Roll the dice: land on 1, 2, or 3 and it fails. Land on 4, 5, or 6 and it succeeds.
And the result was.
[+3 Military Blanket]
[An officer-issue blanket from the Kingdom's army. Made primarily from wool.]
[Blessed by Enhancement, its performance has greatly improved.]
[Trait: Softness]
[Trait: Sleep Aid]
[Embedded Magic: Sleep Magic]
"Huh?"
Leon's eyes went wide.
He couldn't help it.
'Embedded Magic?'
Did that mean magic had been embedded into it?
So the blanket had turned into an actual magic item?
[Sleep Magic]
[Activate while wrapped in the blanket to fall asleep within 10 seconds.]
It was real.
The blanket had genuinely become an enchanted magic item.
'Sleep Magic.'
Kind of ridiculous, but also kind of amazing at the same time.
Being able to fall asleep whenever you want, for anyone who struggles with insomnia, this would literally be the blanket of their dreams.
Leon looked down at his hand.
Enhancement, his Awakened ability.
This was no joke.
With this power, he felt like he could do something truly incredible.
"Mmm..."
Across from him, Regina stirred and let out a small groan.
Looked like she was waking up.
"Regina! Wake up! Come on!"
"Mmm... Leon...?"
Still half-asleep, she barely managed to crack her eyes open, let out another groan, and then finally gathered herself enough to speak.
"How are you feeling? Did the fever break?"
"Yeah, thanks to you. Thanks for staying up to take care of me."
"I'm just glad you're okay."
At Leon's response, Regina gave him a warm smile.
She'd always been like this, even back then. Pretty face and a genuinely good heart to match.
"Anyway, Regina, we need to talk. Right now."
"Talk? Oh! Wait, Leon, did you actually awaken?!"
She'd known about it in theory, but seeing someone go through a divine fever was a first for Regina too.
Her question was a tangle of worry, excitement, and anticipation all at once. Leon just grinned and nodded.
"Yeah. I awakened."
"Whoa, seriously? Congrats!"
Awakened were even rarer than mages.
She had no idea what kind of ability he'd awakened to, but it was definitely worth celebrating.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Mm."
Regina nodded, then kept her smile in place and said nothing.
Her eyes were practically overflowing with curiosity, so why wasn't she saying anything?
She was obviously dying to know what kind of ability he'd gotten.
'Well, the reason's pretty obvious.'
Leon might have wanted to keep the ability a secret.
It was a bit of a different comparison, but it was kind of like how you don't just go up to a swordsman and ask to see their blade.
"Come on, it's just us. What's there to hide? We need to figure this out together anyway."
They'd been through the trenches together, literally.
At Leon's words, Regina let out a small laugh and said,
"So what's the ability?"
"Enhancement."
"Hm?"
"Here, basically this."
Leon gave her a quick rundown of Enhancement, then showed her the +3 Military Blanket.
Regina's reaction was immediate.
"W-wait! There's mana flowing through this!"
That was right. Mana was actually flowing through the blanket.
Like a genuine magic tool.
"Yeah, there's magic embedded in it."
Sleep Magic, activate it while wrapped up and you're out in ten seconds.
"Oh my god."
The fact that Enhancement had made the blanket softer and given it a sleep aid effect was already wild enough, but it had actually become a magic tool?
"What's the cost?"
"Huh?"
"The cost! The cost of using the ability!"
The law of equivalent exchange existed in this world.
Just like magic requires mana, Awakened abilities required their own kind of power too.
"No reagents, no magic stones, no scrolls, not even knowledge, and you're just making magic tools out of thin air. The cost might be something terrifying."
Like your lifespan, for instance.
"I don't think it's anything like that."
"It's not?"
"No. It looks like it drains something called divine power."
[Divine Power]
[The power of faith]
The status window's description was incredibly short, but since this was something happening inside his own body, Leon had instinctively grasped how to use Enhancement, and in the same way, he had a rough sense of what divine power was.
