Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

Stockholm silently stared at Kieran for a while before revealing a somewhat strange expression. "You want to be tested as an Enchanter? Are you sure? Not many would attempt this path. After all, it's difficult to progress in this profession without understanding the core of Enchanting."

As mentioned before, the Enchanter Profession could only be obtained from the Mystic Sanctum, requiring a strict set of skills to enchant items or one's body without totally destroying the item.

Compared to becoming a Forger, an Alchemist, or a Lapidarist, the success rate of becoming an Enchanter was abysmal!

Furthermore, those who succeeded were generally skilled Mages, those already adept at manipulating several types of Mana to do their bidding.

"I suppose so." Kieran shrugged his shoulders in response.

"If that's the case, do you have any enchantment specializations? It can be separated into physical enchantments designed to empower your body, material enchantments capable of fortifying items, and finally, battle enchantments, which are weaponized enchantments," Stockholm questioned, attempting to get a read on Kieran's abilities before understanding what to look for.

The nature of Stockholm's question made Kieran slightly grimace.

Why? Because with the Inimitable Scribe ability and the Mystical Fabrication arts, he could quite literally apply all of these enchantments ONCE he became skilled enough.

Currently, his expertise resided in the first and last option.

Though he couldn't claim to be exceptionally skilled, the effects of the Archaic Syllabary of Eni continued to hone several of his personal aspects.

If he so willed it, Kieran could potentially unleash the Sixth Syllable of Eni to empower his abilities as he comprehended its hidden concept.

The only issue with this was he hadn't tried it on a person yet, so he wasn't sure how it'd affect whatever medium Stockholm would use to conduct the test.

Eventually, Kieran decided to play it safe for now. 'I'll keep that ability hidden until I find the time to test its effects and confirm my limits. For now, I'll opt for the last option.'

"I do." Kieran nodded faintly. "As of right now, I suppose my specialty is battle enchantments. I'd be comfortable with having that evaluated."

"Very well," Stockholm replied in an understanding tone. "Please follow me to the testing area where we'll evaluate your skill in regards to enchantments. If deemed sufficient, you'll be given the right to become a Union Leader."

Kieran began to follow Stockholm before glancing at his side, noticing that Agatha had tagged along.

"What?" Agatha blinked and gave an exaggerated expression. "I'm curious as well. I want to see you in action and understand what you learned inside that place."

"Be my guest then," Kieran replied, somewhat ignoring Agatha's straightforward and combative attitude.

"That's my intention," Agatha remarked, crossing her arms.

Kieran soon arrived before a door that, after Stockholm opened, resembled a miniaturized version of the Training Halls' training room. A single puppet-looking construct existed inside. It was silver in color and shimmered with the sheen of a polished metal alloy.

"If you can battle with your battle enchantments for at least 5 minutes, you'll pass the evaluation because the puppet is judged to be at the initial Advanced Being stage," Stockholm revealed.

Kieran looked at the puppet, which previously sat in an upright fetal position, and witnessed its changes.

Though its body appeared to be on the slender side, it was clear that the creator deeply considered the importance of a resilient physique.

'In this case, the First Supreme Cipher of Eni won't cut it. However, I'm also unfamiliar with the rest. In that case, I'll have to rely upon pure mystic energy manipulation,' Kieran thought.

Following his stimulation of the relic, the Archaic Verity Compendium thrummed, releasing a cluster of mystic energy potent enough to saturate Kieran's mind.

Within seconds, two different sequences manifested around his right and left hands.

The sequences stretched until the middle of his forearm, causing Stockholm to be alarmed. 'Wait… what type of enchantment practice is this? That energy isn't Mana… it's…'

Stockholm's heart palpitated as he slowly turned toward Agatha in abject horror. "Could you be… the Mystic Mistress, Lady Agatha?"

"And what if I am?" Agatha replied with a mischievous smile.

"Then… is that man your student?"

"Student? Not at all. There's nothing I can teach him per se. All I can do is guide him in the area he often makes mistakes. I suppose you could say he's more or less my equal," Agatha replied.

All Stockholm could do in response was gulp and somewhat rue his circumstances.

'Why didn't they reveal their identities?! We could have avoided this entire evaluation! If word got out that I doubted the skill of someone related to the Mystic Mistress… I could be shunned!'

Dismay and concern overwhelmed Stockholm's mind, but the evaluation was already in progress.

"No need to become so worried. If he wanted to tell you, he would have. He needs something to compare his current strength to, so it's something he looks forward to," Agatha explained, calming Stockholm's concerns.

Stockholm sighed in relief and nodded after that.

