The Runesmith

“Haaa!”

“Hyaaa!”

After a flash of green light, a large log descended down to the ground. It looked like it was sliced apart by something sharp but the person performing the attack was quite a bit away. Next to it, another log was engulfed in flames which caused a large pillar of smoke to emerge.

“Wayland, these weapons are interesting… let me just try this out…”

A halfling woman was standing with a dagger in her hand. It was glowing green for the moment but after a few seconds passed it changed color to blue. When activating the spell effect this time around, instead of the green blade of wind one of ice replaced it. The previously sliced apart log was cut again but this time, it was also covered by a layer of ice.

To the halfling's side, there was a human holding a large two-handed sword that had previously been engulfed in flames. Yet after a moment, the flames started changing color to switch to deep blue frost instead.

“Hey, this thing really works… and it’s not that hard to use!”

“If the blockhead can use it, then everyone can use it.”

“Hey, I heard that, screw you Senna!”

An angry Orson fired off a blast of ice energy towards the burning target. After performing this magical attack his head started spinning and he had to catch himself from falling.

“Take it easy, you’re a warrior and your MP pool isn’t that high. It's better if you don’t use that many magical attacks in succession.”

The voice of the craftsman that inscribed these weapons with runes came from the side. He was watching his four adventurer friends playing around with his simplified products. It was a new line of runic gear that was designed for adventurers without mana-related skills.

“Hah, leave that idiot be Wayland, he learns better this way.”

Senna laughed while he glanced over towards Grisalde and Dalrak. While the dwarf didn’t have trouble exchanging the basic mana shield for one made from the earth element, the big barbarian woman was confused. Her weapon was changing colors from red to different shades of blue before going back to the red one.

“Want me to explain it again, Grisalde?”

“N-no… I can handle this myself…”

She replied in a meek voice while turning her head to the side. All of them were gathered in a specially made testing area. It was made so that his clients could get used to some of the more innovative weapons. These testing weapons were made of simpler materials but were enough to show off what the costlier ones were capable of.

“Is that so… anyway let me demonstrate again…”

He decided to grab a large axe from the side that was similar to what the muscle-bound woman was holding. After holding it out with one hand so that she could see what he was doing, he started to talk.

“It’s simple, if you place your thumb into this groove here and start injecting mana, you’ll notice that the color is changing right?”

“Yeah?”

She nodded while looking at the metal axe blade lighting up faintly.

“It’s hard to see because it’s daylight but when you’re in the dungeon it will be easier. What you want to do is stop letting your mana into the weapon after you get to the elemental color you want, see it stopped at green. There is a second when the color won’t change so make your decision fast and remember to remove your thumb from the grove.”

“I see…”

Grisalde continued to nod while looking at her own weapon that was changing colors. After shifting her hand to a more comfortable position the color solidified into a red one.

“Each of the weapons comes with elemental variations of the same spell and one basic non-elemental spell.”

Roland performed a side swing with the axe and directed it towards a log in the distance. A blade of green energy left the weapon, it was much bigger than the one previously released from Senna’s dagger. When it collided with the log it sliced it diagonally before ramming into the stone wall behind it.

“How about you try it?”

“No problem!”

Grisalde started injecting her mana into the axe and stopped the moment it switched to green. She was an experienced warrior so it wasn’t hard to reproduce Roland’s more sluggish movements. Yet the blade that she created was about half the size and traveled in a wide arc into the sky.

“Shit… Hey, why was that green blade so much smaller? Is this axe worse than yours?”

“No, they are exactly the same.”

“Pff…”

From the side, a squeaky voice escaped from a smaller halfling that overheard the conversation. Quickly the giant of a woman turned toward her nemesis with a frown.

“What are you laughing at pipsqueak!”

“Oh, nothing.”

Senna laughed which brought a few veins to appear on Grisalde’s forehead. Before the two started fighting Roland quickly chimed in with another explanation.

“I have a lot more mana than you, magical weapons will always be better in the hands of mages.”

