The Runesmith

‘There are a lot of them, they really hold a grudge…’

Roland was surrounded while standing on a slightly raised patch of grass. Around him were three knights from an order that he knew well, each with their own unique combat styles and specialties. The animosity radiating from one of them was palpable and the tension in the air was rising.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Assistant Professor Wayland. It seems your luck has run out.”

Elythaes Baskerville started the conversation with an intentional taunt, a smirk of superiority was plastered over his face. Roland didn’t respond but instead took his time to analyze the situation. He was surrounded by his current adversaries who came in a large group. Besides the tier 3 knights who each were on a Knight Commander level, there were around thirty lesser tier 2 knights. This was quite a significant threat even to him and one person was still missing, the mage that interfered with the siege spell previously, was not there.

‘He must be hiding somewhere either far away, or using a very potent concealment spell, I should probably try to stall them, I need more time.’

“Elythaes, Roman, and Andreas Baskerville. I didn’t expect ‘Cerberus’ to make a move for me, I feel flattered but are you sure about this?”

“Huh? You said that this guy was just some random adventurer Elythaes.”

Roman Baskerville asked his brother while keeping his eyes plastered on Roland.

“So he knows our little nickname, what of it?”

Elythaes replied while seemingly not making a big deal of it. Roland knew of this trio due to his old ties to the Arden estate. Everyone there was told to be wary of these three half-brothers who were quite famous even ten years ago. Back then they were known as the mythical monster Cerberus. It was a play on them being guard dogs of the Castellane household.

“What of it? It means that he might be connected, a commoner would probably not be as well informed.”

“Don’t worry, whoever is backing him won’t matter if he is dead, right?”

“Can’t argue with that.”

The two conversed animatedly while the third guard dog, Andreas, maintained a stoic silence. His calm demeanor suggested he would serve as the primary distraction. Roland quickly discerned their potential strategy - a frontal charge with the armored Andreas leading the way. Roman would likely follow closely behind, with Elythaes utilizing ranged attacks to keep any counter-attacks in check. Then, the hidden mage would go in for the kill when he was least expecting it. The other knights, with their distracting maneuvers, were positioned to further disorient him and to create a further strategic disadvantage.

‘This might not be their first rodeo and the rumors about potent Knight Commanders and adventures going missing, might have been their doing…’

Roland was at a clear disadvantage but this didn’t mean that he would be defeated. Even during this little chat, his mind was going into overdrive with many orders to his own reinforcements. The hidden spell caster was a problem but with the help of his skills, he didn’t truly need to know his current location.

“Save the chit-chat, Wayland. We're here for a reason.”

“A reason? So you lose once and bring your older brothers to finish the fight for you? Aren’t you being too pathetic for a Knight? Do you have no sense of honor?”

“Honor? A bastard adventurer wants to talk to me of honor? Without using those trees as cover, you would have never won our previous encounter and you know it!”

It seemed the grudge from their previous encounter was still fresh in the knight's mind. The half-elf was clearly enraged by the previous defeat. Everyone knew that an angry enemy was an easy enemy. Letting emotions affect a battle was a recipe for disaster and the other members of the Knight order knew it.

“Hey Elythaes, he is just trying to rile you up. Calm down, he has nowhere to run.”

“You’re right… just do it.”

The two nodded at each other and it was clear that the conversation was over. Before attacking he noticed that Roman tilted his head at the other lesser knights. It was an obvious signal for something. The knights executed tactics specifically designed to counter mages and confirmed Roland’s expectations.

‘Anti-magic powder, just like that time with Agni…’

It was a fundamental strategy often employed to subdue magical beasts or mages. Just like the time back in Albrook, the knights brought out pouches filled with powder and quickly flung them in his direction. Once this powder entered the surroundings it would make forming spells and using mana difficult. Although it also affected their own mana users, such as Elythaes, he still possessed his regular swordsmanship skills, something that regular mages didn’t have.

‘Good tactics, for normal mages… they still think I’m just some regular rune mage.’

Roland was far from being normal and even if the powder could mess up runic equipment, it needed to be placed directly over the rune. However, if a high enough concentration of it filled up the air around them, then eventually his equipment could become worthless. This was probably what his current adversaries were expecting, that with time he would become unable to cast spells and they would be victorious.

After his previous encounter, he had done extensive research on anti-mana. He had also looked into a few books that were in the Institute to further his knowledge. The powder worked by jumbling up mana in the surroundings, as well as the ones forming from people's spells. Even when someone had enough MP to cast a spell, it would not be able to form out in the open but there were ways of going around it.