Whoosh!

Kieran dashed toward the evaluation puppet as his Eyes of Profound Discerning activated, increasing the effects of his Perception by 500%. Such a drastic increase coupled with some of the latent effects yet to appear in his Racial Transition caused everything to turn strange within Kieran's view.

'Are these the weaknesses in the puppet's physique?' Kieran questioned.

From his perspective, Kieran could see hitches in the combat puppet's movements and some of them seemed severe.

'When it comes to wordmancing, the limit imposed upon the class is one's mind. According to Hekaina's brief teaching, if I can't imagine what I wish to fabricate, I won't be able to create it. But… I must also maintain a stable image of the construct in my mind until I become proficient enough that I don't require it.'

Oom! Clank!

The mystic energy in Kieran's possession quickly coalesced into an axe with a slightly rigid edge. It wasn't as sharp as Kieran would have liked it to be but he couldn't complain because this was the current extent of his skill.

If he wanted to refine his fabrications, it'd take further utilization of this ability.

While simultaneously clutching the axe composed of mystic motes, Kieran lifted his right hand and created a prism to contain the combat puppet.

Bang! Bang!

Small tremors rocked the room as the puppet assaulted the prism. Soon, small cracks appeared on its surface with each of the puppet's blows, but Kieran didn't despair over this outcome.

'The enchantments are sturdy, but not exceptionally sturdy. Though the Archaic Syllabary is the foundation of wordmancing, it only makes up the first half. The second half is wielding the mystic energy proficiently enough so that the syllable may reinforce its fundamentals.'

Minutes quickly passed as Kieran conjured several types of weapons to become accustomed to wielding various types of mystic constructs. Even shields weren't out of the equation as Kieran continued to test how versatile this energy was.

'It's not much different from the vitality manipulation aspect of Blood Mania, except it's much quicker. Because I have the Archaic Verity Compendium to supply extremely pure mystic energy from the Ancient Rune Oasis, the delay in my actions has become minimal.'

"Lady Agatha… he's quite skilled. But why does it feel as if he could do more than he's currently accomplishing?" Stockholm asked, a hint of curiosity illuminating his expression.

"Because he likely can. I guess he sees this as nothing more than an opportunity to gradually test out his abilities," Agatha replied. Her eyes shimmered as she analyzed the flow of the battle.

'If he was skilled enough to use the Eighth Supreme Cipher of Eni, this evaluation would have long since ended. Unfortunately, it's one of the most complex ciphers. After all… when used properly, it could emulate a power similar to Origin Principles.'

The Nine Supreme Ciphers of Eni was the culmination of Eni's boundless knowledge, so it was understandable that when brought to the extreme, it could accomplish feats that defied what humans of today understood.

For example, creating the void-like space in the nameless space could, in essence, rival the Void Origin Principle.

As the evaluation progressed past 10 minutes, Kieran moved from employing the pure concepts of the Archaic Syllables, beginning with the fifth and sixth.

With that, a rapid change occurred, where the constructs Kieran created became further fortified and strong enough to knock back the combat puppet with little effort.

Amidst him wielding a hammer-like construct, Stockholm was overcome by fright because he could feel the puppet inching toward certain destruction.

"Wait! Wait! Sir, please stop! The evaluation has ended! It has ended!" Stockholm shouted at the top of his lungs.

Listening to the frantic screams, Kieran paused the hammer's final strike and grew lax as he stood at ease. "I suppose destroying this thing wouldn't be ideal. My apologies."

'What an absolute monster… that puppet should be capable of contending against a Lv.75 - 85 Advanced Being, yet he didn't break a sweat!' Stockholm clutched his chest as his thoughts heightened his internal turmoil.

"Please follow me to the front and we'll handle all necessary procedures," Stockholm urged, attempting to quickly draw Kieran away from this area.

Noticing Stockholm's eagerness, Kieran obliged and followed him back to the counter where he began asking a series of questions.

"Your skill is undoubtedly enough to become a Union Leader. To finish the process, we must record some of your personal information. I'll ask since I have learned of Lady Agatha's identity, is a simple Enchanter what you truly want to be listed as?"

"Runemaster—label me a Runemaster," Kieran answered.

"Name?"

"Aatrox," Kieran replied.

"And finally, what will the name of your Union be?" Stockholm asked, swiftly recording all of the information in a large log.

'The name of the Union, huh? Pardon me for intruding upon your future, but I'll be claiming your name,' Kieran thought, a devilish smirk appearing through his handsome visage.

"Godhand Consortium," Kieran answered.

Ding!

〈System: You have become the first player to own an official «Union»!〉