The Runic Artist

Nate walked beside Kiri as Aisling led them towards the Guildhouse. The sun was up now, even if it hadn’t been for very long, and the warm rays and salty air from the ocean were helping to make him feel more relaxed. Added to that was Kiri’s presence.

“So, we should go shopping later. I need to pick out something to wear on my date,” Kiri suggested, before adding in a teasing tone. “ We’re moving up in the world after all. And for you, maybe we can find you some more silk underwear.”

He raised an eyebrow in response, “You’re not getting some silk underwear? Does Coralie not like them or something?”

Aisling’s voice floated back to them in an almost monotone, “In my experience, lovers vastly prefer no underwear.”

Nate and Kiri burst out laughing, not sure if Aisling was joking or being serious, but it didn’t matter when the comment was that funny and the two quickly devolved into a fit of giggles, feeding off each other.

“It’s good to be back,” Nate got out between wheezes. “Even if I wasn’t gone that long.”

Kiri bumped his shoulder as they caught back up to Aisling who hadn’t bothered to wait for them.

“It was too long, you know, given what happened,” Kiri said, before throwing an arm around his shoulder. “So, you were saying about maybe exchanging your Epic item reward?”

“Yeah. I realised that to do what I want I really need a skill that will let me shape materials. I doubt I will find one that does exactly what I want, but as long as it’s a skill I can develop in the right direction, that should work. What about you?” he explained before throwing the question back at Kiri.

“I’ll probably take the item,” Kiri replied with a small smile. He nudged her to get her to keep going but she just shook her head slightly so he let her keep her secrets.

The receptionist didn’t try to stop them as they followed Aisling downstairs and he was surprised when they walked past a couple of Gold Badge guards. Down another two levels and past a second set of guards they finally arrived before a solid metal door. Aisling motioned for them to wait and Nate spent his time running his Awareness of the Runic Artist over the vault. If his sphere of awareness was right, the size of the room beyond the door wasn’t huge. Definitely less than his sphere, which could now stretch seventeen metres in any direction from him. As per usual the enchantments felt breakable to him, with no Sigils. Even if there was metal and gem dust that emitted the feeling of multiple Concepts, he suspected that could overpower them with any of his Mythic Skills. All he needed was enough mana. Though turning to a life of crime didn’t seem like it would be worth the effort. Or the stress for that matter.

They didn’t have to wait too long thankfully. Prefect Allais and Prefect Porter came down the stairs a moment later and approached the vault.

“Good morning Stormspear,” greeted Allais. “And to our top two Silver Badges. It’s nice to finally meet you face to face.”

Nate wasn’t convinced personally. Even the woman's voice was icy and he couldn’t tell if that was just her personality or if she was still pissed about them beating her daughter. Throw in the fact that this was the woman who attempted to have his Silver Badge Assessor injure him, and he wasn’t feeling predisposed to being friendly.

So instead, he grunted in response.

Prefect Allais’s eyes narrowed but Prefect Porter let out a booming laugh.

“Good on ya, kid. Don’t take no shit.”

When Allais shot Porter a dirty look, the cantankerous Earth Mage just snorted.

“You started it girl. Don’t be surprised some of ‘em bite back. Let’s get this fucking over with. You’re interruptin’ my breakfast and I can’t be assed playin’ politics this early. ‘Afore we continue though, stories. An’ by that I mean gettin’ our story straight. Dun worry about the two lads guardin’. They’ll keep their gobs shut. Ya story is simple lad. Ya mentor in spatial magics wanted ya and didn’t realise ya was fightin’ in the Tournament. Whisked ya off and then returned ya when ‘e was done. That’s the long an tha short of it. Ignore the rumours an ya let em die down. Ya got me?”

When Nate and Kiri both nodded quickly in response, Porter grunted his approval before glancing at his fellow Prefect. With a frown from Allais, each of the Prefects produced a token that Nate could sense was somehow linked to the enchantment on the vault door. After both tokens were pressed against the door it finally unlocked with a resounding click before Porter stomped in, yelling for them to hurry up.

As Nate had suspected, the Vault wasn’t huge. It was roughly a ten metre cube. That being said, while it might not be huge, it was packed full with barely enough room to walk around. His Awareness of the Runic Artist was going bonkers as it sent him back information about every item in the room. It quickly became clear that everything in the room, from the equipment to the Orbs, were all only Rare or Epic tier. He didn’t ask, but he suspected they had two other vaults. One for all the Common and Uncommon equipment and Orbs, and likely an even more secure one to house anything of the Legendary tier or above. Assuming they even had anything that was Mythic.

