System vs Rebirth

Anna gradually opened her eyes after absorbing all the demon crystals assigned to her. However, she actually found her husband sitting in front of her while scribbling something.

There was a mix of confusion and curiosity in her heart.

When she opened her eyes, Noel actually felt it and took a glance at her. However, he focused back on whatever he was doing as if it were something important.

Anna looked down to see what Noel was working for. To her surprise, it was actually a card.

The card had been inscribed with a rune. In fact, there was something wrong with the card. She didn't question where Noel got the card, but she couldn't help but wonder what kind of material this card was made of.

From the looks of it, it was made of metal. In addition, the color was dull gray. It didn't have the luster that metal had.

Although she was curious, she didn't say anything to avoid breaking Noel's focus.

After completing the rune drawing on this card, he lifted it up to take a closer look at the card.

Instead of talking to Anna, Noel actually stood up and threw the card to the side. The car was coated with spiritual energy, so it didn't sway because of the air friction. In addition, the rune on the card suddenly activated.

It shone for a bit before forming a sword on top of the card.

However, because of the card's position, the sword shot upward.

Still, Anna couldn't help but drop her jaw, not believing what she had just seen.

"Noel…" Anna couldn't contain herself and called his name.

"It seems that it can work somehow…" Noel muttered.

"What is that?"

"I don't have a name for it right now. But if I have to call it, maybe Rune Card?" Noel answered with a nonchalant expression.

"Rune Card?" Anna had never heard of it in her previous life. It seemed to be a new creation, surpassing their previous lives.

"Yes. I have been thinking about how we're able to combine the Rune Enhancement, Rune Engineering, Rune Spell, and Rune Body in order to fight with the runes. And this is what I came up with." Noel pointed at the card that was lying on the ground.

Anna looked back at the card and said, "So, it's like using the Rune Enhancement on the card, programming some movement into the card so that it could fly like you want to, which applies the Rune Engineering concept, then adding a Rune Spell on top of it. But what about the Rune Body?"

"I'm thinking about using the Rune Body as a trigger."

"Something like Spiritual Energy Dispersion Rune?"

"Yeah." Noel nodded.

"But hasn't the current Rune Magician already fit the idea?" Anna crossed her arms.

"This is different from Rune Magician. They are utilizing their clothes, weapons, and the rune body to use the runes, right?"

"Yes."

"For this Rune Card, they're targeted for close quarter combatants like us. Imagine if we couldn't use runes. We might still be able to use the Rune Body, but it will only come from us. What if we want to use a trap or release an attack from a different direction?"

"Ah?!" Anna could imagine it. They would throw the card in one direction and this card would shoot out an attack from that direction, which could serve as the main attack or a distraction depending on how they were planning to use it. They could even place this rune card in one place and use the Rune Body as a trigger to activate it like a trap.

"There you have it."

"This is a rather interesting concept. A fighter like us will be able to do something we've been unable to do in the past. For example, what if we put Floating Rune and Platform Rune in that card before throwing it upward? We can probably create a staircase. Rune Magicians might be able to just use the Rune Body to fly, but these cards are able to construct something out of nowhere."

"And you are missing two facts. It's their material and source of energy."

"Huh?" Anna frowned. She didn't understand the material even after observing it. However, she noticed that Noel only used a bit of Spiritual Energy to activate the rune on the card, while the rune's source of energy came from within itself. "Don't tell me…"

Noel smiled. "There is a high possibility that a normal person can actually use it. Unlike the rune weapons we have invented, this one can act like a personal weapon."

Anna looked down. As Noel said, their rune weapons could be used by normal weapons, but they were for military use. They were too big for a single person to carry around. However, the rune cards were different. Each person wouldn't have any trouble carrying a dozen cards without being too noticeable.

"Are you planning to create a 'pseudo' rune body?"

Noel's answer came in the form of a smile.

Anna sucked a cold breath. The 'pseudo' rune body she mentioned was a battery. The principle was like the Rune Body, but instead of a human's body, it would be similar to the one they used to fuel the rune lamp.

This way, even a normal person could actually use runes. This was indeed a different concept than that of a rune magician. No, it could be said that it was more terrifying.

"Still, there is only so much space for us to draw the runes…" Anna furrowed her eyebrows. Even if they could draw a rune, with such a limited space, the most they could have were basic runes. Only she and Noel might be able to inscribe an intermediate rune on this small card.

"I'm just talking about the future. According to my ancestor, there is a device of a size a little bigger than our hand that can do everything."

"Are you serious?" Anna could see what direction he was planning to take.

"Yes. In the future, we're going to enter the realm of micro… Something that is barely visible to the naked eyes. In the future, the ones who can create the rune cards for Intermediate or even Advance Rune will be respected. I don't know when it will happen… maybe a decade… fifty years later… or even a hundred years later. However, it won't stop me from building that very concept and foundation today.

"I hope that even without us, in the far future, humanity can still develop and flourish. They will exterminate the demons from this world. And by that time, they might find another source of energy they can utilize to replace the demon crystals."

"That's such a grand dream."

"Indeed. It's a dream, not a goal. My goal will remain the same." Noel chuckled.

"Still, how are we going to achieve it? I mean, I understand the card's concept, but where do you hide that demon crystals that will fuel the rune card?"

Noel took out a card he found in one of the kiosks on the ruin.

"What is this?"

"I don't know… Maybe this is the name of the card…" Noel pointed at the watermark on the card.

"Ci…re…duit… car…ud? I don't know how to pronounce it." Anna tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, who cares about that. What I want to say is this card's concept…" Noel pointed at the small gold plate embedded in the card.

"Ah?!" Anna contemplated. "So, you are creating a card with a hollow inside. You will fill the inside with demon crystals. Now that I think about it, according to Felicia, you can shape the demon crystals. We don't need it currently, but what if we shape it into a thin plate and insert it inside that hollow hole inside the rune card?"

"Yep. That's what I'm thinking about."

"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, the gray-colored card… Did you make it from the Demon Crystal, whose spiritual energy had been absorbed completely?"

"Currently, the empty demon crystals are trash. Instead of wasting them, how about we turn them into a shell of the card? This way, the cost of the cards can be lowered drastically and those crystals won't become a waste that will pollute the land."

"That's true. And you can actually reuse the card by changing the fuel inside it. While it's true that in battle, it's almost impossible to refuel it, these cards are meant for their utility. It's never going to replace the roles of Rune Magician or Fighter."

"There you have it." Noel smiled. "Though, there is one glaring problem."

"What is that?" Anna frowned. The rune card's concept was revolutionary and very practical, so it would be bad if they couldn't actually achieve it.

"We need something that can measure the amount of spiritual energy inside the card."

"Mhmm?" Anna tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Take a look at the size of the demon crystals." Noel pointed at the pile of crystals they had.

Although each crystal had different shapes and sizes, they could be generalized. The peak quality crystal was bigger than the advanced quality crystal. The superior quality crystal was the biggest among the ones they had.

Noel added, "Remember what Felicia said about crystals and spiritual energy? Each crystal actually has a different amount of spiritual energy inside. In addition, low quality, mid quality, advanced quality crystals and so on, will have different concentrations of spiritual energy inside. If they don't have different concentrations, the superior quality crystal will be bigger than a house, while the one we see is only the size of a human's head. The question is… do we have a device that can measure it accurately? No, has this world invented it yet?"

Anna looked down, falling into deep thought as she recalled all the information from their previous lives.