The Runic Artist

Nate smiled to himself. He’d stumbled onto something interesting. He’d always found it curious that he’d seen a different Sigil for Fire than the one he’d used in the Dungeon. Now, a second time, he’d found two different Sigils that from what he could tell, meant the same thing. Or did they? The first Projectile Sigil had worked, but it had worked in the same way that you could wear a shoe one size too big. You could still walk in them, but it just wasn’t quite right. An ill fit. The second Projectile Sigil had fit the rune perfectly and he could see that from his notifications as he started going through them.

Congratulations on creating a Projectile Gathering Rune (Journeyman Quality).

Your achievement has been recorded.

Runic Knowledge 19 > 21

Runic Creation 13 > 14

Runic Knowledge is ready to evolve.

Evolutions Available! Please Select 1.

Skill Evolution Options:

Runic Knowledge - Shaping (E)

As a Runecrafter, knowledge of runes is not just important, it’s everything. This skill will impart knowledge to the recipient about runes, their construction, and interactions with mana. In particular this skill will assist with mana distribution patterns, helping the user to get the most out of the mana that goes into their runes. Waste not, want not. Complexity of patterns increases with Skill Level. Additionally this Skill increases the users Intellect by 5%. Increases by 0.5% per Skill Level.

Runic Knowledge - Concepts (L)

As a Runecrafter, knowledge of runes is not just important, it’s everything. This skill will impart knowledge to the recipient about runes, their construction, and interactions with mana. This skill takes it a step further and aids the user in identifying Concepts and Subconcepts. The universe whispers truths and the user, sometimes, hears them. Complexity of Concepts and Subconcepts increases with Skill Level. Additionally this Skill increases the users Intellect by 5%. Increases by 1% per Skill Level.

Walk your Path. Reach your Goal. Become One with Mana.

The new rune was what he was after and the lower Tier was likely just because of the quality of the material it was imprinted into. He could fix that later or better yet, have Frick do it. What was the point of having an Assistant if you didn’t take advantage of that fact right? It wasn’t like he wasn’t paying the Familiar. One day he’d have to ask what Frick did with all the mana he received. The Familiar certainly loved mana. Absolutely raved about it when Nate let him go off on a tangent, but he’d never once said what he did with it once he got it.

Nate took a moment to ponder the question before moving on. It was interesting, but one problem at a time. The increase in Runic Creation was expected. It was still a sub-level twenty skill and he’d been using it non-stop for at least a couple of hours. He wasn’t sure, having lost track of time. Either way, it was good news. But of course, that was just the entree before the main course. A Skill evolution.

Reading over the two options his smile stretched from ear to ear. The bonuses were nice but that paled when compared with the subtle piece of information he received just from the description of the Skill. Subconcepts. A concept within a concept. Thinking about it a little, it made sense. Fire was a good example, mostly because it was simple to point out the differences. Fire had a heap of characteristics. Heat, warmth and brightness were obvious ones but you could get more esoteric and consider other things such as rebirth or purifying. That was just his quickfire selection. The pun made him smile but he’d never admit it to anyone. Puns were terrible.

The choice between the two evolutions seemed pretty clear cut to him. He’d get a little out of better hints and information on how to optimise mana dispersal patterns. But couldn’t he just slowly figure that out through trial and error as he literally watched the mana dispersal patterns with his eyes? In addition, the Intellect bonus was lower, likely owing to the lower rarity of the Skill. Concepts and Subconcepts on the other hand, well, he never had enough of those. At least not yet. He did a quick tally and thought he knew of maybe a little over thirty different Sigils. It felt like a drop of water in an ocean. Like a sip of water when he was parched. He needed more Sigils to create more interesting, more powerful and quietly to himself, more artistic runes. No, the choice was clear and he made his selection.

He hadn’t considered the effect the instant increase to his Intellect would have and received a momentary headspin as his vision blurred before refocusing. Calling up his Status he did a quick review of his progress.

Stats

Physical

Mental

Magic

Strength

12

Intellect

91

Magic Power

42 (20)

Dexterity

59

Charisma

17 (3)

Magic Control

34

Agility

23 (10)

Creativity

66

Channelling Speed

32

Endurance

41 (3)

Willpower

13

Mana Reserve

58

Constitution

30

Perception

64

Mana Absorption

22

Classes

Primary Class - Level 1 (21)

Secondary Class - Level 1

Tertiary Class

Wandering Runic Artist (M)

Wandering Realmwalker (L)

…

Skills

Runic Knowledge - Concepts (L) Lvl 21 - (+26% Intellect)

Conceptual Material (M) Lvl 21 - (-10.5% Mana Cost, -15% Time Required)

