Chapter 39: Enchanting

  Bright light completely inundated the entire room, but Damon’s eyes could see through the light. His Truesight allowed him to focus on the changes taking place on the parchment. The ‘arcane’ rune was shimmering as it pulsated with energy. As he continued drawing the ‘gather’ rune, the initial inscription began rejecting the new lines. It looked like the strokes forming the first rune were attacking the second.

  Damon knew that it would fail if he continued like this. As sweat rolled down his face and neck, an idea sprouted in his thoughts. He began channeling his mental power through the quill as well. The two energies, initially separate, began to twist together before combining and forming a new power. This new power began stabilizing the previously drawn rune while simultaneously providing the essence to form the new one.

  Around two hours later, Damon heaved a sigh of relief as he completed the last line of the ‘gather’ rune. The two runes lit up in unison and glowed with a dazzling light. Through his Truesight, he could now see the dual rune form a small spiral as it absorbed the atmospheric essence and generated arcane energy. However, the parchment did not have any properties for storing energy, and the excessive power leaked through and burned up as it reentered the surrounding environment.

  I’ve managed to combine two of the runes. The third one will be more difficult, but I’ve learned the trick to do it. Just as my mental power can calm and soothe my consciousness in desperate situations, it appears it can do the same for runes.

  Damon was exhausted from expending a majority of his arcane power and half of his mental power. His Arcane Node trembled from the overexertion, whereas his Mind Node was the solid bastion holding him together. His lungs burned from his heavy breathing and his vision was slightly blurry, but his mouth extended into a large smile as he pumped his fist into the air. The experiment was a success. With this newfound ability, a whole new world of possibilities had opened up to him.

  Within the Runeology Hall, several figures waited outside a tightly sealed enchantment laboratory. Two of them were unable to stand still, one pacing back and forth, the other walking around and knocking on nearby doors to find a conversational partner. These were Claire, Thomas, and his little group.

  “What do you think is going on in there? Why is it taking so long? We’ve been waiting for half a day! Do you think he’s failed and too embarrassed to come out? Or that the fusion process reacted adversely and caused him to become severely injured? Should we go in and check?”

  Thomas rambled as he paced in front of the sealed door, unable to take his eyes off the door for a second. The staff he had requested Damon to enchant was a gift from his great-grandfather. It was connected to a large emerald at the top that could store the full capacity of an early stage Channel Weaving Disciple’s arcane power. The amount was so immense, he struggled to fill it up himself. Therefore, he sought other ways to do so. The method he stumbled upon and bought from the Verdant Sigil Pavilion was the rune fusion. If he could use power continuously with no fear of exhaustion, his combat prowess would skyrocket. It would become one of his trump cards.

  “Why are you so worried? You chose Damon to do it, so put your faith in him! Maybe you haven’t had the chance to witness his Runeology talents, but I saw it on the very first day I met him! He’s on a completely different level from the average ones who only have age and experience. As he drew that rune, it almost seemed like he was painting a living and breathing flame into existence, rather than some squiggly lines on parchment.”

  Claire had been unable to find anyone to talk to. The single door that opened up to her insistent knocking had contained a thin, emaciated girl who immediately screamed in horror at the sight of Claire. The girl had slammed the door in her face before she could even open her mouth. How had she scared the girl so terribly? Was her face so scary?

  Thomas and the others looked surprised to hear Claire’s resounding praise of Damon. They had heard from James that Damon was quite talented in Runeology, but didn’t realize he was a genius.

  Just as Thomas opened his mouth to ask Claire more about Damon, the gleaming seal that covered the laboratory door dissipated, indicating that he was about to emerge. The door slowly opened inwards, and they rushed in, only to see Damon standing still in front of a large table. Atop the table was a dark brown staff made of twisted roots, with a shiny emerald orb perched at the top. They could see that Damon’s expression was as dark as the staff.

  Thomas’s heart dropped upon seeing Damon’s face. The world spun, and the tips of his limbs tingled as he tried to maintain his composure. He did not want to display his disappointment and regret on his face.

