The Runesmith

“How did it go, Mary?”

“I’m sorry Lord Arthur, I’ve failed…”

“Don’t beat yourself over it, most fail the first time around, I’m sure that you’ll make it next time…”

Arthur smiled at Mary who lowered her head. After reaching the maximum level that she could, her attempt at the tier 3 class had been a failure. This was quite normal but the maid wished to become her lord's sword for the future as fast as humanly possible. She knew that her liege also wished to level up faster and at least reach his second tier 2 class. This would be impossible unless she and the two knights that he could trust reached a high enough level to protect him inside the dungeon.

“If you have some time to spare, how about you take Sir Gareth and Sir Morien into the dungeon, their progress has also stagnated recently. Ah… I’m such a terrible lord…”

“My lord, what do you mean? That’s preposterous.”

“Heh, thank you but if I didn’t have to rely so much on you three, then your future would have been bright.”

A solemn expression crept onto Arthurs's handsome face. The knights that were around him had a lot of talent but due to his circumstances weren’t able to use it. They felt obligated to stand guard over him at all times of the day and didn’t trust the other soldiers to do a good enough job. Even now when the road was open for them to progress, his mere presence was holding them back.

“I have already been blessed, without the Lord’s involvement, reaching tier 3 wouldn’t have been so easy…”

“That we all owe to our friend Wayland…”

“But without the Lord’s involvement, he would have to leave the city, and would have never had the time to unearth the secrets of the dungeon!”

“Hah… perhaps…”

Arthur wasn’t that sure about his involvement counting too much. His new friend that was hiding his name seemed like someone capable of paving out his own future. Without him around he would not have been able to progress this far. The dungeon would have been taken away and his fate as a lackey of his older brother would have been sealed.

However now that he thought about it, the man he was working for had a past filled with many questions. Why was he running away from a reputable household like the Arden family? Perhaps just like his own Valerian family, they had a problem with younger siblings taking the limelight.

Then there was the issue with the Lich that to this day remained a mystery. Arthur decided to not pry into the issue as it was resolved by the man that also discovered the new dungeon. It was too much of a coincidence for him to not be involved in the issue in some way. That the Lich chose to attack his home before the city was also suspicious. The man he was working with was perhaps not as virtuous as he assumed. For the time being, they had an agreement but in the future, he needed to become self-sufficient.

“Yes, the Union would not have been as lenient and speaking about them… isn’t it about time for that new Chief to arrive? Do we have some information about his identity?”

“We can’t be sure sir, there were a few people that fit the description.”

“Hm, was there perhaps a runesmith among them?”

“There were a few high-enchanters but some Master Runesmiths were on the list…”

Arthur’s intelligence agency which was created by Mary still worked in a limited capacity. The best they could do was to get a list of potential craftsmen that could be sent into this region with the current dungeon rated at B. If it was an A-rank dungeon then probably someone experienced would be sent but at the lower ranking, it was less likely.

Even though his partner in crime didn’t like the Dwarven Union their existence was required. They had all the connections and funds to help this city prosper. What he wished was for the two parties to squash their problems and work together. There was a lot of money to be made if they cooperated.

Pushing the established group of craftsmen out of his city would set him back. He would need to fund a new guild thereafter which would not be an easy task. While perhaps in the far future, this would bring him more funds and control over the city, there was no time. The more time was wasted, the further he got away from his goal. Regretfully he didn’t see a way for the two parties to come together unless the dwarven side did something. The man named Roland was quite stubborn and he couldn’t see him relenting in this situation.

“I wonder who it will be… Mary, find out this individual's name, we must get him on our side before his mind gets rotted away by the other dwarves. The Union isn’t a monolith, the higher masters vary in their beliefs, maybe if we are lucky this one won’t be as bad…”

Arthur felt somewhat useless lately, yet there were things that only he could do. One of them was trying to get the new magical craftsman on his side. This required some charisma and meditation skills that his friend somewhat lacked. Perhaps it wasn’t too late for him to do something about it. With the allure of creating a city with many runic devices everywhere, perhaps even a dwarf could look past who it was created by. If he enticed them over to their side, the profits that they could create would be tremendous.

“Quickly Mary, we must prepare. Send out someone to receive the new dwarven master, bring them over here!”

“Ah? Of course, My Lord.”

