Chapter 464: First-Rank Rune Apparatus: 【Winter

The room’s windows were tightly shut, blocking out the sunlight from outside.

In its place, light generated by magic filled the space.

This was to ensure stable illumination.

A long table stretched across the room.

Standing before the table was Gao De.

Beside the table, in the corner of the room, stood Anna, her big eyes gleaming as she stared at the table.

On the tabletop, four components forged from gleaming copper were arranged in a straight line, their edges fitting together perfectly.

Four more days had passed, and the four components crafted by the blacksmith had all arrived.

Merely by shape, these four parts resembled shoulder armor, chest armor, arm guards, and leg guards.

Yet though their exteriors were complete, they were still only half-finished until runes were inscribed upon them.

As the saying goes, painting the pupils on a dragon brings it to life—how much more so are runes to rune apparatus?

Beside the four components lay a design sketch Gao De had stayed up all night to create.

A first-rank rune apparatus tailored specifically for himself.

【Winter’s Arrival】.

The entire design and calculation process consumed an entire stack of paper, yet the final design sketch was merely this small sheet.

Overall, it resembled a mech design from a sci-fi novel, divided into four sections, each illustrating one of the apparatus’s components.

Each of the four components carried a single, functional rune array.

To miniaturize a rune array—composed of hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of runes—onto a surface no larger than a scrap of cloth demanded extraordinarily advanced rune fabrication techniques.

This was a hard requirement: just as you must have legs to play soccer, there is no arguing with it.

Though this step was already extremely difficult, what truly limited the number of rune apparatus makers was the next step:

While each component’s rune array operated independently, they also had to be capable of merging into one.

They combined to form a single ultimate rune array, granting the apparatus its unique effect.

This process required masterful command of runes, constant expansion of knowledge, genius insight, and unparalleled creativity.

Especially the three words: “creativity.”

This thing, like talent, was elusive and mysterious—no physical form, yet undeniably real.

Fortunately, Gao De possessed it, and even exceptionally so.

Just how exceptional, and where its limits lay, Gao De himself did not know—but at least it was enough to astonish He Xi.

Yet under He Xi’s newly constructed rune system, this massive obstacle—“creativity”—on the path of rune apparatus making now had a way to be cleverly bypassed:

—as long as one mastered rune knowledge thoroughly and fully understood the Six Fundamental Rules of Runes, one could, through vast computation and trial-and-error, ultimately design a qualified rune apparatus blueprint.

Of course, this did not mean “creativity” was unimportant.

On the contrary, under the new rune system, creativity became even more vital.

Computation could allow ordinary rune masters to design rune apparatuses, but such designs relied on existing blueprints, essentially recombining known knowledge—like assembling one’s own work from fragments.

Yet truly outstanding rune apparatus designs could not be achieved by computation alone—they ultimately depended on “creativity.”

A somewhat imperfect analogy: in the world Gao De had come from, after artificial intelligence developed, its immense computational power could replace many low-level artists in design fields.

But true artists remained irreplaceable—and even grew more precious amid the dominance of artificial intelligence.

Artists would never lose their jobs; as AI advanced, their status only rose higher.

The same principle applied to rune apparatus making.

With his thoughts concluded, Gao De gathered his focus and cast aside all distractions.

He took a deep breath and spread out the materials he had prepared on the crude table.

He was ready to begin inscribing 【Winter’s Arrival】.

“I’m starting,” Gao De whispered to Anna beside him.

Anna’s eyes lit up, and she nodded obediently.

Then Gao De ignored her, letting a faint flow of magical energy course through his body—【Divine Guidance +】 was already active.

He picked up the light-engraving pen gifted by Master He Xi and filled it with magical ink.

Immediately, golden symbols flickered to life within his left pupil.

The Third-Rank Mandora Magic Eye activated.

Under the effect of the Law-Resistant Body, Gao De slipped into a state of extreme focus in the blink of an eye.