  “It’s okay, Damon. You gave it your best shot. I don’t mind the wasted materials for the enchantment, but… How is the staff? Is it salvageable?” Thomas swallowed dryly and reached out to pat Damon’s shoulder.

  “Huh? Wasted materials? Salvageable? Why do you immediately assume I failed? Did you have such little confidence in me?” Damon asked with wide eyes as he looked at Thomas in surprise.

  “You mean… You succeeded? Your expression was so gloomy, I could only assume you failed.” Thomas responded, his eyes lighting up in hope.

  “Ah, that. I was just feeling down because I wanted to preserve some of the materials for experimentation. However, I had to use every last bit to complete the enchantment. It’s a bit unfortunate, but it’s not a big deal. The enchantment was a success. See for yourself.” Damon responded before picking up the staff and handing it to Thomas.

  Thomas closely inspected the staff. Beneath his fingers, it thrummed continuously with power, the capacity increasing with time. He turned it over and discovered the fused rune engraved into the mid-section of the staff, where he would usually wield it. A colorful light could be seen cycling through the lines in a specific pattern. The glimmering path was an indicator that all three runes were combined in one circuit, rather than standalone pieces.

  “This… It is beautiful. I saw the diagram of the completed rune on the enchantment guide, but I didn’t expect the final product to look like this. I can almost see the staff steadily absorbing the atmospheric essence. Thank you, Damon. This has already surpassed my expectations.”

  Thomas hugged the staff to his chest before turning to Damon and giving him a slight bow of the head.

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  “Let me see! Let me see!” Claire jumped in between the two and grabbed the staff out of Thomas’s hands. She scrutinized the staff while letting out small exclamations of fascination.

  “It was my pleasure, Thomas. I learned a lot from this, so I benefited as well. Additionally, you promised to hand over the materials and method for the ‘sever’ rune…” Damon returned the small bow to Thomas, but with an outstretched hand.

  “Ah, yeah. I forgot about that. Here is the reward…” Thomas awkwardly scratched his head while looking at Damon’s sly smile. He handed over a small storage pouch, thinking Damon was also a peculiar individual.

  Damon accepted the pouch with delight and immediately inspected the interior. He withdrew the guidebook and began perusing the pages on the spot.

  Everyone stared dumbfoundedly at the sight of Damon studying.

  “Is… Is that what creates a genius?” Thomas asked a rhetorical question as he watched Damon.

  “That is an incredible work ethic. No wonder he is so good at Runeology.” Claire still responded to Thomas.

  Damon closed the book and then deposited it back into the storage pouch. He glanced around and saw everyone staring at him in shock and admiration.

  “What’s going on? Why is everyone staring at me?” Damon tilted his head and then looked at Claire.

  “We were just admiring your studiousness. You spend most of your time in your room and at the Legacy Hall. Is that all you do?” Claire asked, genuinely impressed.

  “Study? Oh, I was just checking the list of required materials to make sure Thomas didn’t scam me and give me less. If I checked later and discovered a discrepancy, he could have just claimed he gave it all. But I’ve confirmed that he didn’t short-change me, so it’s all good. He even gave me the second-tier chisel artifact I would need as well.”

  Damon replied to Claire with a satisfied smile. Everyone stared speechlessly at Damon with wide eyes once more, this time for a completely different reason.

  Within dorm room 609, Damon sat at his desk as always. However, sitting atop his desk today was not the usual inscription material. It was Dawn’s Edge. Surrounding the golden sword were numerous small vials or containers filled with materials required for the ‘sever’ enchantment. He had initially considered fusing this rune with other offensive runes to produce a greater result, but decided against it due to a lack of resources and the difficulty of fusing higher-tier runes. He was not confident enough to accomplish it with his limited arcane power.

  “This will be my first time attempting to draw a rune higher than first-tier as well. I had planned on crafting some second-tier scrolls soon, but the enhancement of Dawn’s Edge comes first. I hope it works out.”

  Damon first meditated for a while, preparing himself physically and mentally for the upcoming project. He had discovered that coordinating his arcane and mental powers while drawing runes helped with singular runes as well, not just fusion. The stability and speed at which he could create the rune were much higher, resulting in a better product.

