The Runesmith

“WaAaAaaaah…”

“Congratulations, it’s a boy!”

“...”

“He passed out…”

“Waaaaahhh”

“My baby…”

A woman reached out for her newborn son while trying to ignore the passed-out father next to her bed. The baby cried out almost instantly after getting smacked on the bottom by the attending cleric. This feline nun was performing the rites and quickly infusing divine energy into the tired mother.

‘Hm, so that’s how they do it in this world. Interesting…’

To the side was Roland who was having to pick up the passed-out father from the ground. Dyana had finally given birth to a healthy baby boy that didn’t seem to have any abnormalities. It was the first time for him in this world and his old one to witness a birth. After a quick scan with his analyzing skill, he was given a mostly blank scotus screen with no name or classes.

Name :

Strength

1

Agility

1

Dexterity

1

Vitality

1

Endurance

1

Intelligence

1

Willpower

1

Charisma

6

Luck

10

‘The name is blank and all the stats are at one besides charisma and luck…’

Roland had to take a second to look at the child's luck stat which was a lot higher than the one he had at the age of five. This was a strange stat that kept going up with his age and had an obscure use that even people in this world weren’t sure about. The consensus was that the higher the number, the more a person was favored by god and good things happened to them. Considering that he had a lot of close-death experiences in his youth, perhaps he was disliked for some reason.

After looking over the status he peeked at the midwife, Sister Kassia. Thanks to his involvement Bernir’s wife Dyana was given one of the better clerics in the city to help her through the pain. This was considered a luxury as most commoners could not afford a higher-level priest to attend. Physicians existed in this world but they were seen as lesser to a priest. They lacked skills related to healing and had to use bandages or medicine made by alchemists as a substitute.

With the help of a priest giving birth didn’t seem that bad. Kassia was able to cast spells to relieve pain and there were also potions that did the same thing. Using potions was somewhat inferior as they varied in quality. There was a possibility for them to affect the child as they had a hidden toxicity rating. When a threshold was reached it would produce a debuff that could last for a while.

“Hey… wake up…”

Roland moved his palm towards Bernir’s cheek and gave him a few smacks. His strength was quite up there so he tried to not give the new father a concussion. Finally, after a few seconds, Bernir opened his eyes widely.

“Huh, what?”

“I think you should join your wife and son.”

“My son? I have a son?”

“Can you stop embarrassing yourself already? Get over here you idiot!”

Bernir had passed out around the moment the child's head was emerging. The sight even made Roland look to the side. It didn’t seem like it was Kassia’s first rodeo as she didn’t even flinch and kept infusing the areas with divine spells. Thanks to them the mother didn’t have to suffer through the pain and the baby finally emerged.

He stood back while watching Bernir, who was his assistant awkwardly touch the baby. This reminded him of the reason that he was even here. The two new parents didn’t really have anyone they knew in this city. They had arrived here to start a new life and they had been successful. Yet there was a lack of certain people in their life that could take on the role of a Godfather or mother.

There were a lot of traditions in this world and it was quite similar to his old world. While there were multiple gods here it didn’t mean that people didn’t get baptized. One of the important parts of this world was the concept of a godparent which kind of fell into his lap. Roland was supposed to take on this title which would somewhat tie him to this family even more. If something were to happen to both of the parents, it would be his duty to take care of their child.

At first, he was apprehensive about it but after recalling the past history he had to agree. Bernir had proven to be a good assistant and also a good friend. When his home was getting attacked he protected it and even went against Valerian knights to protect it. There would probably not be that many other people that he could trust as much as Bernir.

‘I bet he wouldn’t even hesitate if I asked him to do the same if I ever got a kid. A kid huh?’

Roland felt strange when looking at this family before him. He had never really thought about getting and with so much work there was no time for one either. Perhaps it was an excuse to postpone the decision but he didn’t feel that bringing a child into this world at this time would be the best decision. Before he could have some deeper thoughts about the issue he was interrupted by the midwife priest.

“The Lady of the Sun has graced us with another life, it’s life is like the rising sun that illuminates the world we walk on.”

“Ah yes…”

It was quite early in the day and the sun was rising. For the worshipers of Solaria, this was a good sign when a child was born. A new dawn signified longevity while giving birth at sunset wasn’t as welcomed. Then in some other religions like the ones worshiping the moon, it was the exact reverse. Birth by day with the blessing of Solaria and birth by night with the blessing of Lunaria and Lunaris. Some people even attributed these birth cycles to indicating future classes a person could possess.

