The Runesmith

‘He took it?’

Roland’s hammer had just connected with Emmerson’s large oval shield. The force that was generated caused a little shockwave to spread in all directions. The sound his weapon made during the collision was a bit off. He intended to blow away the man’s shield and then follow it up with a blast to his face with one of his shoulder cannons. Instead, he just slid back a bit while lowering his center of gravity.

‘Those defensive skills are troublesome.’

He could feel the force from his attack getting dispersed and lowered the moment it collided with his enemy. Some of the tiles on the ground started crumbling from this transfer. The initial analysis of the skill implied that Emmerson was somehow able to force the magical and kinetical energy down into the ground. Then the rest was absorbed by the armament’s enchantment and his vitality producing almost no damage.

“He pushed the Commander back… who is that person, I’ve never heard of a Knight named Wayland.”

“Yeah, someone this strong should have been discovered sooner…”

While Roland was disappointed by his initial hit not connecting right, the Valerian Knights on the sides were stunned. In their eyes, their Commander was a monster that they could never beat. They even saw him dueling some other knights without even once dropping down to his knees. Here on the other hand he was already buckling under the pressure of the first hit which didn’t bode well for their side.

“I’ll admit it, you have some strength but with strength alone, you will not defeat me.”

Emmerson didn’t seem like a very talkable person so when hearing him talk in a relaxed tone didn’t bode well. It was true that with his current multiplier, the stat differential favored him. Yet Emmerson was able to take a full blow that was even further enhanced by some buffing spells. Roland wanted to end it fast but his plan backfired a bit and just as the man was talking some type of skill was activated.

The other knight’s armor started being surrounded by a strange phenomenon. It was as if small blocks made out of rocks assembled themselves around his entire frame. They were somewhat transparent and looked to not be made from mana. Instead, Roland was sure that this was the man’s spirit resource by which his class was enhanced. Right before the orange light faded, Emmerson’s body started looking like it belonged to a golem made of rocks and cinder blocks in particular.

‘It must be some type of defensive skill that protects his whole body from damage…’

Regretfully, unlike with mages that used long chants that allowed people to predict attacks it was not the same with these skills. The only way to figure out what was happening was to have information about the skill used, and what skills the person had prepared or identify them by the visual cues. It was clear that it was a defensive skill but he didn’t know how it worked.

Of course, he wouldn’t just stand there and allow his opponent to continue using skills. Instead, one of his shoulder cannons aimed and produced a more concentrated blast of energy. To Roland’s surprise Emmerson chose not to dodge this attack nor did he put up his shield to defend.

The beam of light that had the diameter of a middle-sized coin drilled into his chest but was unable to pierce through the strange orange energy. Instead, an image of the blocks that formed this strange skill was seen. It was as if he was hitting a holographic image that was imposed over Emmerson’s body. Some of the orange blocks were damaged but after the attack was over they started to assemble themselves back into place.

This was quite a hard pill to swallow for Roland who expected to at least be able to get through this defensive skill and graze the metal on Emmerson’s armor. Instead, the only thing that was damaged was his shoulder cannon which was ill-equipped to handle his increased mana capacity. His armor was made for a person that possessed tier 2 power but he went well above it. Each time he cast a spell he could hear the sizzling of the runic components.

During this fight, he could see the limitations of his fighting style. Even when he was now stronger his old armor was working against him. He would need to take care of that issue later as concentrating on this confrontation was more important. The knight on the other end charged forward with his large sword in his right hand. His speed wasn’t anything special which allowed Roland to fire off a couple more blasts from his shoulder cannons as well as his hammer.

The weapon of choice that he brought along was his runic hammer. It had a retractable handle which allowed him to wield it as a one or two-handed weapon. When elongated it also became a proper mage's staff and could discharge various runic spells. While holding it in Emmerson’s direction he discharged a massive blast of magical energy almost instantly. The whole place became quite bright as the magical energy flew towards the charging knight yet right before it connected another skill was used by his opponent.

His large body blurred and appeared a bit to the right. The beam of mana energy that was focused on the middle was now directly targeting the large oval shield. Even though this blast was strong enough to take out any of the skeletal beings down in the dungeon it wasn’t capable of getting through this charging knight. Roland found himself retreating while his shoulder cannons blasted at the right side. Though just as before the man ignored the lesser beams as they could not pierce through that defensive skill of his.

