The voice was intermittent, sometimes soft, sometimes strong, but particularly clear when she was trying to fall asleep.
All night, she had barely slept until dawn.
Uncontrollably imagining the fierce battle next door and the culprit behind it all,
the man before him calmly studying the armor, his extraordinary endurance and... energy.
Karl felt her gaze, looked away from the armor in his hand, and turned to glance at Keira.
His gaze swept over Keira's dark circles and the slightly sluggish state she was trying to hide with makeup, instantly understanding what was happening.
Last night, he had used his bio-field in the room to reduce the sound escaping into the corridor or other distant rooms, but it hadn't been completely isolated.
He thought it would be enough, since besides Geralt, a Witcher with heightened senses,
ordinary sorcerers or warriors were not particularly outstanding in terms of pure physical perception.
Lately, he had been busy with self-improvement, spending most of his time in the sun and rarely staying home for long.
At some point, Keira had moved into the room next to Triss's, which he hadn't noticed.
Karl cleared his throat, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly: "Good morning, Keira. Looks like you didn't rest well last night?"
Keira felt a slight warmth from his direct question, and her aggrieved look became even stronger.
She forced herself to perk up, straightened her back, and tried her best to sound professional and calm.
She ignored the hint of mischief in Karl's voice: "Good morning, Lord Karl. I... fortunately."
"You started preparing so early? Do you need my help?"
She quickly brought the conversation back to the main topic, her gaze showing a sign as she glanced at the armor.
Karl no longer mentioned last night's events. He nodded and placed the breastplate in his hand.
He took another piece of breastplate from the pile of parts nearby and placed it on the empty table on the other side of the workbench.
"Yes. How proficient are you with protective enchantments? Applied to armor." He spoke concisely.
Keira walked over to the empty table and looked at the neatly arranged various carving knives, chisels, measuring rulers, and grinding powder.
She exhaled softly, temporarily setting aside last night's insomnia and embarrassment, her expression becoming focused.
"Reporting to you, I have some experience and practice in this area, but it's limited to relatively basic enchantments." Keira answered cautiously, not exaggerating.
"The effect is to enhance hardness and durability, allowing it to withstand ordinary slashing and piercing arrows, as well as providing some cushioning against blunt force impacts."
She paused for a moment and added: "However, its protective power is limited, and it cannot withstand direct magical attacks."
"More advanced enchantments, which can reflect or absorb certain magical energies,"
"require not only more valuable materials but also the enchanter's skill, magical control, and mental power, which are extremely demanding."
"Moreover, the failure rate is not low. It's much better to equip elites with specialized magical talismans or directly have sorcerers cover them with spells."
Karl was not surprised by this answer. He nodded with understanding and pointed to the breastplate and tools on the table.
"Alright, enchant this breastplate with the best basic protective spell you've mastered. Let me see the exact effect."
"Yes, sir," Keira replied.
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing her pale wrist, and first carefully felt the material, thickness, and overall shape of the breastplate.
Then she took a measuring tool and began to trace the general contours and connection points of the runes on the surface of the breastplate with a special luminous paint.
Karl crossed his arms, standing quietly about two steps away from Keira, watching silently.
He watched every movement of Keira's, every breath, even the slightest tremor of her fingertips.
He wanted to see not only the result but also the entire process of Keira's enchanting and how it differed from his own approach.
Keira quickly finished drawing, choosing a carving knife with a very fine tip and high hardness.
A faint magical glow shone on her fingertips, wrapping around the blade, enhancing its penetrative power and durability.
Then she took a deep breath, focused her expression, and, following the drawn lines, channeled magic into the tip of the blade, carving the first trace on the surface of the steel armor.
Hissing... A faint, slow sound of engraved metal echoed with extremely weak sparks of magical force.
Karl noticed that Keira's carving technique was very standard, not much different from Hen's description.
Her movements were not slow, but it was clear she was cautious and restrained.
Before each stroke, she made a very short pause to confirm the position and pressure.
The tip of the blade rose, leaving grooves of varying depths, but overall they remained relatively continuous.
In the middle of long lines, her wrist could be seen tensing slightly to maintain stability.
At turns or intersections, the tip of the knife experienced an almost imperceptible tremor, causing the line connections to become less rounded and smooth, leaving some burrs or bumps.
The entire carving process lasted about twenty minutes, a thin layer of sweat appearing on Keira's temple, and her breathing becoming slightly heavy.
Maintaining high concentration for a long time and delivering subtle magical power was a serious strain on her.
After finishing the carving, she put down the knife and gently flexed her slightly stiff fingers.
Next came the segment of magical chanting. She lightly pressed her hands to the carved runic array and closed her eyes.
She began to recite a short incantation, and a much brighter blue magical light played in her palms than before.
The magic flowed from her palm like a stream, slowly filling and enriching the carved grooves.
She carefully controlled the flow and stability of the mana, ensuring the runes activated evenly and formed a complete circuit.
If it went too fast, the magic could overflow or conflict; if it went too slowly, the runes might not be fully activated, affecting the overall effect.
This process of infusing magic lasted almost ten minutes until the last rune was filled with magic and successfully linked with the others.
The runes on the entire breastplate suddenly lit up, emitting a steady orange glow that lasted two or three seconds before gradually dimming and receding.
In the end, only a very faint light remained inside the runic grooves, almost invisible unless you looked closely.
"Ugh..." Keira took a deep breath, removed her hands, sweat beading on her forehead, and signs of fatigue showing on her face.
Going through the entire enchanting process at once was not an easy task for her.
She took a soft cloth she had prepared nearby, wiped the sweat, and looked at her work.
On the surface of the breastplate, the orange runes glowed, restrained under the light, giving a feeling of strength and reliability.
A flicker of satisfaction and a slight sense of accomplishment appeared in Keira's eyes. In any case, she had successfully completed it and thought she had done quite well.