  Once he felt he was ready, Damon grabbed the second-tier chisel artifact and began engraving the rune with incredible precision. Usually, other Runemasters would have to pause in the middle of engraving to augment the lines with the required supplementary materials. However, this did not apply to Damon. All he had to do was touch a vial or container with his left hand, and he could control the addition of other materials at the same time. This drastically improved his ability to produce a successful result.

  Damon’s Arcane Node shook from the excessive drain from the chisel artifact. He had already used more than half of his arcane power, but was only a third of the way through.

  This is bad. I don’t have enough arcane power to complete this engraving. What should I do?

  Damon’s mind whirled through all possible options that could save him from his predicament. He could only think of two methods. Both involved absorbing the energy from an essence stone to support his dwindling reserves of power. One was to continuously use up first-tier stones as he had done during his first session of crafting a scroll. This method lowered the cost, but increased the risk of still running out of power before completing the rune. The rate at which the essence within the stone was absorbed was too slow.

  The second method was to use one of the second-tier essence stones he had found in the Deputy Leader’s storage pouch. There was even one of the water element, so it would be even better at replenishing his power level.

  Damon decided on the second, withdrawing a glowing blue stone humming with powerful essence out of his storage pouch. It pulsated with light as he began absorbing the energy within, converting it into arcane power. The stone itself was similar in shape, but double the size of a regular first-tier essence stone.

  The rate at which Damon generated new arcane power using this stone was enough to counterbalance the absorption of the second-tier artifact. He let out a huge sigh of relief. His decision had paid off. At this point, several hours had passed, and he was completely drenched from head to toe in sweat. His body was quivering slightly due to maintaining the same posture, but his hand remained incredibly steady. Even his Mind Node had begun to tremble due to the strain, though around half of his mental power remained. Engraving a second-tier rune while still at the Node Awakening realm seemed as though it would be impossible for anyone else.

  Time continued to pass as the lines formed at a crawling pace. A literal puddle had formed around Damon’s seat from his sweating. His throat felt parched, so he had even drunk a vial of Mindsoul Dew to soothe it, along with the benefit of calming his Mind Node. His concentration did not waver for a second as he stared down at Dawn’s Edge with his Truesight. He could not fail after all this time and effort. He didn’t have the materials to try again. It needed to succeed in one go.

  Damon finally reached the last line required for the rune. He clenched his teeth so tight that his gums turned red. His face was flushed a similar color as he pushed through the final hurdle. His hand was beginning to shake very slightly by now, and he was stuck between going too slowly and causing his body increased fatigue and going too quickly and creating a mistake. Balancing on that fine line of success and failure, he yelled continuously as a physical manifestation to gather more of his diminished power. Whether shouting helped or not, he did not know. However, he was giving it his absolute everything. The sound of his voice filled the small room to the brim and masked the high-pitched whine emitted by the sword as it approached the climax of the enchantment.

  As his abdominal muscles began spasming from producing the deep, guttural roar, he finally finished the last line of the rune. Dawn’s Edge immediately began flaring with intense golden light, as the lines of the rune began glimmering with a dark, black light, traveling from the first stroke to the second… All the way to the last in one complete circuit. Once the circuit was complete, Dawn’s Edge dimmed. It continued to radiate golden light, but now beset in a roaming black hue, as though it had a layer of black flames slithering along its length.

  The exact property of the rune was not mentioned in the guidebook. Damon’s Truesight could not see through the mysteries, either. It just showed the image of a string being cut. He was slightly worried due to the physical changes to Dawn’s Edge, but he was quite confident in his success and was more thrilled to inspect its new abilities.

  Damon picked up Dawn’s Edge and injected his mental power into it. It resonated with his mental power, as always, yet this time there was something different. He could immediately tell what it was. He was shocked. Elated. Exasperated. Numerous emotions ran through his mind. He stared down at the golden-black sword in his hands with his mouth wide open.

  “This ability is..!”

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  Runeology? I hope the system didn't bore you.

  Dawn's Edge has finally received a power up.

  'sever' rune is?