To make things worse he was also capable of his own ranged attacks. That huge sword that would be hard to hold in two hands was utilized. Emmerson performed a strange quick thrusting motion that produced a strange roar. A lion’s head was visible as it formed on the tip of the blade. Soon after this lion head charged forward along with a beam of light. It was some sort of energy skill that had an added sound wave added. The growling caused his muscles to contract for a fraction of a second right before the hit.

‘Shit’

To his surprise, he was unable to dodge instead a thick slab of mana appeared before his body. The lion's head connected with this defensive shield that he produced almost instantly. Sounds of something cracking filled his ears as his mana shield was having trouble containing this strange attacking skill. Then to make things worse the enemy was actually able to bridge the gap between them.

With his multiple minds, he was able to keep watch over Emmerson’s every movement and even produce multiple spell effects at once. While the skill was flying his way he made sure to produce some rock pillars along with spikes to block his approach. This didn’t affect the man that much as he just bulldozed through everything. Roland’s tactic of outranging his opponent wasn’t working as he intended and now he had to contend with those close-range sword strikes.

Normally a person with superior stats should have also been at an advantage in close-range combat. Roland had examined his opponent and realized that he was somewhat of an all-rounder with a bit more of a focus on strength and vitality. In theory, he should have been able to overpower the other knight with pure stats but there was a reason that he couldn’t.

The sword moved at a strange angle while he retreated, for a moment he could follow the trajectory but then it was suddenly gone. His armor which came equipped with an automatic barrier was quickly activated as the sharpened blade connected with his body. Instantly he produced multiple magical effects to push the man away. Yet before he could, another blade strike grazed his side and even cut into the metal it was made from.

Roland pushed himself back and quickly made some space. The shoulder cannons automatically started shooting multiple blasts of magical energy at the opponent that continued the chase. Now that Emmerson had managed to shorten the distance he was unwilling to let him escape.

They continued to dance around the large courtyard while their skills and magical spells rained down everywhere. The knights on the sides even had to pull out their shields to defend themselves and the people around them. The area that was chosen for the duel was quite large but with all this running around it was getting riddled with holes.

“The commander is winning!”

“I knew he could do it!”

The people in the peanut gallery cheered while Roland tried to examine his opponent. His eyes and even multiple minds were unable to follow those movements. Even though he had some fighting skills he lacked the experience or training that a warrior class went through. This man was around forty and had gone through more than twenty years of rigorous training and also battles.

For Roland that spent half his life in the workshop developing magical tools, this was not something he could easily counter. His opponent knew how to move and read the flow of battle to use it to his advantage. Even though his stats were lower he had the technique and skill to win a direct confrontation. If he activated his skills they would instantly boost those lower stats and put them over Roland’s.

He knew that throughout a warrior's life they continuously faced opponents and became better at their craft. Reading an opponent's movements and predicting what they would do was one of those skills. He had something similar with his multiple minds but he was still lagging behind in reaction speed. Emmerson on the other hand was reacting on instinct and then coupled with the increase in power his battle skills gave him, the advantage was on his side.

The only thing Roland was actually good at was overwhelming his opponents with pure magical power and fast casting speeds. Mages had superior firepower compared to warrior types but suffered from long casting speeds. Whenever an opponent closed the gap that was usually it for the mage yet a wide array of spells wasn’t that easily breached.

If Roland’s armor had been up to date and outfitted with state-of-the-art greater runes then it would be different. In his current state, he was still using outdated equipment that paled in comparison to his opponents. Analyzing the enchantments on that armor was also being sluggish as he couldn’t concentrate. Things weren’t looking great as he was put in a defensive position.

The shield that he had momentarily magnetized to his back had been activated already and now he was getting pushed back while Emmerson was unloading various quick-paced skills. Finally after a brutal back and forth he managed to shake his opponent off with a huge windstorm that he created around his whole body. The cyclone covered a large part of the area and even caused Mary to cower behind one of the walls.

“Is this all you are capable of? I have faced battle mages like you before, there is nothing you can do to win but I won’t let you surrender…”

Emmerson gloated while moving his shield to the side. When looking at both of the fighters it was clear who was winning. On one side was Roland whose armor was falling off, the runes were just not able to take all the enhanced mana that his body was now able to produce. The metal on his breastplate and gauntlets was peeling off and even falling to the ground. It seemed that after the next clash, he would be done for.

“Is this all? Not really, you know what they say, don’t reveal your cards from the start.”

