The Runesmith

A man’s foot was turned into minced meat from a concentrated magical explosion at ground level. While taking in the pain he started wondering about the life choices that brought him here. Was he too greedy by taking on the unreasonable request of the gnome to go here? Was it the lack of other tier 3 adventurers that made him forgo the usual safety measures? Or perhaps he did not anticipate what they were going up against well enough?

He could only cry out in pain while trying not to fall down as the horror unfolded before them. Their opponent was supposed to be some type of magical knight. The spells used against the skeletal beings were a dead giveaway. Someone like that should have to rely on others the most, gathering mana and casting spells should have not been that easy. Yet, there was no downtime or indication of something happening. The spells just took shape and exploded all over the place, just like the front of his foot.

His plan was standard, keep the mage locked down with the help of his party members. The arrows were supposed to bring the mana shield up and force the spell caster on the defensive. As long as he was focused on defending his body from taking damage, an opportunity would arise.

Even if he was using enchanted armaments, it all defied logic. Magical armor was supposed to only provide basic defense, a mantle of mana, and some buffing with perhaps a few secondary spells as a means of attacking. What they were seeing before them was not even close. The crimson armor lit up like a Christmas tree as a strange bluish field of energy exploded around them. Soon after a vast array of spells took form that they could only describe as overpowering.

“Shit, what are there… the ground is shaking!”

“D-doge it, it must be a binding vine spell of some sort!”

“No watch out, there are spikes coming out from the walls and ground!”

A scene that no one was expecting was playing out before them. Even before they could reach the magic caster and contain his spells they were already upon them. It was all as if their opponent predicted all of their actions and had lured them all into a trap. Strange dark green vines with sharp ends appeared from under them to grasp their strongest warrior in place. His larger frame and heavy armor didn’t allow him to react fast enough to this quickly cast spell.

Not all was lost as the spear user just needed to change the trajectory of his attack to blow away the vines. This however would allow the mage knight to gain some space that they worked hard to create. When freed their tanker instantly used his shield along with a defensive skill to deflect the rocky spikes from above while retreating.

“Huh?”

Everyone was ready to get hit by some more spells but instead, the man in the crimson armor didn’t move. The large shield that he was holding previously was slammed into the ground. His sword, which was also covered in some runes, just floated to the side without any indication of attacking them.

“What is that fucker doing?”

“I don’t know but be careful, he is probably trying to lure us into a trap, look at those strange things floating around his back!”

A moment of respite was given to the group as the barrage of spells stopped. Something felt strange as it didn’t make sense for him to halt his counter-offensive. After the explosion that caused an injury to the leader's foot, the momentum shifted. Yet now, on the other hand, the five adventurers were able to assess the situation. Their opponent’s armor was glowing, runes were everywhere, and were probably the source of his power.

“Surrender.”

“What?”

“You should surrender, you can’t win this.”

“What is this fucker talking about!”

Before they could come up with a winning strategy the man spoke out. His echoed through the cavern they were in a strange fashion and were obviously backed by magic. In response, the group quickly attempted to cover their ears. Various skills and spells could travel through sound waves and affect a person's senses, in this case however, they were just being overly cautious.

“If you surrender now, your lives can be spared. You will be given a fair trial just as the law states, this I guarantee on the name of the Valerian Household.”

“Don’t listen to him, he is just trying to confuse us.”

The group wasn’t buying it, from their perspective it was some kind of trick. This knight was probably just trying to lower their guard before using more spells. It was also possible that he wasn’t sure of his victory and was trying to buy some time.

“The bastard uses magic, he might have been able to contact that party that was in the mines, I bet he is just waiting for them to arrive!”

One of the archers quickly screamed out while pointing his bow at the unmoving knight. If what he said was true then this group had to move fast. The group in the mine could become a problem but knowing that they were rushing over here, wasn’t all that bad. In the mind of the leader, it was a blessing in disguise.

“Good try but we weren’t born yesterday, you’re just trying to buy some time for your friends to arrive. Thanks to your stupidity you just revealed your plan.”

“My plan?”

