The Runic Artist

Nate lay still on the floor looking over the notifications.

A challenge has been defeated. You have proven you deserve a second chance.

You have defeated a System Challenge.

You have defeated a demon.

Your achievements have been recorded.

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

Groaning, he rolled over and flicked the notifications away. Now that he could actually move, he was starting to get a picture of just how much he’d bled. There was blood splattered everywhere around in drips and drops for over a metre and one big sunburst of blood where his stomach had exploded. It was more blood than he thought a human back on Earth could have lost without dying. Even with his enhanced Endurance and Constitution, he recognised he had been close to death. Frick, that little blue angel, had come to his rescue. The Familiar, somehow dragging an unconscious Dungeon Challenge that was almost level forty, had then used Nate's very own Life Drain runic array to start sapping the kobold for lifeforce to heal him with. His wounds were still closing but the worst had passed and he pulled himself to his feet, stumbling towards Kiri to see how she was doing.

It took him a few steps to get her in the range of Awareness of the Runic Artist, and the answer to that question was better than expected but still not well. She flashed a tired and bloody smile at him as she sat on the tiled floor. He couldn’t tell if her smile was lopsided, or if it was just because she was. Because she absolutely was lopsided. She only had one arm. He couldn’t understand how she wasn’t bleeding out but after a moment he noticed she had a hand on the chest of the winged kobold. He could feel the weak heartbeat of the monster. The Chosen wasn’t dead, though it wouldn’t be long now. She was sapping the last of its soul energy to keep herself stable. Was she controlling the healing to focus on the arm? It was impossible for him to tell but all he could do was match her bloody smile.

“What a fucking shitshow,” he tried to say, but it came out as a mumble and he had to pause to spit some blood out.

Kiri laughed so hard she snorted, which only set her off even more, as she fell backwards laughing, unable to catch herself with only one arm available and that one in use he assumed to give her a better connection to the soul energy. She giggled for a little longer.

“Never heard that one before. A show for shit. A shitshow. HA!” She started laughing all over again and he couldn’t tell if it was because it was just that funny or it was just the nerves and adrenaline leaving her. Or both of them he supposed as he felt himself beginning to relax. A moment later a notification pinged in his vision, or lack thereof, at the same time the lifeforce flowing into him ceased. Glancing back at Frick and the now deceased Rogue he gave a small thumbs up.

“Thanks, mate,” he said with a genuine smile.

“Any time, Boss. We’re a team. Even if I got all the looks! You know the ladies want a little blue pocket rocket to take them to town!” Frick said back before cackling.

Nate sighed, “You were cool for like all of two seconds and then you had to go and ruin it.”

Shaking his head he kept walking closer to Kiri who was still giggling as she muttered the words ‘shit’ and ‘show’. He was worried she might go into shock if they didn’t get out of here soon. That was assuming she wasn’t already.

“Kiri, Kiri!” he repeated until he got her attention. “We need to handle the rewards and get out of this Dungeon quickly before you bleed out.”

Kiri seemed not to hear him for a moment before she nodded. He helped her sit up and she increased the drain on the Chosen. The kobold was stubborn as Nate could feel the Soul Drain was much slower than usual, as if the kobold was somehow resisting it. Without Kiri’s enchanted dagger buried in its gut he suspected it might even manage to prevent her from finishing it off.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I got overconfident,” she replied, an angry look flashing over her face that he suspected she was directing at herself. “Thought I had it cornered. Thought it was more of a mage. Bloody dragon wannabe used a pretty impressive boosting skill and bit my arm off. Gave it the stomach decoration for the trouble but that doesn’t help my fucking arm!”

The last was shouted as she started banging on the kobolds chest with her fist and he had to carefully pull her back as she burst into tears.

“Your Skill can regenerate your arm. You just need more soul energy. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” he repeated, reassuring her.

It didn’t take long before she’d calmed down, as she reached up to dry her tears and take a few deep breaths.

“I’m good. I’m good. Okay, yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here,” she said, sounding much calmer before exclaiming, “Oh Gods, your eyes! Are you okay?”

“I can…sense…my surroundings. It’ll be fine. Hopefully Aisling can fix them,” he replied with more confidence than he felt.

He felt his best friend freeze for a moment before nodding, matching his confidence, “Let's finish this. Two rewards for you and one for me. Yeah? That’ll be three apiece for the Dungeon. We’re in no condition to go looking for the Bonus Challenge.”

He nodded in response and opened the notifications as Kiri knelt down to finish off the Chosen.

You have completed a Dungeon challenge!

Dungeon: Tunnels of I’abeax

Challenge: Defeat Trakzing Cleverclaw.

Challenge Rewards (Select One):

1. Wealth

2. Equipment

3. Skill Tome

Please select Reward recipient: Nathaniel Weber or Kiri Beaufoy?

Selecting himself he picked the Skill Tome without really thinking about it deeply. Wealth might’ve been alright but he wasn’t interested in more Rare Equipment. Opening up the second notification he did the same, this time selecting Power from a list of Spell Tome, Knowledge and Power. A moment later he felt the Chosen die as more processed mana flowed into both he and Kiri. Another notification popped up without him choosing to see it.

