface, he hollowed out a spacious underground forge hall. Every dwarven device found its new home below, right where it belonged.
"There," he muttered, nodding in satisfaction. "Just like the dwarves do it. Underground. With minimal sunlight and maximum efficiency."
He hauled in coal next, dumping hefty chunks into the smelting array, followed by stone blocks.
As the furnace roared to life, flame devouring fuel, the stones inside began to melt. Bucket after bucket of lava poured out of the array like molten gold.
Eric dunked the lava straight into water, rapidly creating shimmering obsidian, which he mined up with his enchanted Dwarven Steel Pickaxe.
Raw materials? Secured.
In a quiet corner of the forge, Eric pulled up his crafting interface.
[Achievement Unlocked: Enchanter]
A few moments later, he placed a newly crafted block onto the ground, a gleaming obsidian pedestal with diamond-inlaid corners and, hovering in its center, a mysterious floating book.
The Enchantment Table was finally complete.
As if recognizing his presence, the book fluttered open on its own, angling its glowing pages toward him for easier reading. Enchanted letters shimmered across the parchment arcane glyphs, cryptic runes, and some downright confusing squiggles.
Eric squinted. He could only make sense of the first few. The rest looked like alphabet soup gone mad.
You only got to see one possible enchantment in advance, the rest were a gamble.
But he wasn't rushing. Not yet. To get the best results, he still needed bookshelves.
[Achievement Unlocked: Librarian]
Soon, towering rows of bookshelves surrounded the table, nearly two meters high, humming with barely visible runes that floated from the shelves and spiraled into the heart of the Enchantment Table.
Eric stood back, proud of the setup.
"Next time Farodan shows up, he's definitely going to call me a wizard again," he muttered. "At this point, I don't even have a defense. Fine. Wizard it is."
With the enchantment table fully powered, Eric carefully placed his Elven Steel Sword on the table.
Shwing—
The blade levitated into the air, rotating slowly above the table.
Three options shimmered into view.
Eric skipped the first two and zeroed in on the third.
[Sharpness IV…?]
Nice. That meant at least one guaranteed enchantment would be Sharpness IV. The others? A mystery.
Eric checked his level.
Level 47. Plenty to work with.
He tossed in a handful of lapis lazuli. Blue sparks burst from the table, swirling around the sword.
The results flickered into view.
Sharpness IV
Unbreaking III
Sweeping Edge III
The sword's damage jumped from 9 to 11.5.
"Not bad at all."
The blade didn't look much different at first glance, but on closer inspection, it shimmered faintly, light dancing along the edge like mist on a moonlit blade.
It even harmonized with the sword's existing Elven glow, adding a touch of majesty to the already elegant weapon.
Eric couldn't stop admiring it.
"One swing, one orc," he grinned.
Still… Sharpness IV? That wouldn't do. Not forever.
He fished out his Elven Steel Armor, placing each piece on the table in turn.
"Protection IV? Yes, please."
"Unbreaking III? Meh… Let's reroll."
His levels started to drop like chicken feed.
By the time he hit Level 29, Eric had a full set of Protection IV armor and even managed to enchant a book with Unbreaking III.
Just a bit more EXP, and he could push his sword further.
So he did the reasonable thing: slaughtered a bunch of chickens.
A few minutes later, sword back on the table.
[Sharpness IV, Respiration…]
Another lucky roll.
He fused the two swords using an anvil, and finally—
Sharpness V
Unbreaking III
Sweeping Edge III
Attack damage: 12.0
A weapon stronger than any Netherite sword. Pure power.
With a full set of enchanted Elven armor and a blade that could probably slice through a troll's toenail like butter, Eric reckoned he could now take on that wolf-riding warband from the Ogre Forest head-on. No stealth. No tricks. Just steel, strength, and stubbornness.
Small fry? No longer a threat.
Still, Eric eyed his sword, unsatisfied.
"Only three enchantments…"
Didn't matter—he was out of experience.
How to get more enchanted books?
Fishing.
It wasn't glamorous, but it worked. Bonus: you got experience too.
Except… he needed string.
Eric blinked.
After all this time… he had never once picked up a piece of string.
He really didn't want to go hunting giant spiders in some dark forest or Mordor-esque wasteland.
Wait…
A memory clicked. He passed a small farming village near Brimshire that grew flax.
Flax. Of course. Flax = String.
Without hesitation, Eric dashed off.
The next day, he returned with a few seeds and planted them immediately, showering them with bone meal.
[Crop Gained: Flax]
[Crafting Recipe Unlocked: 1 Flax = 1 String]
"No more spider hunts for me."
He promptly started a flax field, harvested a bunch, and crafted a fishing rod.
And then he cast his line.
The sun dipped below the hills.
One catch. Then another.
Bow. Leather. Rotten flesh. A bowl. A tripwire hook. A stick. A water bottle. An enchanted book...
"Ugh. Junk. All junk."
He looked at the growing chest of fish and flotsam and let out a yawn.
Still, all-day fishing had brought him back up to level 30.
Time for a better rod.
He enchanted it.
Luck of the Sea III
Unbreaking III
No Lure, sadly.
"Could be worse."
That enchantment tripled his odds of reeling in treasure. Worth it.
Night had fully fallen.
Eric wandered over to the pasture and tossed some feed to his livestock.
Clink.
Some wool dropped into his backpack.
He stared at it.
His first wool.
Wait…
He'd never made a bed before.
Come to think of it, he hadn't really needed one. He never got tired. Never slept. Mining, forging, building—repeat. Even his current "bed" was just two planks shoved together. No blankets. No pillow. Not even a mattress.
Not exactly inviting.
Eric frowned.
He didn't care about comfort, but if guests ever visited, forcing them to sleep on wood slabs was… well… rude.
Not everyone was a vagabond who could sleep on moss.
So he made his first real bed.
Then he made several more.
His master bedroom? Now had three beds fused together into one massive slab of cozy.
With a dramatic leap, Eric flopped onto the giant bed.
"Ahhhhh—finally~" he groaned, melting into the wool-stuffed softness. "This… this is heavenly."
The comfort was unreal. Better than anything he'd ever slept on. Maybe even rivaling the beds of Rivendell.
[Respawn Point Set]
"Wait—what?!"