From what I remember, spears would be one of the most popular weapons in apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic scenarios due to their versatility, both in use and manufacture. Proof of this is that at that moment I was making one by basically gluing a "knife" blade to a billiard cue handle.
Someone might ask: why use a billiard cue, aren't they fragile?
I would answer, yes. It depends on the material it's made of.
There are very light and fragile cues, and there are also heavier cues, usually made of stronger wood like oak or mahogany.
Our cues were something in between, "light" for an adult, but heavier for a teenager (or pre-teen). Furthermore, another point that would make the cue more fragile would be the fact that they taper at the tips and leave the back part thicker.
But what if I cut the tip off two cues and joined the thicker parts together?. And you would place the knife on the tip of one of the sides?
From my point of view, I think that way I could get a pretty good spear.
And now comes another problem: how to fix the knife to the tip and ensure that the two stones of the cues don't come loose.
The biggest problem with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic spears has always been their precariousness; making a handle that was a joining of two made things even worse.
Like many people, I have some unconscious tics that trigger when I get nervous and/or too thoughtful, one of them being constantly tapping my index finger against my thumb in a pinching motion or rolling something between my fingers. Unconsciously, I picked up two of the billiard balls and started spinning them in my hand.
If I had tried to do this before becoming a dhampir, they would barely move, both because of their weight and the skill required to spin two balls with one hand (that until now I didn't have). But now I can do it without even thinking; I must have done it for a few minutes before realizing it.
They were relatively heavy and fit well in my hand, the perfect size for setting weapons.
'I think I can use them as weapons too.'
Although they have a much higher chance of being lost even when they hit the target, since it would be easy for them to break.
'...If it were possible to enchant them and transform them into something like magic grenades it would be easier, but it's not that simple to do that... Hey!'
That's when I remembered two things, but just to confirm I looked at the skills section of my status.
[....
Skills: Antisocial 1, Unarmed Combat 7, Combat Instinct 5, Dodge 4, Item Box 0, Hide 1, Silent 1, Read 1, Clean 1, Herbalist 0, Dark Magic 2, Laziness 1, Swordsmanship 6, Archery 5, Stable Step 5, Thrown Weapon Proficiency 5. Acid Resistance 1, Poison Resistance 1, Ice Magic Resistance 2. Pain Resistance 5, Intimidation Resistance 3.
...]
Yeah, one of the ones I wanted is here, I just need one more thing to test my idea.
[Acquire skills:
...
Initial Fire Magic 1 (10 AP)
Improved Vision 1 (-2 AP)
Tinker 1 (5 AP)
Potter 1 (3 AP)
Brewer 1 (6 AP)
Beginner Marksman 1 (2 AP)
Protection 1 (15 AP)
Initial Wind Magic 1 (10 AP)
Charm Resistance 1 (10 AP)
Fear Resistance 1 (5 AP)
...]
Again, it took me a while to find what I wanted, wwaaahhhhhffff, why couldn't what you want be right on the first page like it was with Google?
'Ah, finally I found it.'
[Acquire skills:
....
Enchant 1 (13 AP)
...]
Ufff, would it really be worth getting these skills? If my idea went wrong, I would waste 13 skill points, which would be... about 3 levels (more or less). On the other hand, if it worked....
[Name: Fernando Martins Level: 17
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 8
SP: 4
AP: 18
.....]
Well, I would have enough AP, but it would still be a risk...
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and even if things went wrong someday, they could still prove to be useful skills... right?
….
…..
Ah, whatever!!!. Let 's take the Bet!!!
[Skill purchase completed.]
[Skill acquired: Enchant 1.]
Immediately, basic information on how to enchant and bewitch objects came to mind. My first impression was...
'It's an absurd consumption.'
From what I understand, I needed to use 1/3 of my total mana capacity to have a 50% chance of an enchantment working.
The chances would increase if I did this gradually during the creation of the object, such as creating a magic circle directly on the object, like each part of the object with a part of the magic circle. But obviously this doesn't apply to my current case, where I intend to use [Enchant] as a kind of "magic glue".
As if that weren't enough, the power of the spell used on the object (regardless of whether it was done during its creation or not) would only have 3/5 of the original spell's strength.
In other words, if I tried to enchant a stone dagger with the [Shadow Cut] spell (which had easily killed goblins and kobolds), at most I would make the dagger's cut a little deeper and wider than normal. This could be achieved by simply sharpening it carefully.
Of course, if it were a spell with an elemental addition, like fire, ice, or lightning, the damage caused would have the added effect of causing burns, shock, or poison. But the effect still wouldn't be as good as with the spell itself, plus the mana of the person using the weapon would be continuously drained for the spell to activate.
You would basically be building the spell into the object during its creation, and it would activate when the mana was circled, but probably because of the materials used, the effect would be diminished. At least that's how I interpreted it.
The upsides would be: the weapon's durability wouldn't decrease with the use of spells, anyone could use it, and it would only require "a little" mana (but constant).
So... it wasn't a great success, but it wasn't a big mistake either. And to make my spear, this effect should be enough.
Taking the two cut pool cues, I placed them together right in front of me and activated the [Enchant] ability, fixing my gaze on the place where the two pieces met. Making a conscious effort to direct the mana to that spot and then spread it evenly across the two pieces, I began to feel the mana within me start to enter the wood.
I won't even try to describe the sensation because I had never felt anything like it before. I can only say that I felt the mana's resistance when it reached the last layer of my skin and almost its rejection of entering another place, but with effort I managed to force it to follow the grain of the wood.
It was strange to feel the mana leaving my hands and going into the wood, following its grain and concentrating in the place where I wanted it.
Once the mana was distributed as evenly as possible, I activated the magic I wanted to transfer to the two pieces of wood to become one, the ice magic [condensation]; I was basically doing a cold forge with mana.