The Runic Artist

Nate leaned forward as he watched the two teams finish up their training session. It hadn’t been as informative as he’d hoped. Rather than showing off any of their Skills, beyond their ability to wield their chosen weapons, and what he could tell was some sort of ice manipulation skill by Coralie, they’d stuck to what he thought was formation training. None of the skills shown were new to Nate or Kiri, as he’d already seen their classes. Well, almost all their classes. Null had somehow prevented the identification of his Skill. That alone was concerning as he should’ve been able to push through the swordsman's resistances with his Mythic skill. Instead it had felt like his attempt had simply vanished. The archer as well had been out of range but between Kiri and his own experience they weren’t too concerned about the threats an archer might pose.

Leaning back he glanced at Kiri as the two teams met in the middle to shake hands.

“Any thoughts?” he asked.

Kiri joined him in leaning back and frowned, “The dagger user on Coralie’s team is good. Like, seriously good. It wasn’t obvious because he didn’t act on a lot of the hammer girls openings…but every time he was positioned to take advantage. Amazing footwork. He almost moves like Deverell.”

“Almost?” he replied, glancing at Kiri’s face.

“Deverell has this way of moving…like he knows what is behind him. Dagger boy didn’t have that level of awareness. Saw a couple of times where he shifted his feet imperfectly because the sand wasn’t as flat as he expected. But even with that, he never put himself in a losing position,” Kiri’s frown transformed into a hungry smile. “I so hope I get to fight him!”

He turned back to the field to watch as Coralie approached them, the dagger user at her side. Walking right up to the edge of the field she stared intently at Kiri and himself.

“Did you enjoy the show?” she demanded, arching an eyebrow.

Kiri smirked, leaning further forward and giving Coralie a very blatant once-over, “I certainly did. What does a girl need to do to get a private one?”

Coralie blinked in shock, a moment later her ears turning red as she blushed. Her teammate with the daggers didn’t react as calmly, surging forward with a growl. He came up short as Nate spun up a barrier between Kiri and the guy.

Angrily slapping the barrier, the dagger user glared at Kiri, “How dare you talk to Coralie like that!”

Kiri shrugged, leaning back unconcerned. “Are you angry because I showed interest, or angry because your interest has never been reciprocated?”

Nate couldn’t help himself as he burst out laughing. He’d kind of hoped Kiri would actually deescalate the situation, but he should’ve known better. That said, watching Kiri rile the kid up was too funny.

“Think that’s funny, do you?” the kid asked, sneering at Nate. “When I get you out on this field I am going to cut you to ribbons.”

Nate stopped laughing to look pensively at the kid, waiting a moment before speaking, “Do you have a name?”

“Myles. But everyone calls me Flash,” responded Myles, the sneer still glued to his lips.

“Alright Flash,” he replied, drawing out the name to show what he thought of it. “What makes you think you’ll do any better at laying a hand on me on the field than you are right now at landing a hand on my teammate?”

To emphasise his point he flowed mana into Imbue Intent, making his barrier start pushing Flash backwards towards the field as Nate leaned forward with a placid expression to watch. He could see Kiri smiling out of the corner of his eye as she gave a small wave to Flash.

Flash slammed both his daggers into the barrier but at this point, Nate was more than skilled with making his runes into runic arrays so that they would benefit from his Empowered Runic Artistry. The barrier was made with mana that functioned as though the Magic Power was over a hundred. More than enough to stop what Nate was starting to confirm was a Dexterity and Agility focused melee fighter. He was sure Flash had some Skills to handle more durable opponents, but unless he intended to show his hand this early, all he could do was get pushed back until he was almost in-line with Coralie.

Flash growled and looked like he was going to attempt something before Coralie touched the guy's shoulder. She gave a small shake of her head as Flash glanced at her which finally seemed to settle the dagger wielder down.

“I suppose we’ll have to settle this on the field then,” said Coralie, her voice filled with confidence.

She seemed ready to continue when Kiri interrupted, “Why don’t we place a little wager then?”

Coralie looked annoyed at being interrupted before smirking at Kiri. “What did you have in mind? You two don’t look like you’ve got enough mana or anything else worth a wager. Except for maybe his robe,” she finished, flicking a finger at Nate.

