The Runic Artist

Nate and Kiri walked through the town towards the Guildhouse with Frick floating along beside them, eyes darting everywhere. Kiri was her usual bubbly self with a bounce in her step. Saskia trailed after them, her eyes seeming to watch everything at once. He’d met her this morning as he’d tried to leave the Oaken Ring. The short but well built suntanned woman had reminded him that she was playing guardian and had proceeded to follow him out to the Beaufoys.

His own gait was an exhausted plodding affair. Between the healing, which seemed to have used some of his own resources, and staying up all night to finish the Class Core Concealment rune, he was feeling more than a little worn out. A big breakfast had certainly helped his mood but his Endurance wasn’t high enough that a sleepless night was without impact. The food from the Oaken Ring wasn’t the only thing buoying his mood though. He glanced at his notifications with a small smile.

Congratulations on creating a Mana Gathering Array Rune (Journeyman Quality).

Your achievement has been recorded.

Congratulations on creating a Class Core Concealment Rune (Master Quality).

Your achievement has been recorded.

Runic Artistry 8 > 10

Runic Creation 16 > 17

Between the sigil improvement and the inclusion of two of the sigils from Arikanvil’s research station, he had managed to create a Master quality Class Core Concealment rune. That very rune currently sat nestled inside him, Engraved into his soul energy by Kiri. He could see it as the last item in his list of Statuses as well. More importantly, he could feel it inside of him, like his Skills in his Class Core.

They’d spent a moment testing it and found that the mana flowing through their bodies was enough to keep the rune active. However, they could also prevent mana from reaching the rune, allowing them to reveal their classes and status. Finally, they’d had Jorge use his Identification skill on them. Interestingly, they’d been able to sense it, including sensing as it got closer to piercing the veil over their Class Core that the rune created. By focusing mana from their reserve to the soul engraved rune, they’d been able to rebuff the old man's skill which he’d grudgingly admitted was of the Epic tier.

After that, Nate had pitted his own Eyes of the Runic Artist against the soul engraved rune. It had caved eventually but not with ease and he’d burned through a considerable amount of mana as he fed the skill before it eventually pierced the veil of concealment. That was enough to satisfy everyone. Even Jorge, who’d grumbled a bit more before slapping Nate on the back and telling him he’d done a good job. He thought Rania might’ve prodded Jorge to do so but if she had, Nate had chosen to ignore it. He could understand Jorge’s position. He loved and doted on his daughter and Nate had, in many ways, upended the status quo for Jorge.

Kiri now sported a Legendary Class and was guaranteed a Mythic Class at evolution due to her Dungeon Reward. Now they were preparing to leave Helmfirth and head for the Capital, where she would not only be competing with the best of the best from the Guild but if successful, would be attending the Royal University which was riddled with the Etrua Nobility and children of other wealthy benefactors. He worried about his daughter and perhaps, whether or not it was conscious, likely blamed some of these changes on Nate.

Nate on the other hand, didn’t blame himself at all. If he’d never shown up maybe none of this would have happened. But just as easily the Beaufoys could’ve died or been enslaved due to the slavery operation that had been underway in Helmfirth’s backyard. Besides, Kiri was happy. That was good enough for him. It would be good enough for Jorge too, eventually. Rania would make sure of it.

His thinking about Jorge came to an end as they walked up the stairs of the Guildhouse, Saskia still trailing after them, even here. He’d noted that as they’d entered, Kiri hadn’t paused to chat with Melinda. Something to ask her about later. A quick knock on the Guildmasters door and they were admitted in, with Saskia closing it behind them.

Aisling sat behind her desk scribbling something in a book. She was dressed in some fancy leathers with a little fur decorating the cuffs and her neck. Nate judged the look she gave them as one that was resigned to agreeing to something they didn’t want to. He could barely wait to see how that changed after Kiri’s revelation. Deverell stood off to the side, looking no worse for wear for his all nighter spent watching over Nate.

Sitting down across from Aisling, he had to stifle a yawn. Kiri sat down on his right with Frick floating down and pretending to sit in the seat to his left. The three of them stared at Aisling as they waited for the sound of her quill to finish scratching away at the paper. It was a long two minutes before she put the quill down and looked over them.

“So, you wanted this meeting Nate. Why don’t you tell me what it is you want to discuss?” Aisling asked with a flat look. Clearly she was busy and they were interrupting.