"The power of... faith?"
Regina furrowed her brow like she didn't quite follow, so Leon organized his thoughts and tried to explain.
"It seems like when someone places their faith in me, that gets converted into divine power."
Regina looked even more lost, but for Leon, putting it into words made the fuzzy concept start to feel more concrete.
'I think I'm starting to get it.'
Divine power.
The power of faith.
In the Dungeons & Dragons universe, basically the grandfather of TRPGs, the strength of a god was determined by the number of believers offering their faith. A lot of believers meant a powerful higher god. A few meant a weak lower god. If the numbers dropped, a higher god fell to a lower one. If they grew, a lower god rose to a higher one.
Leon's own divine power felt like it worked in a similar way.
'It's probably not exactly the same as religious faith... but I'll need to run some experiments to be sure.'
Once Leon finished laying it out more clearly, Regina stared at the blanket with wide eyes.
"It's like... it makes sense, but also kind of doesn't at the same time?"
Awakened abilities were fundamentally different from magic to begin with.
Magic was, as the name implied, a law.
A refined power used according to specific formulas.
Awakened abilities, on the other hand, weren't something even the user fully understood, they were, in the truest sense, supernatural powers.
The idea that he used divine power as a fuel for his ability was something she could just barely wrap her head around.
But no matter how she thought about it, the output felt way too good for the cost.
"Are there any additional costs? Restrictions, maybe?"
"Yeah, there are."
The existence of failure chances, not a 100% success rate.
"F-fifty percent? It fails half the time? And you just... went for it anyway?!"
"I mean, it's a fifty percent success rate."
One out of every two tries succeeds.
Why wouldn't you go for it?
"I've thought this before, but you're kind of weird, Leon."
"Honestly, I think you're just a coward."
Regina shot him a look at that, but only for a second.
"Anyway, it really is an incredible ability."
It was just a blanket that got enhanced, but what would happen with something else?
Like a sword, for instance.
Wouldn't it end up with some powerful offensive magic embedded in it?
As Regina's eyes started lighting up with excitement, Leon grabbed the blanket and said,
"Anyway, let's go for +4."
It had become a magic blanket at +3.
So what would +4 bring?
Regina grabbed his arm in a panic at that.
"W-wait! What's the success rate for +4?!"
"Uh... ten percent?"
Fifty percent at +3, and now it had plummeted to ten percent at +4.
But one in ten still meant it could work.
Wasn't that still worth a shot?
"No! Absolutely not!"
Regina snatched the blanket away and hugged it tight, then said in an urgent tone,
"Leon, let's calm down. This is a magic blanket, okay? An actual magic blanket! And you want to try enhancing it on a ten percent chance? You know what, okay! Let's keep this one safe and test it on something else! Deal?"
If +4 failed here, the magic blanket would be destroyed.
But if they experimented on a new item?
Even if that item broke, the +3 magic blanket would still be safe.
"Hm... fair enough. Then let's use your stuff, Regina."
"My stuff?"
"Yeah, give me something. Anything."
At Leon's words, Regina thought for a moment, then pulled out the dagger she kept at her hip and held it out.
"Here."
Military experience meant she kept a blade on her even as a mage.
Leon took the dagger, adjusted his grip, and channeled Enhancement right away.
Flash!
[+1 Dagger]
[A mass-produced dagger from a workshop near the White Tower.]
[An ordinary dagger, but well-maintained.]
[Blessed by Enhancement, its performance has improved.]
[Trait: Sharpness]
"Nice."
Just like the description said, the blade had gotten noticeably sharper.
"Alright, going straight to +2."
Flash!
[+2 Dagger]
[A mass-produced dagger from a workshop]
[Blessed by Enhancement, its performance has greatly improved.]
[Trait: Sharpness]
[Trait: Hardness]
A dagger that was sharp and hard.
Exactly what you'd want from a dagger, perfect traits.
"Okay, now +3."
"U-uh, L-Leon?"