Nate had to school his face as he considered that he likely had more mana than her entire team combined. Or if he didn’t, he definitely had the means to get it. He’d already started hatching a plan in regards to that, but Kiri had something else in mind.

“Oh that’s easy. If I place higher than you, you go on a date with me,” Kiri said with a mischievous grin.

Flash looked ready to try starting a fight, for the second time in as many minutes, while Coralie blushed again before responding confidently, “And if I win, you give me a rare tier item.”

“Deal,” responded Kiri with a wink.

Flash looked angry at the exchange but was dragged away a moment later by Coralie as the Ice Mage made her way back to the rest of her team. Nate motioned to Kiri and they stood and started walking away as well. As they walked, a smile formed on Nate’s lips as Kiri nudged him. When he didn’t respond she nudged him again.

Playing innocent he glanced at her with eyebrows raised, “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me! Did she look?” Kiri asked.

Nate smirked a little and gave a dramatic shrug. Kiri jumped on his back in response, wrestling him to the ground. He considered teleporting to get out but decided that showing his hand wasn’t worth the enjoyment he was getting from teasing his friend.

“Fine! Fine! She looked!” he said, still laughing.

Kiri got off him and helped him back to his feet, a satisfied - maybe even smug - smile on her lips.

“Knew it,” she said and glanced at him as he was dusting himself off.

He was just thankful for the self cleaning function on his robe.

“So, now you just need to place higher than the daughter of a Prefect and one of the top two contenders for the Tournament. Got any plans for achieving that?” he asked.

“Be awesome,” Kiri said with a confident nod. “Also, getting in as much skill training as I can. Which means I am going to go see if Deverell is back and if not I will be in my room practising. You?”

Nate shrugged, “I need to develop some new runes. Also, see if I can get some new sigils. I’m going to talk to Aisling about it tomorrow. I’ll be working on my skills tonight.”

Kiri nodded with a smile. “Meet up for breakfast?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed.

Walking through the Guildhouse to their inn, they garnered a few glances from some of the other Guildmembers present. More than that, Nate felt an attempted identification more than once. Each time he pushed his mana towards the Class Core Concealment rune engraved onto his soul. Not for the first time he was both impressed and pleased with the synergy he had with his friend. Sure, he could likely have made an amulet or something similar that could’ve performed the same function. But, given his lack of sigils, he wasn’t sure he could’ve created a similar rune that warned him when it was being pressured as it was when people tried to forcefully identify him.

By having the Class Core Concealment rune on his soul, he sensed every time something brushed against it. Using his Awareness of the Runic Artist he was even confident in who had attempted to identify him and Kiri. One had been the unhelpful Guild Assistant. The only impressive thing about the attempt was the acting the guy put on to make it seem like he was focused on the Adventurer Team at his desk. The other two came from a pair of girls about his age. Like the Guild Assistant, they had not looked at him as they’d performed their scan but he’d felt the mana emanate from them. Interestingly they seemed to be doing the same to most of the other Silver Badges in the Guildhouse. No one else had reacted and Nate shrugged it off for now.

Exiting the Guildhouse Kiri glanced at him and nodded when she saw his facial expression mirror her own, “We’re not in Helmfirth any more, I guess. Be careful. See you in the morning.”

Heading up the stairs of the inn to his suite, he smiled. Let them try and identify him. They had no idea what they were in for. He planned to spend some time on his runes soon, but he was putting that off until tomorrow. Tonight he was going to finally evolve No Steps Necessary.

*************

Nate finally got the notification while Frick floated nearby patiently. He’d burned through the mana in three of his mana gems utilising his No Steps Necessary skill within the confines of his suite. The last push had been more difficult than expected and he was going to need to start enacting his plan to get more mana soon, but for now that could wait as he’d finally pushed the skill to twenty one. Bringing his notification up so he and Frick could go over it, he reviewed his options.

No Steps Necessary 20 > 21

No Steps Necessary (L) is ready to evolve.

A true Spatial Mage does not need to walk, nor swim, nor fly. Their destination is always only a step away. With this Skill, they need not even take a step, moving themself through space to appear at their destination. Step into the distance and see the world ever behind you. This Skill allows the user to teleport themselves a short range. Distance increases with Skill Level. Mana Cost decreases with Magic Power and Magic Control. Initial distance is ten metres. Skill Level increases distance by Skill Level * ten metres.

Evolutions Available! Please Select 1.