While Mary didn’t know what happened to her lord, he looked to have been invigorated. After failing her tier 3 ascension trial she had some free time until it became unlocked to her again. Thus she rushed to the exit to inform the head butler and the maids about the arrangements. They needed to prepare for an important guest that belonged to the dwarven union and by the looks of it, they didn’t have that much time.

Just as Mary and the staff were scrambling around, a similar scene was playing out at the dwarven union. A group containing the two leaders, Bamur and Dunan were making their way down the street. There were around fifteen other dwarven men right behind them which brought in curious gazes from people passing on the side.

“Wha do ye think they sent to us?”

“Ah dun know, it's strange, they didnae mention it directly, whit could this mean?”

Dunan nodded at Bamur, who had been previously their only magical craftsman. Usually, they just received wares from the main union headquarters just like any other branch and did some simple crafts here by themselves. Now a new boss was about to arrive along with others. It was a higher tier along with their own disciples and both of the dwarven men here were trying to earn that right here.

“Coud it be master, Thornyn? or perhaps Galtharn?”

“Ah hope it's one o thaim, if we can get on their good side then nothin’ will be able to stand in our way, no e'en that human!”

“Aye.”

The two recalled suffering many defeats at the hand of Wayland the Runesmith. Little did they know that he had been a high leveled knight in disguise. They didn’t even know if he was a proper runesmith or if there was a hidden master within Arthur’s estate. The City Lord also made things very hard for them since he arrived.

However, with a Master on their side, things would change. This person had a lot more pull than any of them and could make it hard for anyone to prosper inside this city. They could not see the nobles leaving money out on the table, there was just too much to gain. Soon all of them arrived at the meeting place where the carriage would be.

The wait was boring but they needed to be here early to not miss their new boss. Dwarven craftsmen took their job very seriously and there was a clear status quo. A master was always the last person to arrive at the smithy and the first one to leave. Even if they had to wait for a whole day, they needed to be there to greet him.

“Ah, it’s there!”

One of the men from the back shouted out while pointing at a large carriage. The symbol of the dwarven union was on the side and behind it, a few others of the same type were approaching. They were sure that it was their new leader and the other carriages contained their entourage. Now it was up to them to make a good first impression through which they hoped to get into his good graces.

“Git a move on and make way for the master craftsman!”

“Aye!”

The dwarves weren’t tall but they made that up by being quite wide. They were all grizzled men with bulky arms and when they acted together, no one could stand in their way. Every person that was near the carriage section was pushed to the sides so that their boss could get out of his carriage. Some complained while others shouted out some profanities but after realizing that they belonged to the dwarven union, all of them quieted down.

Even adventurers didn’t want to speak out about them. The weapons and enchanted gear were mostly created at their workshops. If they caught the ire of the union then perhaps they wouldn’t even be able to sell the loot they received at the dungeon or get their weapons repaired. The lone runesmith in the city couldn’t handle all cases which made them all reliant on these bearded bullies.

“Greetings…”

Bamur stepped forward to greet the new chief but before he could finish the sentence the carriage door slammed open. His aim was to open it up but instead, it collided with his face and sent him tumbling back. The other dwarves stood still as if they were frozen as the voice of the person that was coming out of the carriage sounded a bit off.

“Argh, why doesn’t this shit ole’ have a rune train, I just had to go an’ get on da nerves of that ol’ nook! Huh, what is this? What are ye bastards staring at?”

The group of dwarves was stunned by the look of the person that left the carriage. At first, they thought that perhaps their new leader was behind them but no one else was there. Then their gazes landed on the emblem on their clothes which confirmed that they were a higher-up member of the union and more than likely their new Chief.

…….

“Okay Agni, give it a shot.”

“Awoo!”

Roland called out from the back while ordering his recently evolved wolf companion to activate one of his skills. Agni’s mouth started producing some smoke before a surge of flames erupted forward. The dummy on the other end along with the reinforced wall started to quickly heat up.

“It’s melting right through it… okay, stop!”

“Bworf.”

What was left of the iron representation of a human was nothing more than red sludge. The flames of a tier 3 creature born inside a volcano were nothing to scoff at and basic metals could do nothing to stop them. This was not the end of the test as there was a similar untouched dummy on the other end.

“Now, transform and try doing it again.”