You have completed a Dungeon.

Dungeon: Tunnels of I’abeax

The Dungeon will cease to exist in two hours after which you will be ejected from the spatial pocket.

Countdown: 01:59:45

Checking his rewards he found he’d gotten a Skill Tome for a skill called Improved Mana Absorption and a Rare Mana Absorption Orb. He wasn’t sure if the Dungeon was trying to tell him something or it was just because he burned through more than half of his mana gems in that last fight and so it had decided that Mana Absorption was kinda his thing.

Kiri stumbled over next to him and he felt the Orb she held in her hand vanish. Before he hadn’t been able to feel when she did that but with his increased senses, he felt the soul energy fold around the orb and then just fade…as if it was passing through existence somehow. Like moving through a veil perhaps? It didn’t feel the same way spatial manipulations did.

Frick finished up carving into each of their enemies chests in search of Orbs and having found none flew over to join them as they started walking out of the antechamber by unspoken agreement.

“Not looking forward to walking all the way back. Think your barriers can get us up there instead?” she asked.

It was a good idea, but he had a better one, his neck tilted so he could stare up the giant hole they stood at the bottom of.

“Frick, fly up to the entrance,” he said with a smile.

“You got it, Boss!” Frick yelled back as the little blue goblin flew straight up the shaft vanishing into the darkness. Nate could still sense the location of his Familiar as it flew, turning back to Kiri as they waited.

“Can you use your Soul Tether on me so you can track me?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied, sounding confused until realisation dawned on her and she grinned from ear to ear.

“You’ll teleport to Frick and I will teleport to you! Perfect! You’re the best Nate!” she said, pumping her only fist.

“Thanks. And…thanks for everything back there. I should’ve been more careful. Should’ve considered the demon might be able to enter Dungeons. Should’ve…just lots of things I should have considered,” he finished in a mumble as they waited.

“Don’t be like that,” Kiri said softly. “We both got caught out on this one.” She paused for a moment as another smile bloomed on her face before giving him a gentle slap on the back. “And besides, we won. Outnumbered, outlevelled and ambushed. Yet we were the ones to walk away. Smile bestie. We’re the fucking greatest! Also, that got me to level thirty.”

“Yeah, I hit thirty one,” he replied with a small smile. “Think the demon was preventing mana flowing towards us, or at least me. I didn’t feel anything when the Trapper went down. But we’re about even now. Which Class are you going to put it into?”

She only gave it a moment's thought, “I’ll ask Dev, but probably Soul Slayer. You?”

“Runic Artist all the way,” he replied with a smirk.

“Oh yeah? Going to paint a few more girls in your bed in the Capital?” she said with a grin.

“I’m not ruling it out but let's be honest. Out of the two of us we’re more likely to find girls in your bed than mine,” he snarked back.

“Of course. Someone’s gotta keep these poor lonely ladies satisfied. If we left it up to you you’d spend half the night sulking in the corner and drawing!” she shot back.

Nate attempted to roll his eyes and had a moment of surprise when the action felt weird. To distract himself he checked to make sure Kir had used Soul Tether on him. After he’d confirmed it with his sphere of awareness he nodded at her that he was ready and activated No Steps Necessary, vanishing as he appeared by the entrance. Kiri was only a second behind him and Frick threw his arms up in a cheer as the three of them stepped out through the spatial aperture.

Appearing on the ground in the tunnel they found Deverell waiting for them. He took one look at them and sighed in relief before yelling up the hole, “Aisling, they’re out!”

What followed was Aisling getting them out of the hole as quickly as possible before she patched Nate up with her Growth Magic. Regrowing his eyes took a little longer than fixing the rest of him and forced him to use his Life Drain rune in conjunction to make it work. Aisling volunteered herself for the target. She did what she could for Kiri but she wasn’t primarily a healer and regrowing an entire arm was beyond her. It was enough to finish stabilising his best friend and the next moment she’d been spirited off with Deverell. The pair were going to hunt for some animals across the nearby plains that were about to play the role of soul energy source so Kiri could finish regenerating her arm.

For him, he sat in their camp flowing mana into his robe to hasten its repair of all the small holes that had been punched in it as he looked over his levelling and skill notifications. Applying all the processed mana to his Wandering Runic Artist Class he reviewed the changes.

Accrued Mana applied to Primary Class.

Level up…

Level up…

Stats adjusted: +2 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +4 Intellect, +4 Creativity, +2 Willpower,

+4 Perception, +4 Mana Reserve, +2 Mana Absorption +12 Free Stats

He immediately put his twelve free stats into Magic Power, which joined the nine points he’d gotten in Mana Absorption from his Orb reward. Moving on he looked over his Skill options.

Skills Available! Please Select 1* Skills.

Class Skill Options:

Enhanced Channelling Speed (Epic)

Having a large Mana Reserve is always useful, but what is the point if you can only draw forth a dribble of mana at a time. Truly powerful magic requires a truly powerful throughput. For those lucky few, this Skill increases the user’s Channelling Speed by 5%. Increases by 1% per Skill Level.