“So, as a show of trust, we are not even going to ask for another secrecy contract. Can Deverell try to use identify on Kiri?” Nate replied patiently.

Aisling glanced at Deverell and gave the quiet man a small nod, a moment later a small frown creased his forehead, “She has something to block the Skill.”

“You wanted this meeting to show us you managed to copy that amulet, Nate? A letter would’ve been enough,” Aisling said with an annoyed frown as Nate imitated that look but directed it at Kiri.

“Sorry! I thought it’d be funny. But no one seems in a joking mood. Go again Dev!” Kiri protested, waving her hands at Aisling and Nate.

A moment later Deverell’s eyes narrowed in confusion, “That shouldn’t be possible. Is this some sort of obfuscation variant?” he asked, directing his question at Nate.

“It’s not a rune. What you’re seeing is true,” Nate replied.

“What is it, Deverell?” Aisling asked, looking from her assistant to the three of them and back again.

“She is back to level seventeen and somehow has a Legendary Class,” Deverell said in a flat tone.

Aisling spun back to them, eyes widening before she started smiling like the cat that had caught the canary.

“Tell me everything. How did it happen? Can it be replicated?” she asked eagerly.

Nate proceeded to recount the story of how Kiri had saved him by leaping in front of him to protect him from the Soul Dissolution spell and everything that had happened since.

“As for replicating it, it’s possible I guess, but The System would likely send another punishment. Potentially a worse one. Basically, I won’t be doing it again willingly,” he finished.

“That is understandable,” Aisling said with a sad look. “I’ve heard rumours of System punishments and the recipients rarely survive. I was less worried about yours since you’d already survived one encounter and now know what you’re dealing with. It’s not been missed that you seem to do better when you can prepare for your opponent. Well, this changes things. Before I was doubtful Kiri could be competitive in the Tournament. I still am, by the way, but for a different reason. You’re both still underleveled and your Skill development isn’t where it needs to be, though I will acknowledge it is improving.”

Nate held up a hand to interrupt Aisling, “We know that. That’s why we have a new request and the second reason we wanted this meeting. Can we leave for the Capital in the next couple of days?”

Aisling leaned back in her chair, “Why?”

“I can find Dungeons,” Nate said, leaning forward with a grin. “We’re hoping that we can take a little longer on the trip and spend some time clearing a few Dungeons. Even Uncommon Tier ones should net us a few levels right? We could get to the low thirties by the time we reached the Capital. And I don’t know if this is true, but my Skills always levelled faster when they were pushed in combat. My non-crafting ones I mean. Or hybrid ones I suppose. I am rambling now. What do you think though, Aisling?”

Aisling glanced at Deverell who gave a small shrug.

“Alright. But the earliest we can leave is a week from now. That’s when the new Guildmaster arrives. They’ll be annoyed I didn’t do a proper handover but what are they going to do? Complain? Pfft. Fat lot of good that will do them after they left me hanging out here for way longer than I was told. In case I am not making this as clear to you both as I can, you are the priority. You’re future gems,” Aisling finished with a smile. “Also Luc will want his payment, even if you don’t get the full two months of training promised.”

Nate shrugged, “I finished it last night.”

“I’ll get him in here then. Don’t be afraid to push him for additional payment. He’ll try and talk his way out of it but he’s all bluster,” Aisling said before turning to Kiri. “Have you thought about what you’ll aim for with your Secondary Class?”

“Something that improves my dagger usage,” Kiri quickly replied with an unsubtle glance at Deverell.

Deverell was already moving before Aisling had even looked at him, motioning Kiri towards the door.

“Wait,” called Aisling. “We’ll need to change your Guild rank back to Bronze, Kiri. Just until you’ve regained some of your levels.”

Kiri frowned for a moment, before shrugging and glancing at Deverell. That seemed to be the signal and the two of them left quickly. A chance for Kiri to get some one on one training with the Dagger Dancer apparently valuable enough for her not to care about the temporary demotion. Aisling spent a few minutes inquiring after how his development was going and making a few comments about ways to speed up his Skill improvements. It was something he’d been considering as his Eyes of the Runic Artist was close to evolution.

He’d asked Frick if there was a tier beyond Mythic but his Familiar hadn’t known. He also had no idea how to push the Skill to do something beyond what it was already doing. He doubted it would evolve up a tier. At least at level twenty anyway. Maybe he’d have a better idea when it got to level forty. Either way, it would be an improvement.