The man sipped on a healing potion while smiling as he was given enough time to recover from his foot injury. The armored man’s tone indicated some confusion but from the standpoint of the party leader, everything was already obvious. The best chance they had at getting out of there was by leaving this man’s corpse behind. While the party attempted to recover it, they would either avoid them inside the dungeon or prepare another trap.

“You think I wouldn’t realize that you contacted your friends from the mine?”

“Oh, so you figured it out? But what will you do with that information?”

“There is no point in telling that to a dead man, you should have never come here.”

“So that’s your answer… That’s disappointing, I don’t really enjoy killing people but you leave me no choice then… Agni, do it.”

The talks had died down and the second round had begun. This group of five didn’t change their tactics that much as they were ready to use arrows to halt him from casting. The most visible difference was that their leader had taken center stage and started attacking along with the two other warriors. In their minds, their opponent was just bluffing. One way or another they would overpower him and then make it out alive.

One small thing evaded their notice and that was the location of the wolven companion of this armored man. They assumed that it was guarding the gnome somewhere inside of the dungeon. More than likely it was somewhere within the tunnel from which their enemy came out. Thus it was quite surprising to see it a lot closer than they had anticipated.

The moment the armored man mentioned the wolf's name, it appeared out of the shadows. It was followed by a strange runic glow produced by plates of metal that looked like armor covering its body. It all culminated in a mass of flames escaping its mouth that headed straight at the two archers near the dungeon level's exit.

“Shit, how did that thing get here… it evaded my detection skill?”

The two archers in their confusion were unable to properly react to the enemy attack. The one that was closer to the flames screamed out in pain as it engulfed his entire body. To make things worse, before the other one could make some distance something grasped his ankle. It looked like a strange red whip made of crystals and before he knew it, he was getting pulled in towards the erupting inferno.

“ARRGHhhh”

“What the…”

“You should probably focus on your opponent instead of looking behind…”

The warriors looked back before hearing the man respond in a cold voice. When glancing back they suddenly saw four floating cubes moving up into the air. They had seen them dispatch some undead so they became weary so they needed to take care of the problem instantly. Their tanker quickly charged at the man that had placed his shield down on the ground and attempted to bash him with his own.

“What the?”

To his surprise the enemy did not even attempt to use his defensive weapon, instead, he just caught the charge with his right hand. The man was an experienced warrior and had gone through many trials and tribulations. Even then, he did not remember such a big difference in strength existing even when he slammed into larger monsters. It was as if he collided with a massive wall made of iron that he could not even move by a millimeter.

It became quickly clear that the discrepancy in levels must have been staggering. Even when he attempted to push it was only his own feet that were descending into the rocky ground that began to crack under the weight. The only thing that he could rely on were his allies so he continued to persist while waiting for a familiar spear tip to appear next to his head.

“I got him!... huh?”

The sound that was supposed to trigger was not there. Instead, the two just saw the spear tip connecting with a barrier of light. It rippled around the weapon’s point as if it was quickly dispersing the energy from the destructive skill his companion always used. Then suddenly the ripple stopped in place and started flowing back to the point of impact.

“Shit, pull it out!”

“I… I can’t!”

Before the two knew it, both of them were flying back through the air from the recoil. They weren’t sure how the spell or skill worked but it somehow reflected the attack performed by the spear expert back to them. The impact was also enhanced several times as it should have not been enough to send both of the high-level warriors flying as easily.

“Fucking die!”

Their leader came flying in the moment they were catapulted away. His two blades attacked the armored man that continued to just stand there without even using his shield or sword. The expert swordsman’s long and shortsword lit up the room in a mass blade energy. There was a tremendous amount of skill and speed involved yet, something wasn’t right.

“H-how is he so fast?”

The man continued to try but for some reason, he could not even connect with the bulky armor. It didn’t make sense for someone of comparable size to their tanker to be able to dodge this well. All of his moves were being seen through and before any of them could land on something, that large armored body just moved out of the way. Was it the difference in skill or perhaps levels? When he interacted with the man he seemed rather young and lacking, could it have been impossible from the start?

“We need to help the leader, stop spacing out, and let’s go!”

