The Runesmith

“Aye, sure tak' them, now gimme that.”

“Wait… you’re willing to part with your books this easily?”

“Huh? aye? not lik' a'm needin' them fur anythin'?”

“Ah huh…”

Roland was a bit confused as he had given the Chief a proposition. After giving her some basic schematics to some of his creations he would receive access to some of hers. This would include craftsmanship manuals that dwarves had access to that contained their secrets. To his surprise, this woman was willing to instantly give everything up as if the old scripts were useless.

‘I expected her to bargain more but… Am I perhaps selling myself short here?’

“What? Ah thought we had a deal? Are ye trying to go back on it?”

When looking down he could see the dwarven Chief yanking on the cylinder he brought. His stats greatly eclipsed hers so she was unable to make it budge. Her grabbing onto it the moment he asked for a deal was also perplexing. Were the higher-ups of the dwarves always this strange or was she just the oddball out?

‘She did call Albrook a shit hole a couple of times, it doesn’t seem that she came here by her own decision. Could her behavior have something to do with it?’

Even though this city was still developing it wasn’t all that runesmith friendly. There weren’t many mines inside of the city and the tier 3 adventurers had other options that were closer to the super dungeon. Most of the time a Master Runesmith was already an established craftsman. They usually chose to go to places that could offer them the most.

On this island, this would be the main city of Isgard which was the closest to the S-ranked dungeon. Judging by her level being well past hundred and fifty she was not a new Master Runesmith but someone that should have had her own group. Either she was pushed out by another more prestigious force or she saw something here that others didn’t.

‘Am I thinking too much into this?’

His grip on the cylinder lessened and when it did, the woman that was pulling on it was sent flying back. She crashed into some of the stacked up schematics while screaming profanities in his direction.

“Oy, Tell me whin ye'r about to let it go!”

“My apologies… So then, can I pick out something from here.”

“Ye, go ahead, knock yerself out … “

Brylvia stood up with the runic cylinder in her hand. Roland had not yet told her the password that was required to open the latch but that didn’t stop her. Instead of asking him for it, she started fiddling with the runic components. It was the first time he saw someone else fiddling with runes which made him focus and even use various of his skills.

It was actually interesting to see if the new Chief was capable of cracking the runic code he made. She infused her mana into the runic structure to feel it out just like he did but after a quick analysis, a few differences were seen. First of all, her control over mana was greater than his, at least when it came to fiddling with runes. This he attributed to her probably gaining various other skills to compliment her craft.

One thing stood out though, while her mana control was superior to his, the same could not be said for her mana capacity. It was something that he expected as the Master Runesmith class had one glaring fault. While runesmithing required a lot of mana manipulation it didn’t offer enough skills to lower the costs. His class had a huge stat multiplier of 4.5 and also had a passive skill of lowering mana usage on all rune-related skills by a whooping 60%.

‘The multiplier of a Master Runesmith stays at 3 and I bet the passive isn’t as high either.’

Tier 3 runes were vastly more complicated than tier 2 runes as they entered the third dimension. They also required a massive amount of mana to work with and this lock that he made was of this same tier. He could see her struggling to get through the traces of the program but she was able to eventually get there. When she did, Roland saw another downside of this class compared to his own, working with the internals was not as easy for them as with the externals.

It started with the Runesmith Lord Class and now continued with the Overlord. He considered this class to be a mix of two classes, Runesmith, and Rune Mage. The former was poised in creating runes while the latter was a specialized user. Rune Mages could mold the integrated operating system but were constricted to what a Runesmith created. Roland on the other hand was a two in one package and after working together with his friend from the magic academy, his insights into the inside systems went over what a regular runesmith was capable off.

“Is this some kind o' a joke, do ye want me to pass out or something?”

“I see that you found the first lock.”

“Ye, If Ah had mah mana support apparatus but those idiots haven’t set up mah workshop properly!”

The woman seemed angry and thought that he was trying to play a prank on her. The first lock would require a person to just inject a lot of mana through the runic components. It would be an easy task for him as he possessed the skills that lowered mana usage to get around this problem. The new Chief on the other hand required some outside help.

While he wanted to see this apparatus she spoke of he could imagine that it was something that just provided mana from outside. Just like he used runic batteries to run various runic tools, the dwarven craftsmen had ways of going around using up all their energy in one go.

