In the evening I was studying my necromancy book. I closely examined the spell runes and I noticed something. I had been altering them, slightly, in my mind. Had it been instinct? The headmaster once told me that it was not uncommon for archmages to discover new spell runes. Maybe changing them was also something that came naturally to people with a high affinity?

I also checked my water magic book. When it came to ice and water spells my runes matched the official ones. So I had only ever changed my necromancy subconsciously. While I had a death magic and a water magic affinity there was a clear difference when it came to my talent. Necromancy felt a lot more intuitive.

Teachers had been talking about strong affinities, I suppose. Apparently there was more to it than core size.

Of course, the really interesting question was: Could I make my necromancy even better? Intuition was good but studying possible improvements and using them consciously was certainly better. The normal raising undead spells already allowed for the addition of an element. They were designed that way. So what sort of modification could I add? What had I done subconsciously anyway? Maybe changed the range?

Or should I consider changing my defences? Could I improve my water shield? Most of my focus had been on raising the dead. Maybe I should invest more time in direct spells, like the necrotic ray.

Thinking about defences I started contemplating our gear. So far we did not have anything special. "Helena…" I wanted to ask her a question but when I looked up from my book I stopped.

We were in our room. Helena was sitting on the other bed and she had conjured an ice dagger. The dagger was flying in a circle and Nyx was chasing it. Considering the speed, she was experimenting with modifications. Nyx was not trying too hard but she seemed to enjoy herself. Despite being a tier three she was still a cat, I suppose.

Helena had heard her name and looked at me. "What's up?"

She stopped her ice dagger, which meant Nyx caught it and immediately started chewing it.

"I was just thinking about gear." I said. "And I realised I know very little about magical items…"

Helena pondered that. "I don't know that much either. I know we use magical lights. And magic heats the water in the shower,... I also know that armour and weapons are expensive. My father never let me use anything." She pouted.

I got up and looked at the class schedule. There was an optional lecture about magical items. I had not signed up for it but maybe it was not too late.

"I want to take that class about items." I said.

"You know, that could be interesting." Helena mused.

And so we found ourselves in a class about items, a few days later. Skadi and Cassie were here too. Skadi was wearing a sleeveless uniform, now that she had become a spellblade. She had fully recovered and was now being trained with her runes. Things were still going well.

"Why is this class optional?" I asked my friends.

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"Because the military does not provide you with a lot of magical gear. And if they do, you get specific instructions for the item. The theory behind enchanting is more of a civilian topic. It's probably mandatory in one of the other academies." Skadi explained.

"Depending on your specialisation your classes do mention some useful magical items." Cassie added.

We stopped talking when our teacher arrived. He was a dwarf with red hair and a long beard. "Greetings students! I am Durath and I will teach you about the wonders of enchanting!"

Wait? Was this an actual class about enchanting? I only wanted to learn about items. Helena looked similarly surprised. Skadi and Cassie looked like they had known. Maybe I should have read the description better…

Meanwhile Durath began the lecture: "When it comes to magical items there are three main categories. The first are items powered by ambient mana. They need time to recharge and are generally not very powerful. But they can be used for quite a long time and are available to non-mages. The second category are charged items, a mage will have to power them. The third category are artefacts. They power themselves, with a core."

My eyes widened. I also saw a lot of shocked faces. Then I raised my hand. Many others did as well.

Durath chuckled. "You are all wondering about the core, I assume. How can an item have a core? The answer is, you bind something with a core to it. An elemental, a monster, some powerful creature that you sacrifice in the process. And yes, you could do this with people as well. Of course, not many are capable of creating such items in the first place. Quite a bit of this knowledge is lost, or the secret is closely guarded by a master enchanter. You would need to be at least a senior mage to create an item like that anyway."

I raised my hand again.

"Yes."

"What if you bound a magical creature without a core?" I wondered.

"Technically every creature has a core. Even a normal person. But we often ignore that fact if it is too small. But in such a case it would not be able to power an artifact."

"What about tier two undead?" I asked.

"Ah. You are thinking about the bond you have with your minions, I assume. Technically you might be able to use that but in the end you would be the one powering the artefact. The worth of such a thing might be debatable but I am not an expert on undead. Normally you would just create a category two item." He said and pulled out a wand.

"When it comes to category two items there are two subcategories. Items with a mana storage and items without. This wand can not store anything. But if I fill it with mana its effect will trigger." The wand began to glow.

"In this case it is a simple light spell. A wand like that can be useful for spells you have not learned. Or to spare yourself from the mental fatigue of forming the same rune over and over again. But it is a crutch. Usually mastering the spell itself is the better option. What is more interesting is an amplifying wand." He pulled out a different one.

"This does not contain a spell but a spell modifier. It can make your spell bigger, for example. Keep in mind that you are still paying the mana cost. It only helps you modify a spell without having to form the proper runes in your mind. But this also brings us to the second subcategory. There are amplifying wands with a mana storage. So you could fill them before a battle and then use the mana inside to amplify your effect. Of course, mana storage is not cheap."

He put the wands away again. "Besides wands there are many magical items in the 2nd category, like a lot of the conveniences you have in your homes. Mages have to recharge them regularly. If you have an ice box, those need too much mana for the first category. They are often recharged on a weekly basis. Flowing water is often achieved with category one, hot water is category two. Just to name some examples. But you are more interested in combat, I assume."

Durath smiled and pulled a dagger from his bag. "Weapons and armour are mostly category two. It can be very useful to have a defensive spell on your armour with a small storage. But mana storage is expensive. Even if it's just the runes it can allow you to react faster. Especially if you were concentrating on a different spell. A magical item just needs mana."

The dagger in his hand suddenly burst into flames. "As a mage you can enhance your weapons with a spell. The biggest issue with this is targeting the weapon properly. If the spell is forged into the weapon it becomes rather simple. Weapons are great for a category two enhancement."

The dagger stopped burning and he put it away again. "Items with a magical storage can even allow you to use mana of a different element. But you would need an appropriate mage to recharge it. And the biggest problem of them all is always cost. Creating a magical item is a delicate process. You can't simply paint the runes on something. You need the proper ink. You also need to design the specific runes, to make sure they target the right thing. Magical storage is achieved with crystals. Those have to be carved and alchemically prepared. There is a reason why a lot of mages are not covered in magic items."

Money was a problem. Especially since I was more interested in spending it on corpses, or alchemy to improve my corpses. Would it be worth it to spend time on enchanting? I had a lot of classes already. Or was there a way to use enchanting for better undead? From what I knew, enchantments would interfere with the raise dead spell. You would need to somehow integrate them. Could you combine enchanting runes with raise dead runes? Could you create a combination spell, somehow? Now that was an interesting thought. Maybe I should ask Gronir.

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