“Oh look at the time, I think Dyana needs to rest so I’ll see myself off now that the ceremony is finished…”

While Kassia started babbling on while praying in the direction of the rising sun, he approached Bernir. His assistant wasn’t even looking in his direction as he was too busy having his newborn son clinging to his pinky with that small hand of his.

“He has quite the grip! Ha ha, he must have gotten it from his mother!”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean.”

“N-nothing…B-boss did you want something?”

After seeing a large vein appearing on Dyana’s forehead Bernir decided to turn to Roland for some help. He didn’t really want to get involved in the squabble but instead decided to offer the two some free time. In this world, things like maternity or paternity leave didn’t really exist. Usually, the mother took care of the kids while the husband never stopped working. Luckily for the two, Roland was able to offer them some more time with their newborn.

“Yes, I just wanted to congratulate you and also tell you that you don’t need to come to work for a while.”

“Thank you! Oh, are you serious? But don’t you need help at the workshop even more than ever?”

“Well, I’m going to meet the new Chief today, with the help of those dwarves we won’t need to worry about the city anymore.”

He shrugged as to be frank, he wasn’t that much in a rush to create items for his own store. With the Union feud finally ending there wouldn’t be as much pushback on the market. The two sides that created magical items within the city could actually work together for once. It was now possible to increase his prices to get more money for the same items as his opposition would not price him out anymore.

There was no need to strongarm merchants or use the auction house to get items. Roland would now spend less on everything and could earn more. When also including that tier 3 runes went for a lot more, he wouldn’t be running out of money anytime soon. After having a talk with the new Union Chief again he wanted to take Agni back into the dungeon.

Armand and Lobelia had managed to reach their caps as well which would allow him to focus on his own progress now. The dungeon held many secrets within it and before other platinum adventurers arrived he needed to go through all of the hidden chambers. Gaining a platinum adventurer card wasn’t required for someone that was a head knight but having it around wouldn’t hurt either. If he ever decided to end his knightly career, having the card would make things easier. The adventurer guild was accepted in other countries so it would be helpful if he ever was forced to run again.

“Is that so… Well I won’t say no to some free time, don’t regret it later Boss!”

“I won’t and also, congratulations on your child, Dyana.”

“Thank you Wayland but…”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Well, I know it was thanks to you but… could you do something about that?”

“That?”

He followed Dyana’s gaze which landed on the kneeling nun. She was performing some type of ceremony and continuously praying. What the mother required was some peace and quiet. Thus he just nodded and decided to grab her off the floor on his way out.

“Sister Kassia, I think you’ll miss the morning mass like this.”

“The mass? You are right, I need to tend to the flock, I have almost forgotten my duty, thank you, Mr. Wayland.”

“Ah sure no problem…”

Roland closed the door behind him and left the building. Kassia disappeared into one of the nearby alleyways as she headed to the church. When looking around he could see various people waking up and some even opening the shops here. The place Dyana gave birth in was her own smithing shop. The building had been turned into more of a house through the years as the two could just focus on their work at his compound.

‘I wonder if eventually, they will want to move here permanently?’

The shack that he offered Bernir a few years ago turned into a secondary smithy. This didn’t mean that it was truly his. Roland knew that every craftsman wished to have their own little place to call their own and Dyana’s house was better suited for it. He could see the two settling here and creating their own brand of items. In the end, he believed that most people liked to have a corner for themselves.

This didn’t mean that Bernir would stop working right this instant nor that he couldn’t still cooperate with each other even if they worked at different sites. With the help of the Union, it might be possible to implement some quality-of-life changes which involved them making all the street lamps and even runic turrets.

‘So this is it huh? I’ve seen this place from outside many times but it will be the first time to actually go in.’

“Good day, you must be Master Wayland, please come this way, the Chief is expecting you.”

To his surprise, he was instantly greeted by someone at the entrance. The person was a dwarf of unknown origin with some runic symbols adorning their clothes. They weren’t working runes and seemed to be more of an artistic choice.

‘Is this one of the apprentices?’

Previously he offended Brylvia slightly by analyzing her status screen after disabling her status scrambling item. This person on the other hand didn’t seem to have one on them. Thankfully he could always use his position as a head knight as an excuse for these occasions.