Now that the fifty-fifty chance was right in front of her, Regina hesitated, but Leon didn't even blink.
But then.
"Oh."
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Leon had been about to use Enhancement when Regina squeezed her eyes shut. She tilted her head as Leon stared down at his own hand and said,
"I'm out of divine power."
Total enhancements used so far: five.
It made sense when you thought about it, +2 drained more divine power than +1, and +3 needed even more.
At Leon's words, Regina let out an involuntary sigh of relief, but couldn't quite hide her disappointment either.
If +3 had worked, would it really have become a magic sword?
And if so, what kind of magic would've been embedded?
A good mage's defining trait was strong curiosity and a drive to explore, and Regina, timid as she was, at least had the right instincts for it.
She wanted to know.
She needed to know.
"Then let's try recharging the divine power."
Refilling what had been drained.
At Leon's words, Regina formed a quick theory.
Divine power is the power of faith.
To replenish divine power, faith is needed.
So how do you transmit faith?
Regina straightened her posture and pressed her hands together.
Then she closed her eyes and prayed.
"I believe in Leon. I... I revere him."
An act of offering pure, sincere belief.
Prayer.
There was no flash of light like when Enhancement was used.
But the moment Regina finished her prayer, Leon felt his divine power surge back in a single rush.
"It worked."
"Really?"
The theory had been confirmed. Regina beamed, and Leon nodded.
"Yeah. So try being a little more... fervent about it."
Would the method of prayer or the sincerity behind it affect how much divine power was recovered?
At Leon's words, Regina thought it over.
What more was she supposed to do here?
Should she bow down and prostrate herself?
"No, that's a bit much."
Leon stopped Regina as she moved to drop to the carriage floor and picked the dagger back up.
"Anyway, let's keep the experiment going."
And then, immediately, flash.
Before Regina could even get a word in, the light of Enhancement filled the inside of the carriage.
And the result.
[+3 Dagger]
[A mass-produced dagger from a workshop]
[Blessed by Enhancement, its performance has greatly improved.]
[Trait: Sharpness]
[Trait: Hardness]
[Embedded Magic: Heat Blade]
Before Leon could say a word, Regina's eyes went wide.
She'd sensed the faint, steady flow of mana along the dagger's blade.
"It really became a magic sword."
"Heat Blade."
Leon murmured it softly, almost like he was answering her, and the blade of the dagger flared a deep, vivid red.
Magic that superheated the blade to amplify its cutting power.
"Whoa..."
Staring at the glowing red blade, Regina felt her cheeks flush.
Just the thought that it had genuinely become a magic sword made her feel giddy for no particular reason.
"Alright then, let's go for +4."
"Huh?"
"That was the whole point of enhancing it to begin with."
They'd made the +3 magic dagger specifically to test out +4.
But at Leon's words, Regina flinched like she'd been struck by lightning, then said in a panicked rush,
"W-wait. Leon. Let's think about this. This is a magic sword. A magic sword with Heat Blade. So let's, let's keep this one safe and run the experiment on something else. Okay?"
"Regina, this is never going to end."
What happens when the next one hits +3?
She'd use the exact same logic to say let's test it on something else again.
"B-but it's a magic sword!"
"If it breaks, we make another one. And Regina, aren't you curious? It's a magic sword at +3. What happens at +4? Maybe two spells get embedded. Or maybe an even stronger spell."
Leon wasn't exactly thrilled about losing the magic sword either.
But testing it had to come first.
And honestly, when he thought about it rationally, they were experimenting with a +3 dagger right now. Something he could make again with a fifty percent success rate. Worst case, he'd just make another one.
"Ugh..."
Leon wasn't wrong.
And Regina was just as curious about what +4 would bring.
"Okay... here goes."
Finally caving to her own curiosity, Regina pressed her trembling hands together in a prayer pose again.
Please let it work.
Please let the +4 magic sword be born.
"Alright. Here we go."
Regina squeezed her eyes shut, and Leon channeled Enhancement.