The Runesmith

A magical bolt of energy flew through the air and connected with a face made of only bones. It was a direct hit on a tier 3 monster that didn’t do much to evade it. It came flying from a small mechanical spider that had its metallic legs pressed into the rocks around it.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to kill this thing like that…”

Roland, who was controlling the spider golem, gave out a sigh after continuing to pelt it with mana arrows. Even though he could land direct hits on the monster’s head, they weren't doing much damage.

The moment the monster's HP dropped below 80% it also started to regenerate its own hp through some skill. This self-regenerating effect wasn’t that strong but it canceled out the golem’s attacks in the process. It was clear that if he wanted to kill this creature he would either need to do it himself or utilize all of his golems.

‘It does seem safe but It might also react to a living being differently than to a golem…’

While the test that he performed went well, he still wasn’t sure if the monster wouldn’t attack him. In theory, he should be safe but this didn’t keep him from worrying. Now came the real test, one that involved him using an attack spell just like the golem did.

“Agni, stay here.”

Roland used his remote control station to pull the golem out of the hole. The constant usage of mana arrows had also drained most of the golem’s battery that needed to now be replaced. Thus the spider golem dislodged itself from the small hole that was made for it and returned to its creator.

For the time being Roland decided to replace the battery while also ordering the other golems to spread out around this area. While previously he only intended to run, now he might need a distraction if for some reason the monster burst through the rocky wall. The golems would only serve as more targets while he and Agni escaped into the secret passage.

Normally anyone would have a tough time approaching that hole with all the mines that he had placed there. Luckily there was a big advantage in being the creator of those runic mines and explosives.

Due to the extensive studying, he had to go through he figured out a couple of new tricks. One of them was to give the items that he created a sort of back door. Now with a small jolt of his own mana he could produce a sort of disabling effect when wearing his armor or having a sort of ‘master key’ item with a specific runic program on it.

Thanks to it he could disable all of the mines that he placed here. He could even put them on a timer or activate them when he was out of range. Thanks to this, none of his current creations would be able to harm him, as long as he was in possession of an item with the master key function.

‘I’ll disable them for the time being.’

It was time for the big test so he decided to disable the mines while slowly approaching the hole. He felt a bit silly for being so overly cautious but it was better to be safe than sorry.

‘Would those guys be okay if something happened to me?’

A strange thought crawled into his mind as he was staring at the side profile of the Skeleton Champion. He thought to the people above ground, Elodia had recovered her deed to the orphanage but if he vanished Arthur would probably not help her if any of the merchants did something similar.

Bernir that was a half-dwarf and shunned by the dwarven population in the city would have a hard time finding work. His wife had also crossed the line after associating herself with Roland so they might have to leave the city altogether.

After opening the shop and becoming a business owner other people relied on him being there. While they would probably be able to find a place to stay, their lives would become difficult if he was gone. It was a strange feeling where people relied on him but he was not averse to this responsibility.

“You sure are an ugly one…”

He called out while looking through the hole. The monster didn’t react which prompted him to walk a bit closer. It really couldn’t hear or see him in anyway shape or form. It didn’t seem that there would be a problem thus he brought out a magical staff. The design was quite rudimentary with a large mana stone as the focal point.

Agni that was watching from the distance quickly picked up on the stone’s origin as it was fashioned from the previous boss monster’s remains. The staff wrapped around this gem at the top. This was his first aether durasteel product that he had fashioned with his new smelter and forge.

‘Here goes nothing…’

The monster on the other side started moving away, it seemed it was bored with getting its face pelted with mana arrows. This was great as if something went wrong the monster would need to turn around. Thus he took aim, the staff’s shaft started glowing as the runes on it became more visible.

Infernal Skeleton Champion, it was an undead creature with a fire aspect to it. Normally undead monsters were susceptible to fire but resistant to the cold. These creatures were the exact opposite yet unless a person could generate enough cold energy to douse their flames they would continue to function.

Their biggest weakness was in holy energy but that element was exclusive to priest-type classes. They were the best class to bring along when fighting a large number of undead creatures.

While there were magical items that were able to produce divine magic, the assistance of a priest was needed. There was a peculiar manufacturing process for those types of weapons and armor which he had read up on during his learning phase.

The worst part about it was that such weapons needed to be constantly recharged by the same type of priest that lent their blessing. The only way to go around it would be to get some specific materials that had divine energy in them.

He considered paying his old acquaintance a visit but in retrospect, he didn’t really know Sister Kassia that well. Whenever she spotted him walking around town she would try to shove the teachings of Solaria down his throat. He was also unsure if he could trust her with his workshop where she would need to come to craft these special divine items.

Thus instead of going with any particular element, he decided to use the basics. A tier 2 frost lance would not be able to combat a tier 3 monster’s flames. Instead, he decided to produce the strongest non-elemental spell that he could.

The staff continued to glow in a blue hue while forming a ball of light before it. This ball of light started spinning around and changing shape into a drill. This drill of pure blue mana continued to accelerate while producing a piercing sound which the monster on the other side could not hear.

This was no simple spell, it was more similar to the one he produced all those years ago against the ant queen. It was a combination spell that stored all of the mana energy at a single point while adding a spin to it. A massive amount of mana was being produced and also drained from Roland’s reserves.

With a resounding boom, the spell in the shape of a drill flew forward and caused the dug-up opening to be widened in the process. The monster stopped in its tracks as the bolt of blue energy entered its dungeon but just like with the golem it was not fast in its reaction time.

The spiraling spell connected right with the monster’s head. At first, Roland was surprised as the skeleton didn’t just lose its head on the spot. The spell slowly drilled itself into that skeletal jaw before exploding. He could see the entire corridor where that flaming skeleton was standing shake and be covered in blue light.