The shouting knights were stunned for a moment as they saw the damaged armor that was falling off and mending itself back to shape. All the parts that were scattered around this area were drawn back to Roland’s form. Within a few moments, the armor that he was wearing was fully restored and ready for round two.

‘I can’t keep doing the same thing, if I stick to that tactic it will just be a battle of attrition. Either my mana or his stamina will run out faster.’

While his mana reserves were large they were not unlimited. Sticking to the same tactic would probably not work. Warrior types tended to run out of stamina a lot slower than mage types did with mana. This tactic could work as he felt himself to be superior in that regard but there was something else that he wanted to try. There was a certain way of close-range fighting that he had wanted to develop and this Emmerson here was the perfect sparring partner.

There was one problem that never really allowed him to use his mana senses that much. There was just too much mana being used at the same time for him to be able to control it and not suffer a giant migraine. Now that his stats had been increased and he received one helpful skill he was ready to test it out. It was a timed skill so he needed to end this fight within five minutes but by his calculations that would be all that he needed.

Given that he was able to blow his enemy away by the cyclone he decided to prepare. First off the two cannons that were attached to his shoulders were torn away. This of course confused everyone that was watching this fight along with Emmerson. Following this act, he also grasped a set of small throwing knives that were attached by magical means to his armor.

‘Well then, let’s go Mana Overflow’

He called out the skills name in his mind. As it was activated his whole body started giving off a radiant blue hue and were accompanied by tiny blue bolts of electricity that arced around the metallic armor. To further the strange spectacle the torn-off shoulder turrets started floating upwards while accompanied by a blue haze. Almost instantly he tossed all the throwing knives up into the air in random directions. They were not aimed at Emmerson, who was holding steady and assessing the situation.

Some of the arcs of blue magical electricity for a moment traveled to those thrown blades along with the seemingly floating shoulder cannons. The moment they did they created a spell, an enhanced guiding arrow spell of immense potency. Multiple of these arrows started shooting out at Emmerson from random directions while Roland charged forward.

The Knight Commander was surprised by the massive number of magical attacks going off from various directions. He could take a lot of them but his defenses weren’t unlimited, and sooner or later his skill would disperse. Instead, he needed to focus on Roland who was seemingly blindly charging at him with a simple battle stance. Before the energy projectiles could get through his protective skill he would finish it.

Yet to his surprise, something was different. He could not deliver a decisive blow, it was as if his movements were being read and reacted to just at the right time. The person that he considered on the level of a trainee knight when it came to combat was starting to outpace him. Coupled with the rain of magical projectiles coming from random directions he was forced to retreat.

‘It’s working… I can see it.’

Roland was too focused on what he was seeing to pay attention to the system informing him that he had gained a new skill. What he was seeing was a world composed of blue light. It was as if he was staring at a new reality that was just composed of magical energy. This skill was obtained by combining his mana sense skill with his eyes as he was trying to read the flow of Emmerson’s movements.

This was made possible only thanks to his Mana Overflow skill. It allowed him to regain copious amounts of his magical energy while lowering the cost of using all of his spells and skills. It turned him into a bright burning furnace filled with almost unlimited energy. Even though the skill was very taxing on his mana reserves and even though he was using various spells to attack Emmerson, it was still sustainable.

Every living being in this world had mana inside of them, even the rocks and trees possessed this strange energy. Each time a person moved the mana would move first and thanks to this new skill he was now able to see it. The moment Emmerson activated a skill he could see a phantom of it going off. Coupled with his multiple minds that helped him analyze the magical energies he was now capable of reacting.

This was his counter against warrior classes that got too close. The advantage that his opponent gained through years of experience and training started to thin out. Each movement could be read through the mana flow and reacted to. If Roland knew where the strike was coming from and which spot it targeted, it wasn’t hard to focus his shield there while simultaneously sending a barrage of ranged attacks from outside.

His mana hand spell was used with the shoulder-mounted cannons to hold them up in the air. Coupled with the throwing knives that he could affect with his runic skills he was able to produce many attacks that came from the man’s blindspots. Soon enough he had him on the ropes and suddenly a large sword was twirling through the air.

“How could this be…”

A rather bewildered crowd of armored soldiers looked at the man down on the ground. To everyone's surprise, it was Knight Commander Emmerson that found himself kneeling on one knee instead of the man that challenged him. This quick turnaround was not feasible for many of those people but they could not turn their eyes away. The hammer that had managed to send that large sword flying was now coming right for their commander’s head. If it connected, it looked like they would be in a heap of trouble…