Transmuting and glyphing require items. You have to start with tier I items so the really really common ones.
Click on the building in town and put an item in the box to start transmuting or glyphing. You'll understand how it works
. Transmuting turns items into essences and then you can use
1 essence + 1 item to reforge that item.
Glyphing just takes the stats from that item as a temporary item buff.