Chapter 142 : Chapter 142

Chapter 142. The True Ancient Rune

This took place on the second day after the dinner banquet.

Fulan got up early and leaned over the table, resuming the work that had been interrupted the day before.

Holding an engraving knife, she began carving runes onto her longsword.

The runes that had originally been on it had long since been washed away with a special solution, leaving it much the same as when she had first bought it from a street stall.

Because this was the sword that felt best in her hand, its original rune configuration had already been fairly top-tier and could serve as an excellent weapon for a First-Tier warrior.

But after obtaining the methods for creating what seemed to be ‘Ancient Runes,’ the previous runes had begun to feel somewhat outdated.

So she erased all the runes on it and prepared to engrave a true Ancient Rune instead.

Thinking of the appearance of the Lord of Radiance, she began carving the pattern onto the blade in exact detail.

She felt that the consumption was about the same as those ‘Ancient Runes’ whose key information had been erased, but she had carved this one with excessive precision, so the expenditure was still far greater than before—roughly a third of her total mental power.

Only after carving the first stroke did she feel that it was somehow faint and insubstantial, yet she could not erase it under such circumstances, so she could only continue drawing it as it was.

The process went very smoothly. Aside from the drain on her mental power, Fulan felt nothing else at all.

Then, at a certain moment, inspiration suddenly struck her, and with a single stroke she completed the rune.

【You comprehended the key within the Ancient Rune. Like the humans of ancient times, you engraved the visage of a god upon a weapon. Runology Proficiency +20000】

She raised the longsword upright and carefully examined the rune.

With a slight infusion of mental power, she saw the entire blade become coated in a layer of white light, to the point that the original silver surface was almost invisible.

She stood up, gripped the sword, and brought it down against the wall with a slash.

After the rune was activated, it seemed to provide a boost in speed. She had used only a little force, yet the whole sword drew an afterimage through the air and reached the bottom in an instant.

And when it struck the wall, there was almost no sound, nor was there any obvious mark on the surface.

Only with the support of her mental power could Fulan see that an extremely narrow crack had been left in the wall.

From a distance, it was nearly impossible to notice with the naked eye, yet the crack ran very deep.

“Not bad!”

She felt as though this weapon had undergone a sublimation. It was now nearly comparable to weapons forged from precious materials.

Then she increased the amount of mental power she poured into it. Upon careful sensing, she could feel something like a charging progress bar.

Once it was full, it would unleash a powerful burst of force.

By her estimate, that power would be just a little weaker than a First-Tier spell, though only by a narrow margin, and it seemed to have roughly a one-day cooldown.

She was extremely satisfied with the effects of this rune. She set the longsword on the table and watched the rune upon it emit a faint golden gleam.

Then she silently summoned the panel.

【Name: Fulan

Profession: Ancient Rune Warrior (one star), Mage (one star) (Forge Furnace, Modification, Sword Chant, Elemental, Spirit Realm), Radiant Priest (one star), Craftsman (half a star), Alchemist (half a star)

Attributes: Physique 6.4, Mental 15.0

Skills: Runology (Extraordinary) (Proficiency: 20056/100000)..... (omitted)

Traits: Mysterious Power (After using temporary runes in battle, there is a chance of gaining an enhancement.), Mental Power...... (omitted)】

Fulan looked at the panel and was already more than satisfied. This Ancient Rune Warrior profession had not only directly raised her Physique to 6.4, but had also slightly increased her Mental attribute.

The Mental Power trait originally granted by her rune warrior class had not changed, and she had gained an additional trait called Mysterious Power.

Only, the description of that trait was rather cryptic. What did it mean to say that after using runes, there was a chance she would gain an enhancement?

Still, Fulan guessed it referred to the gods symbolized by those Ancient Runes. Once they were used in battle, there would be a chance of receiving some kind of enhancement...

In any case, Fulan intended to shelve that trait entirely. It looked like something related to the gods, and that probably meant nothing good.

“Next comes the Demon Hunter profession. Once I complete that one, my Physique should reach at least 8, no matter what.”

Even so, she was not entirely satisfied with these professions, because it felt as though they were all only improving the Physique attribute indirectly.

The Ancient Rune Warrior profession, for instance, seemed to lean toward both sides. She could not quite tell with the Demon Hunter profession, but it would probably raise both a little as well.

She also had a feeling that the Demon Hunter profession might grant a powerful ability for hunting magical creatures, rather than a broadly applicable combat enhancement ability.

Most likely, she guessed, it would grant a trait that increased damage against magical creatures.

Still, something was better than nothing. Setting those thoughts aside, she began planning the route she would take after leaving Ged Town.

“I accepted information on three magical creatures. Two of them are creatures that even apprentices might be able to defeat.”

She had chosen those three creatures not only to fulfill the requirements of the Demon Hunter profession, but also because her hands were itching to try modification surgery.

Although she could not install those Extraordinary Organs in her own body—that would simply be too conspicuous.

The Modification School had a standing prohibition against equipping mages from other schools with too many Extraordinary Organs, in order to preserve its own advantage.

Otherwise, if you could install them and so could everyone else, while others still retained the spells of another school, then the combat strength of all the mages in the Alliance would rise, and the Modification School would be reduced entirely to a support profession.

That was why the Modification School had issued such a restriction. To them, even two organs counted as “too many.” As a result, aside from members of the Modification School, other mages generally had no installed organs at all.

Mounts and pets, however, were a different matter. The Modification School very much welcomed that kind of business and encouraged people to strengthen their companions.

So Fulan intended to start with the black horse she had spent five gold coins on and enhance it a little.

Among the three magical creatures she had selected, even the Earth Drake possessed organs or materials that could be used to strengthen that black horse.

“First, I’ll go to the valley forest. There’s a woodland spirit there. Once its body is crushed, a substance called woodland essence can be extracted from it, and that can allow an animal to move through forests as if it were walking on level ground.”

“Then I’ll head to the grasslands. There’s a Gale Rabbit there. Its leg bones can increase speed, which makes them perfect for attaching to the black horse’s legs.”

“Lastly, there’s the Earth Drake. The final sighting report placed it on a mountain summit. As long as I search nearby, I should be able to find traces of it.”

She leaned out of the window and looked down from above at her black horse.

The black horse was standing in its assigned space, leisurely eating fodder from the trough, completely unaware of what it might suffer later.

“The Earth Drake’s heart seems powerful enough, but it is probably too large. The black horse likely wouldn’t be able to hold it, so I can only strengthen it with the Infusion Method instead.”

“And the Earth Drake’s blood seems able to reinforce the outer skin, which would be perfect for giving the black horse another enhancement.”

Looking at the black horse below, she could already imagine how powerful her mount would become in the future.