“Alright. First place, for both of ya. Good. Good,” muttered Porter as he stood inside the Vault. “So, that’s two Rare Stat Orbs and an Epic item each. Pretty good for a couple of Silver Badges, if I do say so myself. So what’ll it be?”

Nate continued to scan the Rare Skill Orbs, looking for something in particular. While he searched through the Skill Orbs he heard Kiri make her request.

“Two Willpower Orbs and I heard you had an Epic sword made from pure manerium?” asked Kiri.

Nate quickly found the sword she was thinking of.

Reinforced Manerium Blade (Epic)

Stats: +15 Magic Power

Features: Reinforced (Epic), Innate Repair (Epic), Mana Empowerment (Rare)

Reinforced: This item is Enchanted to be significantly stronger and more durable.

Mana Empowerment: This Item is Enchanted to improve the power of any Skills or Spells channelled through it by 5%.

Innate Repair: This item is Enchanted to repair itself over time using ambient mana. Feeding the Enchantment mana can accelerate this process.

He frowned a little. The item was quite nice, but Kiri never used swords. He glanced at her curiously to which she just responded with a shrug. He supposed he’d figure out what she was up to later. He went back to searching through the Rare Skill Orbs as he sensed Prefect Porter fetching the requested items.

“Don’t see many go for tha Willpower Orbs. Ya’re an odd one, lass. Well, have at 'em,” commented Porter.

He might’ve said more but Nate stopped paying attention. He’d finally found what he was after.

Metal Shaping (Rare, 8)

A blacksmith wastes much of their metal as they force it into the shapes they require. But instead of wasting metal you can waste mana. This skill allows the user to mould metal into the shapes they desire at the cost of mana. Mana cost is based on the density, tier, and volume of the metal being shaped. Mana Cost decreases by 0.5% per Skill Level. Mana cost is further decreased by 5% of the user’s Intellect.

He’d realised that he wasn’t going to be able to get a Skill like this now that he’d maxed out his Runic Artist Class. His Realmwalker Class would never offer such a Skill, so he’d have to wait until he evolved Runic Artist which required both Classes to be level twenty. It wasn’t perfect, but he suspected that with some skill synergies or by really pushing the Metal Shaping skill himself, he could eventually get the material shaping skill he was after. He just hoped that the Prefects would allow him to trade his Epic item reward for a Rare Skill that would let him improve his crafting and art.

Kiri was behind him, her Stat Orbs and the Epic sword in her hands. He sensed it as she made all three vanish into her Soul Space. That was all the sign that Porter needed to step up next to him.

“What about ya lad? What’ll it be?” asked the Prefect.

“Can I swap my Epic item for a Rare Skill Orb?” he responded, answering a question with a question.

“Dun see why not,” replied Porter.

At the same time Allais asked, “Why would you want to do that?”

Nate glanced at Porter, “I don’t have to answer her do I?”

Allais’s icy blue eyes focused on Nate with a glaring intensity as Porter started laughing, “Nah lad, ya dun have to answer her. An’ ya, Allais, serves ya right for stickin’ ya nose in the Tournament. Mind ya own business fer a change. Go ahead lad. Seems ya know what ya want anyway.”

Nate grinned and snatched up two Channelling Speed Orbs and the Metal Shaping Skill Orb.

“Alright. Happy wit ya choices? Good. Now, ya other rewards. Stormspear tell ya your options?” asked Porter.

“Yes, sir. Dungeon access is my preference,” replied Nate quickly.

“Good. Smart lad. Take care of these,” Porter said, dumping a small sack into Nate’s hand.

“There’s twelve in there,” the Prefect continued. “Ten fer the new Dungeon ya found fer the Guild and another two fer unconverin’ them plants. Ya know the ones. The skinny bints that pulled a runner. Now, Guild rules state that for any Dungeon run tha cost is four tokens of the same tier or higher. Ya can take whoever ya want. Team up and share the cost or do it on yer own for all I care. But four tokens fer a run. Got it? Good.”