All external disturbances vanished; his world now held only the light-engraving rune pen in his hand and the gleaming copper components awaiting inscription.

Then Gao De leaned forward slightly.

He began to write.

The pen tip trembled faintly, releasing a soft glow, carrying threads of condensed magical energy that slowly formed lines, etching themselves onto the surface of the gleaming copper.

Months of relentless practice, consuming one stack of black jade paper after another, had made Gao De’s brushwork highly refined.

His strokes flowed smoothly, like clouds drifting and water flowing—no hesitation, no sluggishness, no errors; his grip was as steady as a mountain, not a single tremor.

—The runes on apparatuses were miniaturized; even the slightest wrist tremor, magnified onto such tiny runes, became a catastrophic error.

To Anna, watching from the side, the lines Gao De drew on the gleaming copper were as fine as hairs—she could barely make them out.

Only by pressing her eyes close could she barely discern the exact runes.

But within Gao De’s Mandora Magic Eye, the scene was entirely different.

Everything was magnified; the miniaturized runes he drew appeared no different from normal runes—even larger.

Every detail of each rune, every line’s direction, was crystal clear to him—this was one reason his strokes flowed so effortlessly.

For rune apparatus makers, the Mandora Magic Eye was a cheat, a powerful external mod granting them precision and insight beyond ordinary humans.

Time slipped away minute by minute; the room fell silent except for Gao De and Anna’s faint breathing and the whisper of the pen touching gleaming copper.

Gao De was utterly immersed in the world within his brush.

With the triple enhancement of Divine Guidance, Law-Resistant Body, and Mandora Magic Eye, even though this was his first time crafting a rune apparatus, Gao De performed as if he were a seasoned first-rank rune apparatus maker with years of experience.

Finally, Gao De made the last stroke, completing the final rune.

Before him lay four brand-new rune apparatus components.

Compared to before, their pale yellow gleaming copper surfaces were now covered in dense, hair-thin blue lines.

These lines intertwined, forming intricate, beautiful patterns—as if painted with artistry.

Even without considering function, their appearance had become far more elegant, almost like works of art.

“Done?” Anna asked softly.

“Done,” Gao De nodded.

“Did it work?” Anna pressed.

“I don’t know yet,” Gao De replied, his voice tinged with caution and nervousness.

“Try it!” Anna looked at him, waving her tiny fist. “It must have worked!”

“Alright.”

For rune apparatuses, the most important thing was actual effect.

After responding, Gao De picked up the arm guard-shaped component and channeled his magical energy into it.

As the energy flowed in, each rune on the arm guard component lit up one by one; light shimmered along every line, casting a faint blue glow over the entire piece.

Then, a single piece of information surged into Gao De’s mind.

“First-rank Spell Damage Boost (increases potency of first-tier and below spells by 29%).”

This was the rune effect of the array on this component—only one.

Of course, a rune apparatus component was not limited to possessing only one effect.

But more functions were not necessarily better for rune apparatuses.

Because the total number of runes a set could carry was always limited.

Generally, the more functions a rune apparatus had, the weaker each individual effect became.

Conversely, the stronger an effect, the fewer functions the apparatus typically had.

Between quantity and quality, one had to find the optimal balance based on the wearer’s own condition and needs.

Yet there was often a problem here:

Aside from oneself, a mage could never fully reveal their needs to others—they could only describe their requirements as precisely as possible to the rune apparatus maker.

This inevitably meant the final apparatus could never achieve perfect compatibility.

But since Gao De was crafting the apparatus for himself, he could avoid all these issues and achieve perfect alignment.

This was one of his advantages.

The effects on first-rank rune apparatuses were naturally all first-rank.

Yet even among first-rank effects, there were differences.

For example, a first-rank Spell Damage Boost rune array could vary in potency increase from 20% to 40%, depending on rune design, materials used, and craftsmanship.

