The Runesmith

‘They got the hang of it rather fast… I might be able to move along to schedule for once…’

Roland was leaning against the corner while watching Armand use the divine spell scroll he created. The spell was constructed in a way to guide itself toward undead creatures. Even if they aimed it at the ceiling the bolt would bend and fly at the giant spawning skeleton in the middle of the room.

The area he found for the three to go through had two respawning monsters with one more traveling through it. After killing the initial two monsters it was quite easy to exterminate them on a timer as they always returned within the same amount of time to the second. Even the moving creature was easily dispatched if all of them activated their weapons as he walked through the corner.

‘The perfect room for grinding, those berserkers always stop for a moment to activate their rage skill which makes it easy to kill them.’

The tactic seemed rather easy and made something difficult look rather trivial. This wasn’t the case as without the divine spell all three of them would be devastated by this monster. While they could quickly dispatch it, the same could be done by this creature that was above their tier.

“Woof!”

“Are you getting impatient? Don’t worry Agni, your time will come.”

Agni whimpered a bit while watching the trio dispatching the respawning monsters. His wolf companion hadn’t really had anything to do since getting here. He was unable to use divine spells and sticking magical scrolls into his muzzle to do the same would be sub-optimal. Luckily there were other ways that he could help his canine companion level up faster.

Their connection as master owners was somehow created by this world. The experience between the two was shared to a degree as long as they remained in close proximity. This was also why Agni was behind as Roland didn’t bring him to the dungeon during his grinding sessions. Then there was also the issue that the shared experience had begun declining as if the system didn’t want Agni to progress too hastily.

Yet this issue could be alleviated with a set of wolven armor. Agni was still in possession of his old armor that wasn’t that hard to modify with some leftover mithril. Just like the trio here, he would be able to produce the same divine spell. The spell manifestation rune was close to his horn which would allow him to aim it in a more natural fashion.

‘That about wraps out the test run, they should be fine for half a day. While they are here, I can start exploring the dungeon.’

“Think you three can handle yourselves?”

“Are you getting bored?”

Asked Armand while smiling slightly and Lobelia chimed in from the side.

“What will we do without our knight in shining armor?”

“I’ll take that as a yes, I’ll be gone for a few hours so just stick to the safe room when you see other adventurers coming.”

“Yes, mom.”

Nodded Lobelia while shrugging, it didn’t seem that the two were too concerned about the situation. It seemed that they were too enamored with their fast pace of leveling to care about their safety. Luckily they had one more mature member in their midst. Roland looked headed over to Mary that was in the process of dislodging one of the throwing knives he gave her.

“Can you watch over those two? Even though the monster paths are set in stone, it’s possible for some to come when lured by other adventurers.”

“I can’t promise that I won’t prioritize my own safety over theirs but if they won’t get in my way, then yes.”

Mary nodded at the request but Roland wasn’t sure how he should feel about the response. He had been on the fence about this girl for a while. The only reason he was helping her out was so his workload was decreased. If she was a tier 3 class holder then at least he wouldn’t need to constantly watch Arthur’s back. Without him around any semi-competent tier 3 assassin would probably be able to sneak into the villa. Even if there were some magical defenses planted there, it might not be enough.

“Well, at least you are being truthful about it but I hope that you at least realize that you owe me.”

“Of course, I will never forget what you have done for Lord Arthur’s sake but I must prioritize him and his mission over others.”

“Is that so? I hope you understand that I’ll cut my ties with your lord if anything happens to those two then.”

Mary was taken aback by the response. It was one thing to save herself to remain at Arthur’s side but it was another to lose an asset like Roland. Without him, the city would quickly go under and she understood what he was implying. If those two died then their relationship would sour and at least for the time being, she could not let that happen.

“I understand, I’ll prioritize their safety.”

“Good that we could come to an agreement.”

Now that he had said his piece to both parties he hoped that they would at least watch each other's backs. While he didn’t trust Mary too much he believed that she would at least prioritize keeping him happy. She knew about the plan to implement runic equipment into the city along with creating a better way of getting to this place. Only with the help of his mapping system would they know how to create the correct path.

“Let’s go Agni but remember to stay behind me.”

“Awoo!”