Skill Evolution Options:

Teleportation (L)

A variation of the many teleportation Skills, this version allows the user to vary the mana cost based on the distance travelled. Shorter teleports will require significantly less mana making this skill more commonly used by combat Spatial Mages. Become untouchable. Distance increases with Skill Level. Mana Cost decreases with Magic Power, Magic Control and distance travelled. Initial distance is ten metres. Skill Level increases distance by Skill Level * ten metres.

Horizon Step (L)

Increases maximum distance of Skill by Skill Level * hundred metres.

Looking between the two options he was actually somewhat torn. The first option, Teleportation, was the kind of improvement he’d been working towards. Reducing the cost to teleport himself would let him do it more freely as a defensive measure. He knew he couldn’t survive in melee and the enchanted bolts in the Low Rare Dungeon had proven that his barriers were not infallible. Classes, Skills and enchanted gear were like playing chess. For every strategy there was a counter. With that in mind, teleporting around the battlefield, or in this case, the Tournament field, was ideal. On the other hand, Horizon Step would let him teleport over two kilometres in one go. If it followed the same trend as the skill it was evolving from, that would mean the mana cost would be static. He really would be able to just step off into the horizon whenever he felt like it.

Glancing at Frick he looked at his Familiar questioningly.

“Don’t get cold feet now, Boss. We worked to try and align the two Skills. You’ve got a better than decent shot at them synergising. Possibly even up a tier given the nature of Spatial Translation. Follow through,” Frick said, his blue eyes burning into Nate’s with an unusually serious gaze.

Nate sighed and gave up on his plans to just teleport off whenever he felt like it, selecting Teleportation. What a boring name, he thought. A moment later another notification popped up and he sighed.

“Frick, you’re an ass,” he said, throwing up the new notification. “But you’re a useful ass.”

Skill Synergy discovered between your Spatial Translation (Legendary) Skill and your Teleportation (Legendary) Skill. Combine these Skills to gain True Teleportation (Mythic) Skill.

Proceed?

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

Frick cackled as he read the notification. A moment later Nate felt a tug on his mana as his Familiar became corporeal, starting to do his stomping dance in a circle in celebration. Nate ignored his antics, selecting yes on the notification as he brought up his new Skill.

True Teleportation (Mythic)

The ultimate expression of a Spatial Mage is the ability to teleport anything, in any way they desire. True Teleportation lets the user teleport themselves, objects or even other people. As they do so, given their control over space they may alter the position and vector of objects during teleportation. May space bow before your whims. Distance increases with Skill Level. Mana Cost decreases with Magic Power, Magic Control and distance travelled. Initial distance is ten metres. Skill Level increases distance by Skill Level * ten metres. Increases Magic Control by 18%.

True Teleportation 1 > 21

You have evolved a Skill from your Secondary Class to Mythic Grade while your Secondary Class remains Legendary.

Your achievement has been recorded.

Nate sighed tiredly. He was more than happy with his new Skill and given how its applications were broader, he expected he’d be able to level it easier than he would have two separate teleportation skills. However it was getting late and he was already tired. Stumbling towards the bed in his suite he glanced at Frick.

“Are you able to finish bringing the four runes up to Rare tier?”

“You got it, Boss,” responded Frick, floating over towards a table set aside with some of his materials scattered over it. “I’ll keep an eye out too. Just the one though.”

To emphasise his point he looked at Nate, with one eye as the other stared at the table. Nate rolled his eyes at the joke and fell into his bed. It took no time at all for sleep to claim him.

*************

Walking downstairs in the morning he found Kiri already there waiting for him with Deverell. They’d gone to the trouble of ordering him some food already so he slipped into a seat next to his friend and began digging in. The food was good, but as he’d suspected when he pushed for the better inn, it just wasn’t up to the quality he’d gotten used to in the Oaken Ring in Helmfirth. Maybe he should’ve offered the chef a job?

Finishing quickly he looked at the pair, “So, what’s the plan today?”

Before Kiri could open her mouth Deverell responded by standing up, “Kiri is doing some more skill training with me. As for you, I think someone has something else in mind.”

Deverell motioned to Kiri who looked confused but stood to follow. His own confusion was short-lived as someone slipped into the seat across from him.

“I thought it was about time we had a chat,” said Evindal, a smile on the elfs lips.