Because this component only carried the single function of “Spell Damage Boost,” and despite gleaming copper not being top-tier material and Gao De being a first-time maker, the spell potency increase still reached 29%—a mid-to-high value.

Because it was pure, it was powerful.

Setting down the shoulder armor component, Gao De picked up the remaining three rune apparatus pieces in turn and channeled magical energy into each for testing.

“First-rank Agility (increases movement speed by 1.5 meters per second), First-rank Durability (cannot be destroyed by first-tier and below spells), First-rank Spell Damage Boost.”

These were the rune effects of the other three components.

The Spell Damage Boost effect was duplicated.

Repetition does not mean uselessness, but rather stackability.

However, it is not additive stacking: two level-one spell-boost runes result in a power increase of nearly 37% at the upper limit, not 58%.

Stacking identical rune effects has diminishing returns—the higher the stack, the smaller the gain—so two identical rune effects offer the highest cost-to-benefit ratio.

Verification passed: the rune arrays on all four rune-embedded components activated successfully, granting the wearer the corresponding rune effects.

But this was not over; the most critical step had yet to be tested.

Gao De exhaled slowly, calming his slightly tense emotions, and carefully aligned the four rune-embedded components along their edges.

Then, he channeled Qi.

All the runes now fused into a single whole, as if awakened to life.

Powerful energy nearly burst forth from within.

Seeing this, Gao De’s heart finally settled.

He extended his mental force toward the rune-embedded set.

Instantly, information flooded into his mind.

【Frost’s Arrival】 (Level-One Rune-Embedded Set):

Rune-Engraver: Gao De

Rune Effects: Level-One Spell Boost, Level-One Fortitude, Level-One Agility

Set Effect: wearer’s Qi recovery rate increases by 15%, Qi consumption reduced by 8%

When casting offensive spells, additional Qi can be consumed to inflict 5–10 degrees of cold damage (proportional to extra Qi spent)

The “Rune-Engraver: Gao De” displayed at the top was a minor technique in rune engraving—a method known to every rune master, simple and requiring no extra runes, serving merely as a kind of “watermark.”

It was akin to an artist signing their finished work.

Not just rune-embedded sets, most rune masters also used this technique to “sign” their rune arrays.

Because rune masters, compared to other professions, leaned more toward “artists.”

Their “works” were exceedingly rare, while other transcendent professions were more like craftsmen, capable of mass-producing transcendent items.

The subsequent rune effects need no further explanation; as for the set effect, it drew inspiration from 【Wildland’s Breath】, hence sharing its Qi recovery boost and consumption reduction—but the values were far inferior to those of Wildland’s Breath.

The difference was that Gao De had not focused on endurance; instead, he deliberately added an extra damage mechanism tailored to his own needs.

Looking at the 【Frost’s Arrival】 set he had crafted entirely by himself, Gao De felt a strange sense of daze.

In this moment, his heart could no longer remain still; memories surged through him, scattered and unbidden.

Eventually, all these thoughts settled on He Xi.

It had been over two full years since he entered the rune workshop at Gavin Tower.

His year studying runecraft under He Xi had profoundly shaped him.

Now, over a year had passed since He Xi left, and he had finally succeeded in crafting his first level-one rune-embedded set using the six fundamental rules He Xi had left behind.

This meant he was now a level-one rune-embedded master.

This title far surpassed that of a first-circle mage.

Rarity confers value.

In most people’s eyes, even a second-circle mage could not compare in status to a level-one rune-embedded master.

After a brief surge of joy and melancholy, Gao De steadied his turbulent emotions.

For him, everything had only just begun.

Whether on the path of magehood or rune-embedded mastery, it was so.

Level-up completed, accompanied by an unexpected breakthrough.

New spell acquired.

Now, the “top-tier gear” 【Frost’s Arrival】 was in hand.

All preparations were complete.

All is ready—waiting only for a dark, wind-swept night to capture the thief and claim the reward!

(End of Chapter)