Finally, he disappeared behind one of the passages. The dots representing Armand, Lobelia, and Mary began to vanish on his zoomed map that only showed the immediate surroundings. Now that he was alone and with no distractions he had some time to take in the scenery. The area that he arrived in looked quite spacious and was covered by columns and arches. Right at the end, he also spotted one new enemy.

This Infernal Skeleton variant was smaller than the Berserker. His frame was more similar to a regular human's with a few differences. Some of the skeletal features were out on display as the armor it was wearing had some holes in it. Those glowing eyes that lacked any emotions were also peeking from under the helmet and they quickly focused in on the target.

“What are you looking at?”

“...”

The monster didn’t reply as he slammed his new tower shield with the large greatsword. This produced a loud banging noise which focused all the attention on him. For Roland taking care of this monster wouldn’t be hard but today he did not come here for leveling. His role was as a support for others.

After releasing a strange shriek the creature charged forward. For a fraction of a second, he felt like something was trying to enter his mind but was unable to pierce through it. More than likely the scream was an attack aimed at stunning. It wasn’t very effective on someone like him that possessed high willpower yet Agni on the other hand, was frozen in place.

‘Screams and shouts can be skills too. I’ll need to upgrade Agni’s armor to take care of the debuff, he can’t handle it at his current level.’

Roland’s armor was actually capable of guarding him against such attacks. Many magical shields existed and they weren’t only limited to blocking elemental effects. There were ones that increase willpower or could even block out adverse effects. Yet having them up on a constant basis would be quite troublesome, triggering the effect instantly after the attack came made things more manageable.

The monster charged forth, in its right hand it had a large mace, and in the other a moderately sized oval shield. Roland instructed the bits to float to the side and remain on standby while he casually walked forward with his new shield in hand. The monster started swinging and by the glow of the mace, it was clear that it was some sort of skill.

This attack connected with the darkened coffin-shaped shield. Instantly he could feel the weight behind this hit, even though the monster was below his level and stats his feet were pushed down into the floor. Cracks formed where he was standing and they continued to spread in all directions. Yet he didn’t back down and instead decided to give this skeletal fiend a push with the shield he was holding.

With the added weight of his armor and his superior stats, the monster was forced back. The momentum it gained only caused damage to the arm that was holding the mace. It stumbled for a moment but soon was at it again, another hit from it was coming and Roland wasn’t really doing much to stop the monster.

This time around it was different, instead of just taking the attack to the shield he activated the enchantment on it. The skull on the front side started glowing while the coffin was covered by a green glow. The attack flew in just to be reflected by the enchantment. Part of the force was sent back to the enemy due to the recoil causing some damage.

‘I’d say, around forty percent reflection value… I could probably make it better.’

The monster's right hand didn’t look good, the bones that were sticking out started crumbling and probably with the next attack, it would lose its weapon. If this was a Berserker variant it would have just continued with the attack. The Champion on the other hand was somewhat more intelligent. Instead of continuing with the attacks, it started to back away.

“Trying to turtle up now? It won’t work, Agni.”

Roland wasn’t alone here, while he was testing his new shield Agni’s stun effect wore off. During the second hit, the wolf circled around and got behind the enemy to now be able to activate his own armor’s effect. Using the fact that Roland was playing tank allowed for a nice shot from the back.

A bolt of divine energy shot forward and connected with the creature's back. Normally the skeletal champion would be able to evade such a sluggish attack but it was being held back by a quick binding spell. It wouldn't last for more than a second or two but this would be enough for his companion. Agni’s attack connected nicely with the backplate of the monster and the divine flames seeped into the boney insides.

‘It’s a bit less effective on armored enemies.’

“Agni, do it again.”

“Woof!”

While the monster was hit the holy flames were having trouble seeping in through the armor. Luckily the plate this champion was wearing had many holes and looked rather old. This allowed for the magical energies to seep in and apply the debuff against undead creatures without much of an issue. After the monster was weakened it was easy for Agni to take over and soon the battle was over.

“Good job Agni.”

“Woof!”

After a pat on the wolf’s head, he noticed that his level had gone up by one. From a hundred thirty-eight to thirty-nine. Agni didn’t suffer from taking one more tier 1 class like he did so after only eleven more levels he would arrive at his tier 3 evolution. What Agni would turn into was something that he was looking forward to. He would also become quite the asset as there weren’t that many tamed beasts of the tier 3 variety.