Eyes of the Runic Artist (M) Lvl 15 - (+38% Perception)

Imbue Intent (L) Lvl 22 - (11 Intents, 5 Imbued Intents, +11% Intellect)

Enhanced Magic Power (E) Lvl 5 - (+9% Magic Power)

Runic Creation (L) Lvl 14 - (-26% Mana Cost)

Runic Artistry (E) Lvl 8 - (-12% Mana Cost, +15 Magic Power for Runic Arrays)

No Steps Necessary (L) Lvl 4 - (40 metres teleport range)

From Me, To You (E) Lvl 6 - (30 metres teleport range)

Spatial Sensitivity (R) Lvl 10 - (50 metres detection range)

Spells

…

Status Effects

Divine Translation Spell (Permanent)

Familiar Contract (Permanent)

System Contract - Aisling Teigland & Deverell Courbet (Temporary)

Looking over his Stats made him want to invest in Creativity next level for another rune slot in his robe. He was sure one day he would grow out of it but that day seemed a long time away for now. Unless he figured out how to bridge runecrafting with enchanting, he’d never be able to upgrade it enough to keep up with him. That is if he kept going. For all he knew he’d end up running out of steam long before it became an issue.

He needed a break after his runecrafting session and decided to head downstairs. It’d be dinner soon and he could enjoy some of the chefs cooking, a few drinks and maybe make a little conversation. Taking a few minutes, he drained some of his mana gems to restore his Mana Reserve. He piled the now empty gems onto one of the Mana Gathering runes scattered around his room in what he thought might be fruit bowls. Grabbing one of his notepads and a pencil he headed for the door, glancing at Frick as he did so.

“Can you start bringing the new rune up to Epic quality while I am out?” He called, pausing to wait for the answer.

“You got it, Boss man. Also, while you’re downstairs, make sure you consider sampling all the dishes. Especially the ones that have aged particularly well,” Frick responded, turning to give him an overdramatic and entirely unsubtle wink with one big blue eye.

Nate just rolled his eyes, used to his Familiar’s weird antics by this point. The Spirit’s previous Master had a lot to answer for. Or maybe that was just Frick’s disposition? Arriving downstairs, there were only a handful of people filling the taproom. Unsurprising at this time as it wasn’t quite dinner yet so the only patrons present were those who’d already finished work for the day or the ones with nowhere else to be.

Taking a seat in the corner, he opened his notepad and started sketching. Art always helped him to relax. It cleared his mind of all the stray thoughts as he focused himself towards achieving a singular goal, or he supposed, a series of singular goals. It was all well and good to have your overarching intent for the pierce of art, but the details mattered too. Creating a masterpiece background only to get the shading wrong, so that it appeared like a picture of the midday sun rather than afternoon, didn’t make an artwork worse for example.

That said, it was still a deviation of the intent if the goal was an afternoon picture. Time of day was a definite factor in such artworks. Midday could show something vibrant, full of life. The spring of youth, if you will. While an artwork portrayed as the afternoon could show something calming, relaxing, as the world approached the quiet of the night. These weren’t factors in his current artwork but he always thought about such things as he worked. No, this piece was a test artwork. One for an artwork he had promised himself he would make when he had time.

He was still amazed at how much easier it was to create clean lines with his heightened Dexterity, the image he had in his head slowly coming to life on the notepad. As he drew the tap room, doing the patrons the favour of making them indistinct humanoid shapes in the background, he focused on making sure the two waitresses were given the appearance of having movement, their skirts flowing behind them. That wasn’t the goal of the artwork though. If anything, it was a distraction. An intended one. He might’ve been caught by surprise as Valeria approached him, focused on the artpiece as he was, but his Perception however had risen enough that detecting movement was a given, especially in a space like this. The room had slowly begun to fill, more townsfolk filing in for dinner and the smells coming from the kitchen indicated it was almost ready. Nate looked up as Valeria stopped, standing across from him.

“Good evening, sir. Would you care for some dinner?” she asked. He’d been curious for so long and so without thinking he activated Eyes of the Runic Artist. Instantly the room shifted. He could still see the people, and at this distance he could make out a few of the closer individuals Class Cores. Mana flowed around the room, mostly moving upwards towards the roof in a steady flow. He chalked that up to the work of the Mana Gathering runes in his room. It looked like it might even be making the mana slightly more concentrated down here in the taproom, though not by a lot. But that wasn’t what he wanted to see. He wanted to see if there really was mana laden into Valeria’s voice.

The innkeeper gave a small gasp as he looked at her, “Your eyes!”

Others had mentioned it but he’d never gotten a description of them from Frick, or taken a moment, he supposed, to look in a mirror.

