Thread:108.216.104.45/@comment-22439-20130211171823/@comment-1687225-20130212020503

Wait, when did I say it was redundant? My memory's shoddy here.

I don't think it's a glitch; you see a similar thing for upgrading weapons. If you have, say, a +11 longsword, you can upgrade it to +14 at any blacksmith regardless of what embers you give them.