“If I may?”

Brylvia grumbled and gave the cylinder back which Roland was able to open without any outside help. Showing off some of his skills was intentional as he wished to not be underestimated by his fellow runesmith. This would tell her that he was somewhat special and perhaps give him something to barter with in the future.

“Yer not a regular ol’ Runesmith are ye?”

“I never said that I was.”

“Ah see, maybe this will not be as ill as Ah thought… The old bastards might have actually given me a boon in disguise.”

He was interested in what she meant by the old bastards but it kind of aligned with the story that was in his head. After the cylinder was open she snatched it back and started going through the various schematics that he brought over. Today it was mostly work-related. What was inside was related to the magic lanterns and other devices for the future.

“Ah will have to look thro' these just tak' wat ya need 'n' come back to me tomorrow”

Brylvia skimmed through the papers and mostly ignored the basic lamp design. It wasn’t anything special but after flicking through the pages she stopped. There she saw something that looked like a windmill and the runic components that it was composed of, didn’t quite make sense.

To this day no one was aware of his runic batteries or creating electricity that could be transformed into mana. It was something that could revolutionize this world that relied on mana fluid. What he brought over was incomplete and after Brylvia analyzed the papers she would figure it out too.

To keep it a secret he decided that it would be better if he made the finishing touches himself. What the people from the union were creating would be the framework while the heart of the generator was his to make. The possibility of the Chief figuring out everything herself after performing some tests was a possibility.

However, this didn’t matter that much as he was not really that interested in becoming a mogul. It was probably impossible for him to monopolize this technology as it was rather easy to construct. It was achievable when he wasn’t even a proper runesmith so a Master Runesmith would probably not have that much trouble. Luckily she was now working with them and bound by a contract, so for the foreseeable future, she needed to keep her mouth shut.

“Interesting…”

While Brylvia was busy looking at the runic mana generator he took his time in going through the books here. There wasn’t that much that caught his eye as the basics were given to him inside the ascension trial and a lot of runes he discovered thanks to using his debugging skill. Nevertheless, he grabbed a few of the books off the shelf so that he could compare his knowledge against the dwarves.

‘This one looks interesting, ‘Efficient Rune Placement' huh?’

On one side of the room, he discovered some material that looked promising. These books were not about runes but instead described ways of pushing up the efficiency of placement. Another one described the synergies between runic types and metals. Some parts pointed to the best alloys when working with specific runes. It seemed that there were ways of including some rare metals to make some spells more efficient.

‘This could come in handy, maybe I won’t need to make the next version of the armor so thick.’

There were a lot of helpful tips when it concerned smithing but not that much when it came to runes. After a few glances, Roland realized that when it came to the magic symbols he was somewhat ahead of this literature. He could not discover any hidden truths or wrong assumptions when it came to plain runesmithing. Instead, he even found some faults in the diagrams.

In a way, the dwarves were doing the reverse of what he was. He focused on amplifying the efficiency of his runic structures and pushing them to their limits but this left the outer shell looking plain. The dwarven smiths on the other hand focused a lot of time on the presentability of their wares. Their runes almost felt like an afterthought when compared to some of the sleek designs. Perhaps if he managed to work on this one weakness of his, then becoming a complete craftsman was possible.

‘Well, I never expected to get any high-rank runes to play with… they are probably keeping the good ones in some kind of vault.’

After greater runes came grand ones which were usually the end all be all of runesmithing. The secrets of these runes and how they connected was a highly protected secret of the dwarves. His only case involving ones involved the monolith he encountered during his gold rank adventurer test. It was made up of multiple greater runes which made out a larger magical structure. With it as a basis, he might be able to reverse engineer the correct pathways to produce a tier 4 grand rune.

If he was able to get his hands on other tier 4 runes, this process could be pushed forward just like with tier 2 runes in the past. The only downside that arose was the size of these things. He could not see himself being able to fit a gigantic runic structure into his armor. It would take up too much space and probably require him to upgrade his rune-compressing skills first.

‘I wonder if they worked with rune mages more, if their rune technology would be more advanced?’

There was a way to go around the lack of mana of a rune-smithing class. With the help of a Rune Mage and come cooperation a Runesmith would probably be able to increase the potency of their creations. The mages were better at working with the operating core of the runes which demanded more mana to play with. In the current world, there weren’t that many people that went against the grain. They all stuck to the old designs that just worked.