One way to go around this issue was to assemble the spell structure beforehand. After the spell had been formed it was still possible to discharge it. Another way was to escape the range of the anti-magical effect, it was still just powder that could not cover everything unless it was a closed space. This swampland was not a very good place to use such tactics. Nevertheless, his enemies were trying to end it quickly and Andreas Baskerville was already charging at him with his halberd raised.

At the same time, Roman Baskerville took off and started running. His body vanished behind his larger armored brother and it seemed as if he had vanished. Elythaes unsheathed both his blades and launched a magical attack from afar while still unaffected by the powder. The other knights were equipped with crossbows which they quickly pointed in his direction.

From his perspective, everyone besides Elythaes was a distraction. They were trying to get him to focus on Roman who was staying behind Andreas. Then after he had defended himself from the initial onslaught, his main enemy, the magic swordmaster would descend upon him. The man clearly had a chip on his shoulder and his pride was hurt. It was plausible that he would want to deliver the finishing blow and his allies agreed to oblige.

“You should really watch where you are standing…”

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Roland replied as Andreas slammed into a thick shield of mana that stopped his charge. At the same time, quite a light show was taking place around this area that he had prepared previously. His recently gotten Imbued Rune skill was becoming one of his favorite ambushing tactics as spreading it around an area like this was just too easy. The swamp water covered up the rocks that he used and including the ground with just his feet, was also possible.

The moment the large man collided with him a series of explosions rocked the entire area with him remaining protected behind a large dome of mana. He had assembled it before the anti-magic powder could fill out the air and keep him from forming the spell effect. Then with the help of the ensuing shockwave, everything was blasted away in a huge inferno.

“Shit! Push through!”

Roman called out to his brother who attempted to force his way through the magical shield. Some cracks appeared on the surface but Roland didn’t panic, he just took this chance to take out a deck of cards from his belt and instantly threw them up into the air. The cards started glowing with magical energy and instantly activated the magical effects they were scribed with.

‘Haven’t used scrolls in forever.’

With the help of the explosion that went off at ground level, most of the anti-magical powder was blown away. Even scrolls would not activate if the powder was spread fully but as long as it was kept at bay, it was possible. His scrolls had been miniaturized to the extreme and now had the size of regular playing cards. Soon, an explosion of various homing attacking arrow spells took shape and they all headed towards the lesser tier 2 knights.

“T-take cover!”

“Aghhhh…”

It was pandemonium, as the knights tried to shield themselves from the unexpected magical assault. The arrows of magical energy homed in on their targets, creating chaos within the ranks of the Baskerville knights. Roland took advantage of the confusion and began the next phase of his battle plan, which was to escape to a safer location.

“Stop that bastard, he is running away!”

Elythaes shouted from afar while launching a series of ferocious magical attacks, yet in the chaos of magical explosions and attacks, he was unable to connect with the escaping Roland. His armor shone with various runes as he buffed himself up several times. Confronting his enemies in this place that was filling up with anti-magical powder was still unfavorable to him, he needed to get away first before confronting them again.

With the help of his enhanced speed, he moved he now had the agility to weave between the trees and swamps. The magical arrows from the homing spells continued to wreak havoc among the Baskerville knights and created enough chaos to distract most of them. However, the lower-tier spells that he had used could not halt the charges of the Knight Commanders. Andreas Baskerville was rushing at him from behind like a mad bull and surprisingly building up speed.

‘He can keep up with me?’

It was clear that he was using some sort of skill. The way he was running reminded him of a Hoplite warrior charging with a spear. The trees and objects that Roland was dodging with some finesse, this man just bulldozed through. Some sort of barrier was surrounding his body and the more things he hit along the way the faster and more unstoppable he seemingly became.

In an attempt to stop the charging man he left a few explosive runes behind however, this seemed to enhance the charge, as if he was absorbing the kinetic energy from everything around him to gain more power.

‘If hard objects can’t stop him, what about something softer? The ground here is already quite soft and muddy…’

After a few adjustments, the runes left over on the ground embedded themselves in the mud. Once triggered by the charge they did not explode but created a quagmire area into which his legs began to sink in. At first, the man was able to push through but eventually, his body began to sink in and his momentum was finally stopped. He had become stuck but the chase was not over as Roman who continued to shadow his brother now jumped out and Elythaes was not far behind.