Enhanced Magic Control (Epic)

Whether it is controlling spells at scale or having finite control over the smallest aspect of your spells and mana, Magic Control is a necessity. The powers of the cosmos only bend to those with the ability to enforce control. For those lucky few, this Skill increases the user’s Magic Control by 5%. Increases by 1% per Skill Level.

Runic Automation (Epic)

A Runecrafter without a golem is like a banker without a pen. This Skill is the first step on the path to your own automaton army. Bound to you by rune and mana they will stand guard over your laboratory for eternity. Runes carved into automatons are 20% more durable, increasing by 1% per Skill Level.

Artistic Expression (Rare)

Art is ultimately a form of expression. The medium by which you convey your ideas and emotions to the world. This skill helps you better express yourself to the world…through your art. The user of this skill finds their art more likely to draw in those who view it. Emotional responses 5% more likely in viewers, increased by 0.5% per Skill Level.

Enhanced Mana Absorption (Epic)

Drawing mana into your own Class Core allows it to take on your affinities. To enjoy the benefits of these enhancements requires a mana throughput. The size of the bath doesn’t matter if the tap only allows through a trickle. For those lucky few, this Skill increases the user’s Mana Absorption by 5%. Increases by 1% per Skill Level.

He read through the options and smiled at the idea of creating an army of Runecrafted Automatons. It was a cool idea and definitely something he would look into later but it wasn’t for him now. He supposed he could’ve made them very artistic which made it somewhat more appealing until he considered how damaged his art would become during combat. Automatons later he reminded himself before moving on to the other new Skill option, Artistic Expression.

He wasn’t sure if he was reading it right, but it sounded like he could use his art to influence the emotions of others. That had some very interesting uses and unless something better came up, that was likely the Skill he was going to take at level thirty five. The main reason was that he wanted to make sure he continued to focus on artistic skills to hopefully put him in good standing for some interesting artistic Tertiary Classes that might have some good synergies with his runes. But for now, he intended to follow through on his original plan. Before he made his selection, he absorbed the Improved Mana Absorption from his Skill Tome reward. When it didn’t cause any response beyond the Skill appearing on his Status, he chose Enhanced Magic Control from the Skill list. As he did so another Notification popped up and his grin could’ve lit up a room.

Skill Synergy discovered between your Improved Mana Absorption (Rare) Skill, Enhanced Magic Control (Epic) Skill, Enhanced Mana Reserve (Epic) Skill and Enhanced Magic Power (Epic) Skill. Combine these Skills to gain Amplified Magic (Legendary) Skill.

Proceed?

He selected yes and looked at the new skill description.

Amplified Magic (Legendary)

Magic is the manipulation of mana, the energy that determines who rises and who falls. The user of this skill is blessed in all areas of magic, able to bend mana to their will. An Archmage in the making, the Realms will tremble. For those blessed few, this Skill increases the user’s Magic Stats by 5%. Increases by 1% per Skill Level.

Amplified Magic 1 > 6

Empowered Runic Artistry 23 > 24

Runic Creation 25 > 26

Imbue Intent 27 > 28

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

Pulling up his Status he laid back in the grass with Aisling watching over him. He’d done it. He’d gotten to level thirty. Now he just needed a little more skill development and he’d be ready for the Tournament. Next stop the Capital of Etrua.

Laying there he heard Frick whisper in his mind, “Boss, I have reached my first evolution!”

He smiled up at the sky. Today just got better and better.

Stats

Physical

Mental

Magic

Strength

12

Intellect

136

Magic Power

71 (20)

Dexterity

68

Charisma

17 (3)

Magic Control

37

Agility

23 (10)

Creativity

117

Channelling Speed

35

Endurance

50 (3)

Willpower

22

Mana Reserve

114

Constitution

30

Perception

113

Mana Absorption

52

Classes

Primary Class - Level 10 (30)

Secondary Class - Level 1

Tertiary Class

Wandering Runic Artist (M)

Wandering Realmwalker (L)

…

Skills

Runic Knowledge - Concepts (L) Lvl 23 - (+28% Intellect)

Conceptual Material (M) Lvl 25 - (-12.5% Mana Cost, -25% Time Required)

Awareness of the Runic Artist (M) Lvl 26 - (+60% Perception, +18% Creativity, 13m Sphere of Awareness)

Imbue Intent (L) Lvl 28 - (17 Intents, 8 Imbued Intents, +14% Intellect)

Runic Creation (L) Lvl 26 - (-50% Mana Cost, +15% Creativity)

Empowered Runic Artistry (L) Lvl 24 - (-33% Mana Cost, +61 Magic Power for Runic Arrays)

No Steps Necessary (L) Lvl 18 - (180 metres teleport range)

From Me, To You (E) Lvl 20 - (100 metres teleport range)

Amplified Magic (L) Lvl 6 - (+10% Magic Stats)

Spells

Minor Spatial Lock (R)

Status Effects

Divine Translation Spell (Permanent)

Familiar Contract (Permanent)

System Contract - Aisling Teigland & Deverell Courbet (Temporary)

Class Core Concealment Soul Engraving (Temporary, Legendary)

Class Core Mana Gathering Engraving (+20% Mana Absorption) (Temporary, Legendary)