The flash of azure subsided rather quickly and revealed a headless opponent that was just standing there. Roland could see the health bar getting lowered drastically as the monster clearly received a critical hit to its head. Regretfully this wasn’t over, the undead creature could function without its head but would not be unable to see.

These types of skeletal enemies possessed something called a soul core. It looked like a flame of energy akin to a will-o'-wisp, with varying colors. This flame could be situated in various areas of the monster and in the lesser flaming skeletons, it was inside the skull.

This was also what Roland had hoped when targeting its flaming head. It seemed that this core was not there as the health bar only decreased by about a quarter. The monster was covered by heavy armor which made spotting the weak point even harder.

‘Damn, it might be in the chest cavity…’

The second spot for this flaming core would be inside of the monster's ribs where the heart would be. The biggest problem with that was that this monster was wearing heavy armor but luck was still on his side. The enemy was now missing a head and after swinging wildly around itself it just stopped.

It was unable to detect where the attack came from, it could not detect where Roland was standing. Thus instead of running he just continued with another mana drill spell. With another charge up, the spinning projectile that was composed of pure mana energy rocketed towards its target and connected with another loud sound.

Roland wasn’t sure what the armor was composed of but luckily it wasn’t something resistant to mana. The spell met some resistance but continued to corkscrew its way inside of the monster's torso before vanishing into a burst of tiny mana particles.

The hole it produced wasn’t that big but it was a beginning. Without having to worry about getting attacked he could just focus on attacking. The monster was quite resistant and he needed to pelt it with the enhanced runic spell over and over again. But finally, after downing down a mana potion, he saw the last bit of health of the monster shot down to zero.

Infernal Skeleton Champion has been slain.

Congratulations you have leveled up!

Congratulations you have gained a new title!

Tier Breaker

Title

A title given to people that have managed to single-handedly slay an adversary that is a tier above them. When fighting against opponents of a higher tier the bearer of this title will receive a buff.

The moment the monster hit the floor he was flooded with a myriad of system prompts. The first thing that he noticed was the title that he was given. He wasn’t sure how large of a buff this was but perhaps it would alleviate this tiresome drain on his mana reserves. He was left sweating and with a headache after having to force himself to blast the monster repeatedly with a spell that went over his own limits.

Then there was his level that shot up to 123 just for slaying this one monster here. With this, he was reaching the limit of 125 at which he would need to change his class to progress further.‘The staff didn’t break down… good…’

If he attempted to make this staff from deepsteel like his old wares, it would have certainly not been able to take the burden of this enhanced spell. Now on the other hand, after adding some special minerals to the mix, the new durasteel staff was still working fine. It had lasted through the test but he was already thinking of making some improvements on this grinding method.

The only reason that he decided to make this staff was its mobility. Without knowing how the monster inside would react he needed something light. Now he was positive that he could just pelt the monsters inside with a barrage of spells, he could bring something larger.

‘It would be a shame to leave here only after killing one monster. Then, What should I do about the spoils?’

While the levels and title were nice, he stood before another question. What should he do with the dead skeleton? After receiving his last spell the monster along with its damaged armor was thrown against the wall. It was now close to the end of that corridor where there were probably other opponents lurking about.

There were some options here, first, he could just leave the damaged armor be and wait for another monster to appear. This would be the safest route to take where he wouldn’t lose anything.

The second option would be to widen the hole between dungeons and quickly go inside to grab the monster's remains before they fade away. This would be the most dangerous decision as he didn’t really know if there were any traps in that corridor or perhaps some hidden monsters that he couldn’t see.

‘Should I go with option three?’

He turned around to look at the spider golems that were on standby. The safest way of getting the loot would be to send the golems in. They could drag the monster's remains over to this chamber while he remained safe. After the monster was dead, its remains would be able to pass through the barrier between the two dungeons.

The golems had grappling hooks with nets that he designed against the boss monster. In theory, he could try shooting it from the safety of this chamber and then pull the monster's remnants in himself. This was probably the safest way to get to the loot while not risking his golemic creations in the process either.

There was one problem with this approach, he didn’t think the net would be able to encase the dead monster that was down on the floor. It was designed to envelop a large target that was standing up. For it to work correctly he would need to use the remote control and probably have one of the drones go in.

‘Is it worth it?’

Roland started calculating in his head. The monster's remains could be used by alchemists, they ground the bones into powder and turn them into various concoctions. Then there was the armor that was probably made from a good metal, while the chest part had been damaged the rest was in good shape.

Everything could be sold to make a sound profit that could go for more than the resources needed to build a spider golem. When adding everything up he decided to risk one of his creations.

First, the net was shot out by one of the other golems. Then he used the remote control to maneuver a second unit into the other higher tier dungeon. There the golem was used to shift the net in a more favorable position. For once luck was on his side as he was able to start pulling before anything on the other side could get closer.

The hole through which he was previously aiming had also increased in size after being pelted by multiple intense mana drills. Thus right before another monster appeared he was able to get the remains of the tier 3 monster out. The only part that was left behind was the head that was dislodged in the beginning.

“This is made from an alloy, it has some deepsteel in it but also durium and what’s this… Resistium?”

With his current identification skills, he was somewhat able to read into the composition of this suit of armor. He was not able to figure out all components nor the distribution. Resistium was another metal that was seen as something between the tier 2 and tier 3 level. It’s strength came in being able to absorb physical attacks.

It was quite lucky that the monster was wearing armor that was very resistant to physical attacks but not so much when it came to magical ones. Perhaps he had used up all his bad luck in his first ten years and now it was time for the renaissance of his life.

‘Something is coming…’

While looking at the spoils he noticed a shadow moving in the distance. Another monster was coming his way and he was certainly intending to get to this level cap before getting out of this dungeon.