“Can you describe them to me?” He asked softly, not wanting to draw too much attention to them.

“The outside looks normal. The usual white. But the inside of your eyes, where they’re normally green…it looks like a swirl of rainbow. The colours are so small that I think they must have different shades in there but all I can see is a rainbow,” Valeria gushed, her voice taking on that honeyed sensation, like it was slowly rolling over him.

Nate watched as she spoke, focusing on her Class Core, he ignored the Classes that showed up, instead fixating on the mana flow inside of her. He could see what looked like a thin string of mana, a vein maybe? It connected a spot on her Class Core to her throat and as she spoke it pulsed, a small amount of mana seeming to flow along it.

“That Skill that is affecting your voice, is it passive or active?” he asked without thinking, leaning forward curiously.

Valeria seemed taken aback a moment before she smiled slightly and answered, “It’s passive. I’ll share it with you, sir, seeing how you helped save one of my childhood friends and her family from the slavers. It’s called Soothing Speech. It’s supposed to make my words more engaging and make others more likely to agree with my suggestions. Useful for an Innkeeper.”

Nate grinned finally having gotten confirmation that the way the voice rolled over him wasn’t normal. Sounded a little similar to mind control to him but it seemed like it wasn’t quite so direct and he supposed keeping people calm when needed in an inn wasn’t a terrible use. Who was he to judge anyway?

He let his eyes return to normal as he cut the flow of mana to the Skill and smiled, “Yes, dinner would be lovely. Whatever you recommend and I will try a sweet wine, if you have one?”

“Of course, sir,” Valeria responded with a smile of her own, seemingly happy that he hadn’t given her the cold shoulder, before leaning forward to glance at his notepad. “Is that another drawing? Can I see?”

He spun the notepad around, the picture mostly done already. A rough sketch to test a theory. He wondered if she’d notice.

“It’s of the taproom? It’s nice but a little different from the last piece you did,” she said, frowning at it as she moved the notepad a tiny bit, trying a different angle. “There is something about it. It’s not quite right. The positioning of things.”

She was right. He’d had to make a few changes to accomplish what he wanted, and leaning forward he crossed his hands slightly, making a window between his fingers and his thumbs and put it over a single section of the sketch, hiding parts of completed objects but revealing what he had hidden in the intersections.

“Oh! A Vorifly!” Valeria said in delight, then she pointed to two others without touching the sketch as he removed his hands. “You hid them in the picture. That is amazing!”

He thought she was overdoing it a little but he did enjoy her reaction. It was as she had said, he’d hidden the butterfly looking insects with an ‘X’ on their wings in the picture. He’d managed five in total and she’d only found three but then she hadn’t really had a chance to study it. He’d promised himself that he would make this artwork and this was a test piece to see if he could make it work and how. He didn’t expect what came next.

“Could I commission a couple of artworks from you? For the taproom?” Valeria asked, glancing up at him with a hopeful smile. He wondered if there was another Skill at play here but chose not to pry a second time.

“What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“Something like this would be good. And maybe one of Helmfirth? The locals take a lot of pride in our little town on the edge of nowhere.”

“I could do that. It wouldn’t be ready for a week or two. I’ve got a couple of other requests to handle first. How much were you thinking?” Nate asked. He had no idea how much artworks went for here but there was no harm in profiting a little from something he did anyway to relax.

“I could do two weeks at no charge for your suite. Would that be enough?” Valeria asked. She looked clearly unsure and he suspected she was mostly concerned with him finding her offer insulting. He knew he could have pushed her on the price but the simple fact was, he didn’t want to. More art in the world could only be a good thing. Nodding to her, he gave his agreement as he noticed someone enter the taproom.

“Oh thank you! Let me know if you need anything to help get it done, sir!” Valeria said excitedly.

“I’ll go through the details with you tomorrow. We’ll need to discuss size and medium, you know, painted or drawn,” he replied before pointedly glancing behind her.

Valeria turned and saw Deverell standing there waiting. She gave a little jump, not having heard the Assistant Guildmaster approach and quickly stood, glancing at Nate. “I’ll go fetch your dinner and wine, sir.”

With that she was gone and Deverell seemed to wait a moment for Valeria to have moved away before looking at Nate, “Come by the Guild tomorrow morning. We have a few things to discuss.”

Deverell only waited long enough to get a nod out of Nate before departing the Oaken Ring. Seemed like it was going to be an early morning tomorrow if he was to check the Dungeon for Kiri before heading to the Guild. Could it be about his request to purchase mana? With a shrug he relaxed and began planning his evening training as the smells of the kitchen washed over him.