‘They focus on creating the highest rank runes without really looking if they perform the function correctly.’

With no need for innovation in the runic side of the equation, they overfocused on the designs. The weapons that were made in this workshop were superior to anything he could make himself. Yet when it came to the implementation of runic components they were trailing behind and the gap was only increasing. With this in mind, he was convinced that with time he could outshine his competition in both aspects.

“I’ll take these, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“...”

“I’ll see myself out then.”

After going through the books and schematics he picked up all the reading material he wanted. His new business partner didn’t answer as she was too busy looking through his handmade plans. This was an unexpected turn of events as he expected her to give him an earful for changing the runes so much. Perhaps she was not like the other craftsmen that just stuck to the old designs if she was this involved. Soon he left her office and arrived outside the large smithy.

‘I guess this is the end of an era.’

When turning around and looking at the large building that was as big as a factory he recalled all the old problems in the past. Due to the Union, his first contract with the Adventurer Guild had been canceled and then he needed to involve himself with the thieves guild. Following that a plethora of roadblocks were put in his way that he had to annoyingly shove to the side. Even with all that blocking his path he somehow made it out and was still going.

Without anything left for him to do here, he decided to head home. Bernir and his wife would be inaccessible for a while and he wanted to head into the dungeon with Agni. Mary had finished leveling but had failed her ascension quest just like Armand and Lobelia. They were probably not pushing for super prestigious classes so he expected them to have them within a month or two at most. Then the two loyal knights could progress with the help of the upgraded killer maid without his involvement.

‘Hm, should I close the shop for the time being?’

Roland passed through the entrance gate while getting saluted. There the sight of guards reminded him of the recent home invasion. If he were to head into the dungeon then Elodia would be left by herself at the shop. With the infusion of tier 3 adventurers, the area had become more hazardous. These new people would probably cause some trouble as they were not aware of the current power structure in the city.

When it came to money, he was quickly recovering the losses he suffered after creating Rune Mark I. He was able to stock up on tier 3 monster materials down in the dungeon which went for a good amount of money. Even if he gave up his profession and decided to become a full-time adventurer, he would not go hungry.

‘Things are going well, so I don’t really need to rush it anymore but why am I getting this bad feeling…’

His quest to become a successful craftsman had already become a reality. Nothing really stood in his way and the Valerian brothers from other parts of the island didn’t appear. By his calculations, nothing too eventful would be happening for quite some time which would allow them to build up this city. After it was all done, they would have the stage set and could begin to fight back.

‘Things do tend to go bad when you least expect it…’

After leaving the city he increased his pace. Time was supposed to not be an issue and he was supposed to guide some of the dwarves back into the dungeon in a few days. Getting the mine to operate at full capacity and also creating a good enough travel route was the next step. With his mapping device and the dwarven proclivity of digging tunnels, it could be possible to find a better solution.

‘I guess not having to sleep much is still my best skill from all that I have.’

Soon he returned home to inform Elodia of the recent events.

“So it’s a boy, have they thought of a name? Such a shame that I missed it…”

“I’m not sure, I think Dyana was supposed to choose a name if it was a girl. With it coming out to be a boy, Bernir will probably give it a more dwarven one.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

Elodia was home along with an enlarged Agni that was in front of the store. His size had become a bit too large to leave him on the inside but there was a plan to remodel the inside. With the increase in his skills, he wanted to create a separate section just for platinum adventurers where they would find better gear. Hiring more people and creating some golems to act as a deterrent was also part of the plan.

“If you want to go see the baby, go ahead. I was thinking of closing the shop for a while… Are you even listening?”

“Oh huh? Ah sorry, my mind wandered a bit, maybe that would be the best for today.”

He wasn’t sure what it was about but Elodia seemed a bit out of it today. She had been acting like this for a few days now and he was starting to think that it was due to the recent birth. Elodia’s age was a few years above his and she was not getting any younger. People in this world usually started families rather early, even Bernir’s case could be considered late.

‘Children huh? Would it really be that bad?’

Roland looked at the woman before him and then was quickly distracted by the large ruby wolf peeking at them through the window. His sight brought his mind back to the current problem, before thinking about his private life he needed to progress further. Getting up his levels and grabbing all the possible treasures from within the dungeon was his main priority.