“Stop running you coward!”

“Coward? I’m not the one trying to assassinate someone inside a dungeon.”

Roland retorted while taking the two on a tour through the swamps. Roman, who was trailing behind Andreas, used his agile movements to navigate through the swamp. Elythaes on the other hand, continued to cast magical attacks from a distance, trying to hinder Roland's progress. There was no anti-magic powder at work here anymore but one problem still lingered.

‘If I’m correct then…’

“Where is that rat hiding?”

“Is he using a concealment spell?”

“He shouldn’t have enough time… Shit, did he go run to the dungeon exit? Quick, we must hurry!”

The three Baskerville knights nodded at each other before bolting towards the entrance of the dungeon. However, while they were away the person that they were trying to locate just walked out into the open.

‘... Those three are competent fighters but they have no tracking skills or methods.’

Roland had managed to lose his three pursuers but they headed for the dungeon exit. It would be impossible for him to sneak past them as they probably had people guarding that area.

‘Will they give up if I just hide for a while?’

The planned ambush had been a failure but he wasn’t sure if his enemies would just give up now. They were aware of his recording technology, if they let things go now, they were going to get exposed to the Institute. The only way of getting away would be to kill him and let his body be absorbed by the dungeon.

‘If I don’t take care of them here, they’ll probably call for more people, it wouldn’t be strange if they had others waiting above ground, perhaps even Platinum adventurers…’

Things didn’t look well as he could see his enemies overpowering him eventually if he didn’t do anything about it. However, before he initiated a counter-attack he was still waiting for one thing to resolve itself. For this reason, he had returned to a specific place within the dungeon and was waiting.

“Wayland, what’s happening here?”

“Professor… Ulfine? What are you doing here?”

“Well, I felt bad for leaving you here to take care of the anomaly but then, ... I saw all of those magical explosions, what is going on?”

Professor Ulfine replied with concern in her voice and Roland quickly explained the situation. He detailed the encounter with the Baskerville brothers and their attempt to assassinate him. She listened intently and her expression grew more solemn as Roland recounted the events.

“They attempt to assassinate a faculty member of the Institute? They are taking us lightly!”

Roland nodded at the seemingly enraged Ulfine, he then turned around to look out into the distance. There was something not quite right with this situation and he continued to peek at his mapping device that was showing him something peculiar.

“Indeed, but now tell me something Professor Ulfine, where did you leave your tamed beast behind?”

“Oh, Thunderclaw? He remained with the students.”

“Is that so? Then why is he a hundred meters to the east of here?”

“Huh?”

Ulfine was stunned but her surprise didn’t take long as a large hammer collided with her face. She had been right behind Roland when they were talking and was quite surprised by the unprovoked attack. The flat end of the weapon collided with her face, sending her into the distance. She collided with a nearby tree and bounced off it before landing on the ground, her neck bent at an impossible degree.

“Not quite human…”

The woman’s neck was clearly broken but she did not die, only after Roland followed up the spell with a burst of flames, did he receive the confirmation from the world system.

“A Doppelganger huh, but the original isn’t far behind… Reveal yourself, I know that you are there!”

He shouted out while pointing eastwards before firing a burst of magical energy. Instantly, a powerful growl echoed from the distance, and the beast known as Thunderclaw appeared with its master.

“Oh my, I guess you’ve seen through me, what gave me away~”

“Nothing really, but It was obvious that only a professor from the institute would be able to interfere with a siege spell in such a way.”

“What about Ernas? He was also there.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t have tamed beasts who can interfere from a distance and then hide themselves.”

Doppelgangers were creatures that could take on the shape of almost anyone. When in disguise they became able to use skills and even spells of who they were impersonating. It was a monster that could be tamed by a magical tamer, which Ulfine was. It was probable that the creature cast the spell from quite a distance and then transformed itself into one of the dungeon monsters.

“You got me but, even though you discovered my little secret, you won’t be able to escape this place alive.”

Ulfine’s words were followed up by various growls from the distance. Various other tamed monsters and beasts appeared out of the shadows. Then to make things worse he could see the three Knight idiots appearing as well. He was back to square one and surrounded yet again, however, this time he would not be holding anything back as his trump card could be finally activated.

“I’m sorry to tell you this but I’m not the one that won’t be leaving this place alive…”

He replied while looking to the spot where he had previously discarded his original shield. It was near his location and soon various runes were starting to glow over its surface…