Roland’s high intelligence stat boosted the power of every runic spell. He also had various other buffs which allowed him to raise the power of runic weapons. A regular warrior like Grisalde could not feel mana in her surroundings, she could only use it. This was the same for the other non-mage denizens in the world, they only had an on and off switch when it came to mana.

There weren’t that many people like Roland that had a mana sense, some even died due to mana sickness as the previous owner of this body. However, there were ways of getting that skill later in life. Some advanced classes could unlock it later, there were also things like magical elixirs that could produce it.

There were also less virtuous ways of getting them, red-colored crystals that were sometimes sold at the black market auctions were the usual way. They were gotten from fallen mages that had their skills extracted during their deaths. These were quite rare so they didn’t reach the usual black market and were hidden away in the thieves guild that hosted auctions to gain more money.

From time to time a tier 3 class holder would attempt to get a mana-related skill after gathering enough money. Raising the mana pool was a clear enhancement of one's skill and capabilities. After reaching a high enough tier, magical equipment became far more affordable and a good quick way of bolstering all-around strength.

“And that’s about it, the base effect for the axe is the impact rune, it uses the least amount of mana.”

After the demonstration was over Grisalde began to play around with the new toy. Just as he had explained it went through a set of spells in order. The weapons had one varied elemental spell that could be switched to fit a monster's weakness and then a basic effect like sharpening or impact.

Through experience, he had discovered that most adventurers weren’t that good at handling runic weapons with multiple uses. At most he could add two different spells before it became too confusing for them to use. They could not change the mana frequency or output at all, only turn it on and off.

Thus he decided to try this new system of selecting spells on a timer. By introducing mana into the systems the selection process would start. It was then represented by a faint outside color to make it easier. After the spell was selected it would be the active one and the only one that could be activated.

‘While you can’t switch the effects fast, it should not be needed.’

These weapons were meant to be multi-purpose and for dungeons. In the Albrook dungeon where the monsters were fire-based, ice was the desired weakness. Before even entering the dungeon a person could switch to this effect and be prepared for the flaming creatures inside.

Then when the adventurer decided to go to another dungeon they could switch the spell effect again without having to get a whole new weapon. While the runic components were altered even other runesmiths could repair it with the help of their automatic skills like Rune Mending.

To change the spell the person needed to hold the weapon in a specific way. It would be hard to activate the changing effect mid-battle which was intentional. It was still possible to do it during a pause in combat as long as the enemy didn't pursue.

This was all achieved by changes to the runic operating system. The hardware components of the spells it circled through were very similar. An executable was activated to change into the desired effect to make it all work. Someone like him was able to activate the desired spell without going through all of them. But for people without rune-related skills, this was a simple process to go through.

“These are great but how much will this cost?”

Senna and the others gathered together after testing out the weapons. It was clear to them that the weapons were worth a lot. One of them in particular didn’t have any money.

“I sell them around the market price for common rune weapons, they are all of the highest grade too, so that increases the price slightly…”

All of them headed back to the shop to discuss the price and Elodia was quick to calculate everything along with the friendly discount. They would need some smaller gold coins to cover the manufacturing and material costs but all in all he didn’t think it was a bad price.

“Hmm… this isn’t bad, I’ll take it. With those cult nuts running around it’s better to have a good weapon, do you have any of those divine artifacts though?”

“Those are still in the testing phase, I would also need to get permission from the church if I wanted to actually sell them.”

“You mean… if you wanted to sell them in the open, that is.”

Senna winked toward Roland as she knew what he was leading on to. While it was possible to buy the divine mana crystals from many locations, it was better to announce getting a proper permit at the church. Everything that involved the holy energy of their gods had to go through the temples.

This was clearly in place to pad out the church pockets with money. They wanted to control the market when their items were involved. There also wasn’t really a way around it as all of the magical items either required constant recharging from a priest or an empyrean crystal.

“Aye, it’s a good price, give ‘em my share.”

Dalrak together with Orson agreed to get themselves some upgrades. After getting his shield damaged during the escape he was in need of a replacement. Dalrak decided to get a sturdy shield of a similar shape. It could produce a magical barrier as well as a repelling effect.