The two warriors were surprised by the evading capabilities of their enemy but perhaps if they joined up together, a miracle could happen. They nodded at each other and charged forward but a strange crunching sound from behind them brought them back to reality. In their desperation they had forgotten about their two backline supporters that had to contend with the wolven creature.

“J-Jack?”

When they looked back they could see the man’s neck between the monster’s teeth. His blood was dripping down onto the rocky ground while their other archer’s body was already turning black from getting swallowed up by the flames.

“I told you that you should have surrendered, I’m sorry but I’m not lenient enough to give you a third chance to survive…”

All of them quickly looked back to the armored man that was doing something. The four cubes that were previously floating around him started moving forward. They hovered in front of him while combining into a larger rectangular shape. Their sides came together while producing visible electrical discharges before settling together.

Soon after the blue mana mantle that the man was constantly producing started getting sucked up by the new flying rectangle. A pulse of energy flew forward shoving them back by a few meters as the thing continued to charge. Even when they attempted to get in closer it repeatedly produced a wave of energy while also devouring more and more of blue particles escaping the man’s body.

“It’s doing something, shit spread out it probably can’t get us all!”

Panic spread through the group, their eyes showed fear for the first time during this short fight. All of them finally realized that the knight they were facing was not like them, he was a true monster. Even when it came to tier 3 class holders there was a pecking order and this man here was on the top. There was nothing they could have done but only running remained. With three of them still alive it was now a free for all, he could at least not catch them all so running away was their best bet.

“Agni…”

Only one word left the man’s mouth as the whole area lit up in azure light. The four combined cubes produced a massive forward cone of energy that engulfed everything in front of them. The screams of the three platinum adventurers were quickly drowned out by the screeching sound of mana particles colliding with everything in sight.

…

‘This was a lot easier than I anticipated… Am I actually a lot stronger than I previously thought?’

Roland looked at the four cube-shaped hovering weapons drop down to the ground. Their front side had partially melted and they were now unable to make use of their runes. The spell was a rudimentary mana-based attack that just magnified its output by the amount of mana given to it. With the help of his Mana Overflow skill, he was able to fill them all up to the brim.

With the boost, the attack engulfed the entire chamber. The three warriors attempted to flee but it was impossible as the attack was far too wide. Even the Shield-bearer was unable to do anything about it. Roland watched the man defend himself with a skill that melted away in a matter of seconds.

Then the man started engulfing his armor that was supercharged. While the mana was not fire-aligned the man had been similarly cooked inside of his armor with parts of his flesh turning to ash. His two companions fell to the same attack and even with their increased nimbleness were unable to do anything about it.

“Awooo!?”

“What? You’re fine aren’t you?”

Agni started howling from the other side of the room where a round shield was still surrounding his body. Thanks to Roland’s research into mana wavelengths it was possible for him to do something about friendly fire. By inputting Agni’s mana pattern into his armor he was able to substantially reduce the damage his tamed beast would suffer. Agni just needed to surround himself with a simple mana shield to receive no damage but apparently, he was still not happy about getting blasted.

He shook his head at Agni and continued to jump around in dissatisfaction. His mind was in another place though as he was contemplating his previous tactic. He quickly realized that the five men posed no threat to him at all. The surprise foot explosion was not needed and neither did he need to watch out for the two archers in the back. It was possible for him to just waltz into the room from the start.

‘I bet it has something to do with their classes, they didn’t even have master variants…’

Thanks to this battle he had made a realization. His strength with this armor on had propelled him into a category of its own. This party of adventurers was between the levels of one hundred eighty and ninety. With how easily he was able to dispatch them he could probably take on larger groups with ease.

‘I guess adventurers are a lot weaker than knights which makes sense…’

Roland grasped the shield that was left over by the armored adventurer. The damage created by his spell had made the metal crack and turned it into junk. His misconception was attributing Emmerson’s base level to these people but considering that their classes, levels, and gear were inferior, there was no way that they stood a chance.

“I can’t really use any of this… I think I overdid it…”

To someone that loved collecting materials and then turning them into profits, the whole battle felt like a waste. Everything was burned by the wide-area attack including the spatial bags that these people were going around with. Yet in the wake of his improvement, he still felt reassured as finally, his struggles were paying off.