That line of thinking was interrupted as Luc appeared in the room. Nate had felt it, having activated Spatial Awareness as soon as Deverell had left the room. This close Nate could even feel some of the other side of the rift. Was that one of the brothels? Better off not knowing he decided as he focused on his temporary teacher.

“So this is what you’re doing instead of training is it? You’re never going to win the Tournament by sitting around having tea with the Stormspear, kid,” Luc said, as though the bastard hadn’t just been off doing Wanderer knew what in one of Helmfirth’s brothels.

“Circumstances have changed Luc, you’ve only got him for the rest of the week. We’ll be cutting the training short by a month,” Aisling said, ignoring the jibe.

Luc actually frowned and Nate expected him to mention payment but that wasn’t what came out of the Arcane Riftwalker’s mouth.

“How’s he going to win with that little training? How’s that going to look for me, Aisling? I finally lowered myself to training some of the riff raff and then they don’t even make top eight? I’ll never hear the end of it,” Luc complained.

“He might still surprise you, but if it’s that important you’re welcome to spend the three months with us travelling to the Capital,” Aisling retorted.

“Three months? What are you doing? Riding Clelli? I know you’ve got that Growth Mage Class but surely even you can’t make those voracious little garden-eaters that big,” drawled Luc.

“We’re going to be stopping for a few training sessions so we need the extra time. Joining us or not?” Aisling demanded with a raised blonde eyebrow.

“Not. Definitely not. More towns like this is bad for my soul. Kids still gotta pay up though,” Luc informed them, flicking his blue eyes at Nate.

“I’ll pay. But I am only getting half of the agreed upon training. I should get something else in trade to replace the loss,” parried Nate.

Luc looked about ready to protest but then glanced at Aisling before grinding his teeth a little.

“Alright, kid. What did you have in mind?” tacitly agreed Luc.

“A Rare tier Orb for any of the magic Stats, delivered before the Tournament starts,” replied Nate.

He watched as Luc stood there stoically, clearly thinking about whether the demand was a fair trade. Finally he responded, “Alright, kid. I can swing that. But that Mana Gathering Array better work and I want it before you leave on your little roadtrip with the Stormspear.”

“It’s done. You can test it for the rest of the week and make sure it works to your satisfaction,” said Nate with a confident smile as he extracted it from his spatial storage and set it on the corner of Aisling’s table.

The Mana Gathering Array was a small metal cube. Thanks to the Skills of this world, it had been easy and relatively cheap to have one of Helmfirths metalworkers decorate the outside of the box with Nate’s designs. The result was a box that looked like it was coated in stars and planets. He knew he hadn’t needed to do so, but this was the first runic array he was giving away and he wanted to add some artistic flair. The runes themselves were actually inside the metal itself which had not been that difficult to achieve with Runic Creation while the metal was only Common tier. The lid actually showed Earth's Solar System, rings and all. He’d made the Earth the ‘on’ switch for the entire array while making the sun the ‘off’ switch. Enjoying his own handiwork he looked up at Luc who was frowning down at the box.

“That looks like nothing like the blueprint I provided you,” his teacher said in a tone that was quickly moving from annoyed to angry.

“Use it for a few days. It’ll work better than what you provided me. Mana back guarantee,” Nate said cheekily. He was confident in his work. He’d improved on the flaws in the Enchanted Mana Gathering Array design without altering the Sigils involved. It would work as intended, with what he suspected would be a slightly faster recharge rate and higher max capacity for any mana gems charged in it. He quickly demonstrated opening the lid to show the inside which could be filled with mana gems before closing the lid and showing Luc how to activate and deactivate the runic array.

Luc didn’t seem convinced but agreed to test it out over the next few days, and after collecting the blueprints for the original Enchanted version, left as quickly as he came leaving Aisling and Nate alone again.

“Was there anything else, Nate?” Aisling asked. “I do have a few things left to tie up before we leave.”

“There is one more thing, Aisling. I never really got to say thank you for all the support you’ve shown me, even when you disagreed with my desires,” he said, continuing before Aisling could respond. “I do get that it’s because you have a vested interest in my success. But I still appreciate it and I wanted to give you something to show that.”

Nate stood from his chair, and ignoring the cackling of Frick in his mind, removed the painting of Aisling where she stood facing a set of mountains with a storm rolling in. Glancing up he waited to hear what she had to say, unsure how the Guildmaster would react.