Name:

Hufil L 77

Classes

T2 Runesmith L2

T1 Mana Scribe L25

T1 Blacksmith L25

T1 Mage L25

‘It is a runesmith and one that only advanced recently.’

Roland felt slightly jealous of having access to so many apprentices. This man here wasn’t the only runesmith around as there were two more walking around. He was at the main smithy that contained a large group of craftsmen. When stepping in the stuffy air and heightened temperature was apparent.

Someone without a resistance against heat would have a tough time moving through this place without passing out. In comparison, his own workshop was a lot more friendly towards non-blacksmithing classes. To allow Elodia to go through the underground workshop he created runic AC units that infused some ice energy as well as cleared out the stuffy air.

It was strange to follow after this man that could run their own runic shop just like he did. A runesmith could already create tier 2 items and earn a good wage by themselves. However, in the eyes of dwarves, they were still just slightly above regular apprentices. They still had years of training to go through. Also if they abandoned the union they would face scrutiny just like he did.

They would be forced to go through the same issues as he did. Renegade dwarven craftsmen existed and usually ended up as personal smiths of nobles that with their influence could provide them with everything they needed. These types would be scrutinized by their peers but sometimes earning more money was more important than furthering the craft.

‘It’s not as loud as you’d expect a huge smithy to be…’

The place looked more like an iron mill than a smithy. There were large cauldrons being heated up by magical flames. He could see a few dwarves dressed in thick leather pushing some of them over to pour the mixture into some molds. In other places, he could see four stocky men hammering out a piece of metal with giant sledgehammers in unison. All this without much sound getting outside.

‘They are using sound-canceling runes, no one is going to lose their hearing here.’

The pathway that he was taking with the runesmith was safe from the sound but sometimes when he went beyond the barrier he could hear intense hammering or sizzling noises. The men here were producing large numbers of weapons and armor. Only thanks to the adventurers that frequently went missing or had their items broken on monsters could such a business keep functioning.

The workers became aware of his presence rather quickly. While he was not wearing the bulky mithril armor today he was still a human. Due to his height, it was easy to pick him up from the crowd. At first, Roland was concerned about his relations with these people. They showed themselves as his enemies but was it the same now? The regular blacksmiths didn’t really know him nor did they take part in making the decision to shun him. Some of them did look somewhat annoyed with his presence but others were also curious.

“Chief, Ah brought the guest lik’ ye wanted.”

After going through the large building that made his own workshop look rather small he arrived at a door. It was newly made and the metal was recently worked on. In the middle, it had a nicely made plaque from mithril with Brylvia's name on it. It felt like he was going into the office of a professor at a prestigious university. The only difference was that he was not a student but also a fellow professor of the same ranking.

“Aye, let him in.”

Both he and the man that brought him here were able to hear the Chief’s voice. The dwarf just nodded after hearing the words and decided to leave while Roland saw this as the cue to open the door. When he opened it he could see quite a mess inside. Large stacks of papers were everywhere and after a quick glance, he could identify them as schematics.

They were all over the place but mostly shoved to the sides with some free space in the middle. There a desk of smaller height rested with a stack of books on top and Brylvia behind it. In the back, he could see several bookcases that seemed to have been assembled only recently for her use. Dunan and his friends were probably responsible for assembling this room and the things inside of it but the new Chief turned the place into a mess.

“Oy, be careful wi' that, if ye step on it, ye replace it!”

“I think you need a separate storage unit for these…”

“Ah know, If they idiots made this affice bigger then it wouldn't be a problem! How do thay expect a master lik' me to fit everything into this shit’ole! But anyway, have ye brought it?”

“Yes, I have what you asked for.”

After closing the door behind him he reached his hand into his spatial satchel. From it, he pulled out a metallic cylinder with some runes on it. On top there was a small latch that could be opened but only with the correct mana signature. Inside were some of his own runic schematics that he wanted to present to this Chief. One of the reasons was for some input and another as a bargaining chip.

‘I need to play my cards right, she must have some rune-related books I could go through, maybe even some skill books.’

While Roland didn’t see himself as an inferior craftsman to this Master Runesmith, there were probably things that he didn’t know. She was sitting on hundreds of years of dwarven knowledge that could propel his career into a new dimension. Yet for that to happen he probably needed to propose the right trade without giving away too many of his own secrets in the process.