‘Registering him will be a lot easier now that I’m the Head-Knight. Maybe I should also go and get my adventurer rank increased to Platinum.’

Now that he was slightly famous and had more to say it would be easy to pass the Platinum exam just like the others. He expected the guild master to welcome him with open arms after what he did to Emmerson. A nice change compared to his old life of having to keep his head down.

‘He can’t ask me for my status screen either, I can veto that decision as a Knight…’

While thinking about his newly gained perks of being a knight he plucked out the monster’s core. Agni instantly perked up at the round object but after giving it a few sniffs he wasn’t too interested. Mana stones were part of his diet but these undead cores weren’t apparently as interesting.

“So the armor remains and I can even take it now… It doesn’t look too good though, should I just melt it down?”

These skeletons were using damaged weapons but they weren’t that shabby. They were a notch above what he was able to make when he was a tier 2 craftsman and they were made from better materials as well. The storage space that was inside his backplate wasn’t super spacious but he could at least fit a few weapons and armor pieces inside. Later he could decide on what to do with these things.

“Perhaps Bernir could restore them, with a few enchantments and the Platinum adventurers around it should fetch a good price…”

The influx of potential customers was upon him but he didn’t really have the time to manage everything in his shop. These weapons the skeletal fiends dropped could be refurbished and restored for a hefty profit. Their worth was below a mithril weapon but above a durasteel one. For people that were just looking for something cheap that worked, these would offer the perfect balance.

After packing up he started delving deeper into the dungeon. The first thing that he noticed was that this space was a lot more spacious than he anticipated. It was one thing to look at a representation of reality on a map and another to actually be there. Luckily this level didn’t pose that many obstacles as it had been already fully explored by the platinum adventurer party.

“Woah, one of them actually appeared.”

While most of the creatures here were humanoid skeletons there were other variants. One of them gave him a little scare as it instantly zoomed in his direction from the other side of the chamber as he approached. It was a flaming skull that continued to release a scream while flying forward. This time around Agni was surrounded by a specialized shield and didn’t suffer the stunning effect.

‘It’s fast but…’

Before the monster could approach him, all of his floating cubes started firing bolts of mana to intercept this strange being. The moment one of the attacks collided with it, an explosion rocketed the whole large crypt he entered.

This creature was more like a homing missile than an actual monster. The moment it was touched by anything it exploded. It was important to quickly kill this thing with ranged attacks before it reached anyone or it could potentially wipe out an entire party of adventurers in one go. His map only showed him some dots so he wasn’t expecting the skull missile to fly his way but luckily his flying automatons were programmed to intercept such things instantly.

“This is troublesome… Agni, step back and only use your ranged spells and equipment to attack.”

“Woof?”

While informing his wolf of the danger he activated his armor’s magical systems. A lone flaming skull wasn’t that dangerous but it posed a big problem. When it screamed or exploded, other monsters that were close became alert. When looking at his map he could see multiple dots moving his way. Some were quite fast and were probably other flaming skulls.

‘There is only one place they can come through…’

Thanks to his map he was given a tactical advantage. An easy decision was made to focus on the lone corridor that connected to three others further in. All the monsters would charge through it to get to where he was. Without even thinking about it that much he started casting one of the premier cleric spells.

The runic traces started traveling from his chest down to his feet as he took a step forward to perform a stomp. Almost instantly a radiant glow escaped from his sole and traveled in a straight path forward. The ground that was filled with undead energies was becoming cleansed as the hallowed ground spell effect took shape.

Soon enough the first skull appeared and was swallowed up by the divine zone. While this spell didn’t produce direct damage, it produced the same long-lasting debuff. Each and every one of the undead that appeared through the corridor would become sluggish.

“I guess it’s time for some target practice.”

Roland started blasting, each and every undead monster that appeared was quickly dispatched by his beams. Even Agni that was standing to the side was able to put in some work and deliver doom to a few monsters that would normally kill him with one swing of their claws.

‘Hm… This might be a good tactic for leveling…’

He looked at the pile of destroyed bones before him and smiled. While his level did not increase, Agni’s jumped by another two. At this pace, the ruby wolf would quickly achieve his next evolution.