Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

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Bonus chapter thanks to @ Someone subscribing to Legendary Tier on Buymeacoffee.

Limit on the number of runes obtainable.

Such content wasn’t present in the settings of the <Next Rune Holder> that I know.

Perhaps it’s an obvious story.

Even if a Holder possesses a common rune of a specific lineage and sets up derived runes…

The basic Holder typically has around 10 runes.

Even Shin Yoo-ni’s rune setup had only 7.

Park Jin-woo, who had consumed various Hidden Pieces and special rewards as the protagonist of the story, had around 15 to 20 runes.

In short, there is no Holder that can possess 30 runes in itself.

“But my case is different….”

[Rune Hunter] can copy the opponent’s rune as many times as they win in duels.

I had copied 21 runes this way, and 7 from Hidden Pieces.

Including the original [Dagger] and [Rune Hunter]…

A total of 30 runes.

Acquiring a number of runes that would be difficult for an ordinary Holder to even witness, I was once again breaking limits.

“Sigh….”

I took a deep breath and called up the rune information.

It was the updated information window for [Rune Hunter].

<Rune Information>

◎Name: Rune Hunter

◎Grade: Epic

◎Level: Max

◎Engraved Location: Heart

◎Special Effects:

: Upon victory in duels, one of the opponent’s runes can be duplicated. Only one rune can be duplicated for the same target, and the acquired rune is registered with decreased performance due to a level decrease.

: The area where runes can be engraved is expanded, increasing the acquisition limit to 50.

: If certain conditions are met, the combination of ‘higher-tier runes’ becomes possible. Once a higher-tier rune is combined, the level of the lower-tier rune does not increase, but proficiency continues to accumulate, and all derived skills of the lower-tier rune can be acquired.

◎Derived Skills: –

–

◎Detailed Information:

: A rune that can be acquired artificially by obtaining 7 runes through the Holder’s effort. It is a unique rune that can’t be obtained again once acquired by someone.

There were two new special effects added to [Rune Hunter].

First, relaxation of the rune acquisition limit.

The storage area for runes, which was a total of 30, has expanded to 50.

The area where the rune is engraved varies for each Holder.

Just because I have a rune on my leg doesn’t mean other Holders also have runes on their legs.

For instance, even though the [Dagger] rune is engraved on the back of my left hand, there is no rune engraved on the back of my right hand.

So even if a part of the body is lost, the rune would move to a different area and get engraved there.

The total filling limit was 30 runes.

The first special effect is probably that, in addition to the 30 areas given to me, there is a provision to create 20 additional areas.

“And the second effect is….”

This is a truly fresh effect and rather perplexing.

Higher-tier rune combination.

An effect where you can combine the runes you possess under special conditions.

The exact conditions aren’t known.

Though I can’t tell what runes will appear when combined, but…

Considering it’s called a ‘higher-tier rune,’ it’s clear it’s a more special rune than the existing ones.

“It’s a bit ambiguous that lower-tier rune levels can’t be raised….”

The downside is that the levels of the runes that have become lower-tier cannot be increased.

However, several mechanisms are in place to offset this.

The phrase ‘Proficiency accumulates even if the level doesn’t increase’ and ‘Acquiring derived skills is still possible’.

I would only miss out on the stat boosts from rune level increases.

The other effects remained the same.

“These days, it’s tough to increase stats.”

Lately, raising my core stats like strength, speed, and stamina over 30 has made it hard to gain stat boosts from rune level increases.

At least the random acquisition due to the effect of [Effort of the Seeker] has come in handy.

Furthermore, when you acquire a higher-tier rune through combination, you also gain stats when raising that higher-tier rune, so the effects were similar.

In essence, it was almost a risk-free chance.

It was a way to organize the randomly acquired runes and an opportunity to obtain new runes.

And it seemed like I met the conditions just in time.

Several runes on my body were shining.

[There are currently combinable runes. Using the Rune Hunter’s mysterious power, you can acquire higher-tier runes.]

[Higher-Tier Rune: Master of Martial Arts / Lower-Tier Runes: Sword, Dagger, Combat, Bow, Axe, Spear, Blunt, Shield]

“Master of Martial Arts….”

6 weapon runes including [Sword] and [Dagger].

And [Shield] and [Combat].

The [Master of Martial Arts] appeared to be a higher-tier rune judged as martial arts, combining a total of 8 runes.

What the effect of the higher-tier rune was and what new rune would come out.

I knew nothing.

Combining them might be a form of gambling.

However, the naming of ‘higher-tier rune’ as proof of being a high-level rune.

And if not combined, runes like [Axe] and [Blunt] would occupy the 50-rune acquisition limit without any use.

Considering all these points.

Combining higher-tier runes was not a choice but close to a necessity.

This function was another opportunity to upgrade my Holder information.

Without much hesitation, I chose to combine.

[You have combined the higher-tier rune ‘Master of Martial Arts.’ A total of 8 runes including Sword, Dagger, …, Shield have been chosen as lower-tier runes. The judged level of the combined higher-tier rune with the lower-tier rune is 4.]

[You have gained a new rune.]

[As per the rune’s affinity, you gain 2 strength and 3 speed.]

One after another, information about the new rune appeared.

<Rune Information>

◎Name: Master of Martial Arts

◎Grade: Epic / Superior

◎Possessed Lower-Tier Runes:

◎ [Sword]

◎ [Dagger]

◎ [Combat]

◎ [Bow]

◎ [Axe]

◎ [Blunt]

◎ [Spear]

◎ [Shield]

◎Level: 4

◎Engraved Location: Right Arm

◎Special Effects:

: With the special power of the higher-tier rune, proficiency adjustments can be applied to lower-tier runes. Each lower-tier rune can be raised in proficiency as a single rune and can also be raised in proficiency through the adjustments of the higher-tier rune.

: The rune Holder can freely replace the ‘weapon’ in the storage within their body. As the rune’s level increases, the time it takes to replace decreases.

◎Derived Skills:

◎ [War Declaration of a Hundred Soldiers]

*Sub-Skills:

◎ [Combo]

◎ [Combo Strike]

◎ [Quarter Knives]

◎ [Iron Wall Defense]

◎Detailed Informations:

: A higher-tier rune created by combining numerous lower-tier runes. It allows easy manipulation of all weapons, including bare fists. Furthermore, whenever a rune suitable for the higher-tier rune is acquired, it can be incorporated as a lower-tier rune of this rune.

“Is this for real?”

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