Nate nodded that he understood and ran his sphere of awareness over the tokens. He could sense they were stamped with words indicating the tier of dungeon they granted access to. Twelve tokens, all stamped with High-Rare. In effect, he had enough tokens for three High-Rare Dungeon runs with just him and Kiri. Alternatively he supposed he could link up with Null and Britt. They’d have to put up their own Dungeon tokens, sharing the cost. Doing that he could extend it to six Dungeon runs, but there was a question of whether or not that would make a difference in terms of the amount of levels he would get. Dungeon rewards as well he supposed.

Shrugging, he put the tokens into his spatial storage and followed everyone out of the vault. Prefect Allais spared him an icy look, before giving the same glance to Kiri. Then the Prefect left in a swish of fabric, headed back upstairs. Porter was already gone, having used the excuse of dumping off Nate’s Dungeon tokens to leave, likely to find his breakfast.

Nate followed Aisling back up the stairs before bidding the Platinum farewell and heading for his inn. Kiri followed along and they didn’t speak till they were back in his room.

“So, the sword, what’s that all about?” Nate said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“Surprise,” Kiri responded. “I’ll show you soon. Promise.”

When he grinned in response, his best friend continued, “I’m going to get some skill training in with Deverell. Meet up after lunch to go shopping for some clothes? I need something for my date.”

“Deal,” he said. That worked out perfectly for him. He could make a start on the Class Core Obfuscation rune and then take a break and buy some comfortable new clothes. Maybe check out a few shops for some furnishings, in case his room at the University really was a step back in terms of luxury.

“Awesome. See you then!” Kiri headed for the door, pausing to lean her head back in. “Oh yeah, I take it back.”

When Nate looked at her, confusion written on his face, his best friend continued.

“I know Prefect Allais is around the age you’d go for, but I think it’s a bad idea. She seems like a bit of a bitch.” Kiri punctuated her words with a wink before beating a hasty retreat.

Not that that stopped him from getting her back as he used True Teleportation to send some water down on her head. There was no hiding from his ‘sight’, he thought with a laugh when he heard the indignant squeak. He’d half expected her to come back but his best friend must’ve decided they were temporarily even as she exited the inn a few seconds later, headed for the Guild’s training grounds.

Nate turned to look at Frick, “You were awfully quiet.”

“Just busy, Boss,” the blue goblin replied, studiously applying Conceptual Material to a new mana gem.

Nate narrowed his eyes at Frick. His Familiar was being far too agreeable. He’d have to keep an eye on the little scamp. He didn’t suspect betrayal or anything dramatic. More likely the little spirit was planning some mischief. There was nothing he could do about it yet though. He’d need to figure out what Frick was up to first. Awareness of the Runic Artist didn’t notice anything unusual nearby. So with a shrug he moved over to his table by the window and pulled out a notepad. It was time for some runecrafting.

The idea behind a multilayered deception was an interesting one to him. It reminded him a little of the artwork he’d done back in Helmfirth, where he’d concealed Galle’s version of butterflies within a drawing. There was a similarity, he thought. He wanted to conceal his Class Core, then put an obfuscation over the outside so that it showed a different Class. He’d ask Aisling later about the actual Classes and levels he wanted it to show for both himself and Kiri, but first he needed the basics of the rune.

He already knew he was going to need at least three Sigils incorporated into this one rune which would make it one of his most complex runes so far. His runic arrays were different. They linked different runes together to create an amalgamated effect. This was one rune, serving a very specific function. Class Core, Concealment and Obfuscation were all necessities. He wanted to see if he could include Power or Strongest in as well to further strengthen the effects. That was mostly to offset the fact that the three core Sigils he needed were all Journeyman ranked. He needed the rune to be Master ranked so that it stood a chance against any Legendary identification skills without being overwhelmed, in the same way that he had overwhelmed the Unseen’s Class Core obfuscation.

Not for the first time, he lamented his lack of access to higher tier Sigils. If he’d had more time he might’ve gone looking for more Sigils. Maybe even seeing what was needed to get access to the Guild Library’s restricted section. But he didn’t have that time. University induction was in less than a week, so he had to work with what he had. That made him think of his Puzzle Box and he extracted it from his spatial storage to sit on the table while he worked. He liked it. A reminder of what he was aiming for. His suspicions that the engraving on the Puzzle Box was a Sigil remained. And if it was, then it was one that Arikanvil did not know, else his Divine Translation would’ve recognised it. He hoped that meant it was Mythic, maybe even higher.

With a last glance at his demonic realm prize, he started scribbling, drawing out the geometric shapes overlaid as he drafted up his idea for a Class Core Obfuscation rune.