Agni responded to the command by instantly shifting into his Sunlight Wolf form. The ruby horn that adorned his forehead turned into something made of red energy and so did his entire mane. In a sense, he looked like a being surrounded by flames coming from the sun. The attack was now aimed at the other dummy but there was a significant change.

First of all, there were no flames this time around. Roland could see energy particles being formed within Agni’s muzzle that quickly started swirling into a larger more condensed form. A flaming circle appeared right before a beam of heated energy escaped forward to collide with the iron target. The intense heat caused the target to almost instantly melt before his eyes. It was a more focused shot that went right through it and collided with the wall on the other side.

“Woah… okay that’s enough, turn back. Good boy.”

“Woof!”

It was the next day after Agni had transformed. After some tests down in the training range he had an idea of what this special evolution was truly about. The Sunlight Wolf form could be accessed at any time and allowed Agni access to some unique abilities. He could freely change between this appearance and that of an Alpha Ruby Dire Wolf. It was something that he accounted for by doing some research and asking around. Thanks to this knowledge he was able to make the correct choice and now had himself a special canine companion.

‘As long as he doesn’t transform, no one will be able to tell that he is a Sunlight Wolf.’

For the time being it was better to keep his true capabilities in check. Agni’s abilities needed to be enhanced by a few trips down into the dungeon where he could probably easily take care of the skeletal beings there. With his help, Roland expected to be able to level up even faster than before. Both of them were capable of destroying the undead and when it came to attacking spells with the divine attribute, Agni’s last attack hit harder than the spells that Roland could produce.

‘It’s a proper tier 3 magical skill, the enhanced tier 2 spells that I created pale in comparison. I should be able to use it to enhance them even further now, the only problem now is…’

“Woof?”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Woo!’

Agni seemed to have become more attuned to his master after the recent transformation. It was obvious that Roland was getting stretched thin. He had to help show the construction team how to assemble the runic lamps and also help them place the cables. There was a lot more work to do around the city which was stifling his progress here. Instead of creating refrigerators and ovens for the commoners he wished to delve into the dungeon. There he wanted to hone his skills and perhaps discover new possibilities for the future.

‘Will Arthur be able to procure those craftsmen?’

His only help was the city lord that too heavily relied on his help. He would rather just draw up some construction plans and have someone carry out the work for him. Craftsmen of his caliber were usually not relegated to grunt work. They had extensive businesses with multiple employees that they could work around. He was lacking in that department with Bernir being something similar to an apprentice.

‘When his kid gets born he probably will need some time off with his wife and I’ll be left with absolutely no help…’

Dyana was also part of his smithy but she was indisposed at the moment. There was clearly a need to expand his roster of employees but he still had a massive distrust for others. The only way of going around it would be by establishing a secondary workshop somewhere else so that people would not have direct access to his home and main workshop. Something like that would take time and he would rather invest into something else.

“I don’t really have a choice though, unless some kind of miracle happens, expanding the city will take a while… but anyway, let's go Agni, I need to work on a few things.”

After dousing out the flames he started heading back to his workbench. Before he could go there to perform some runsmithing on a few shop items he was interrupted by some buzzing. Not far from the bench was a small crystal ball that could receive various magical signals. With the help of some previous tinkering, he was able to configure some new uses. First was the vibrate option and second was red words that informed him about the identity of the caller.

“Arthur? What does he want?”

*Bzzz*

“Wayland, I’m glad that you are here.”

“Greetings Lord Arthus, is there something?”

“I think you might want to come to the estate, I have someone here that wants to meet you…”

“Someone wants to meet me?”

“That’s correct, please come, sooner than later… I’m not sure I can keep them away from the runic creations…”

“Keep them away?”

Roland wasn’t sure what this was about but apparently, someone was trying to fiddle around with his runic creations. If they couldn’t be stopped by a noble lord, then either they were someone important or crazy.

“Alright, I’ll be there soon but who is it exactly?”

“Thank you but there is no time to explain!”

The conversation ended and he was left pondering about the issue. Was it another knight commander seeking trouble? Should he gear up fully or use his knight uniform instead?

“Hm… Agni, stay here and guard the house, I’ll be back later.”

“Woof!”

After a moment he decided to move it, from Arthur’s tone he didn’t interpret the situation as being dangerous but mostly something annoying. His interest was piqued, who could have intruded on a noble's house?