Orson on the other hand found himself a replacement sword. Every item they got was made from aether durasteel but there was one person that didn’t look happy. Grisalde was holding a battle axe that was probably heavier than the war hammer he recently made.

“What can’t afford it? Want me to lend you some money? It’ll cost you though~”

Senna started grinning while shaking around her coin purse. Part of the money inside of it had originally belonged to Grisalde. She had lost it due to a couple lost bets. Roland was still surprised that the woman didn’t realize that her opponent was a professional swindler. While she didn’t cheat outright, Senna would only take bets that were in her favor.

“I don’t need your help, I can pay for it myself!”

Grisalde stormed over towards where Elodia was standing which caused Agni to raise his head. Even though he was a dire wolf, the large woman would probably be able to wrestle him down to the ground. Thus he remained warry while showcasing his sharp teeth.

“P-put it on my tab!”

After dropping the axe on the counter Grisalde nodded. It was as simple as that for her.

“Hey you big oaf, this isn’t a tavern…”

Senna started grabbing her sides while trying not to laugh. On the other hand, Roland wasn’t sure if this was such a bad idea.

“How about you work for me instead?”

“Work for you? I don’t know much about blacksmithing though…”

“No, I mean as a guard.”

Today was one of the days that they were without any protection. With Roland being around they didn’t really need anyone else to stand watch besides Agni. Yet a highly skilled thief would be able to grab something and still make a run for it. For that reason, they needed someone to be outside and block the only exit.

“As a guard?”

“Yes, I usually contact someone from the adventurer guild but since the cult incident a lot of them aren’t willing to stay out in the woods.”

It wasn’t a bad deal for him, the barbarian woman was a high level tier 2 class holder. There weren’t that many other adventurers that compared to her. She was also someone that he somewhat trusted not to make off with the items or attack Elodia.

“The store isn’t open every day, so you could still go to the dungeon to earn more if you want. You’ll also be given two meals per day and something to drink but no alcohol.”

“Hmm….”

Grisalde pondered this proposal for a moment. Roland wasn’t sure if she would take it as it wouldn’t be that hard for someone of her level to just go to the dungeon. Any adventurer team would be fine with taking a combatant like here down there. After a month or two she would probably be able to afford this weapon.

‘I guess she will refuse…’

At least that is what he was thinking, for some reason when Grisalde looked towards Senna who was just grinning there, she nodded to agree.

“Fine, I’ll be a guard now give me the weapon!”

“Wait, not so fast.”

While Grisalde was trying to get to her new weapon she was stopped by the store owner.

“Huh?”

“Here, sign this first.”

“What is this?”

What was presented to her was a standard contract that he created himself. It stated the usual terms of the deal and that she needed to work five days a week, for eight hours per day. While they could go through the guild to make this transaction, they could just do it directly like this.

“Um…”

“It’s a standard document, if you fail to meet the terms you’ll be subjected to the usual debuff.”

“Debuff?”

Roland was a bit confused but then remembered that adventurers didn’t really go through the hassle of signing work contracts. They just delivered items to the guild and only got paid for that, they weren’t on the clock so there was no need for them. Only regular people needed to be coerced to sign them as motivation for work.

“Let me explain…”

In the shortest amount of time, he started explaining. The curse that she would be subjected to would place a debuff that lowered her main stats by a set percentage. For someone that worked as an adventurer, it would be a devastating setback.

“That’s about it, if you do your work nothing will happen and as you can see, this contract is just for one month…”

“I’m not sure she gets it…”

Elodia that was behind the counter whispered into his ear while looking at the large woman’s head getting redder. It seemed that the words that Roland was using were sometimes too difficult for her to understand.

‘It’s a miracle that she survived for this long. It’s not surprising that she gets taken advantage of this easily.’

After a little back and forth he managed to get the contract signed. Elodia took over by explaining the working hours and her duties. For the coming month, he had managed to organize a competent guard for the store. This would ease his nerves as he was intending to go down to gain some levels.

While the cultist situation wasn’t resolved, it was being handled by the City Lord. His own house and shop were already equipped with the same divine boxes to check for any potential corruption. What now remained was for him to finish up his new main weapon and assemble more golems, it was time to start his grind.