The Runesmith

“Watch your steps while ascending the main ramp.”

“Yes Professor Ulfine.”

The airship was almost fully loaded and Roland along with Ulfine had already gotten on it. Lucienne along with the other students and her friends seemed a bit nervous but also excited. Even now a lot of them were looking in his direction, quieting down whenever they got up the ramp onto the ship, which his new acquaintance noticed.

“It seems that the young ones are interested in you, Wayland. I bet they would love to hear of your adventures in the kingdom.”

“They are just boring stories of dungeon expeditions, not very interesting.”

“Maybe not to you, but to them who have not been able to spread their wings, it is fascinating.”

“Is that so…”

Roland pondered her words as they waited. These youngsters here came from sheltered families and probably rarely left their homes without supervision. It was probably true that this was one of the few times that they were able to see the world and travel, something that he wasn’t fond of but was forced to go through. His journey was quite interesting from other’s perspectives as he was a ten-year-old who set out on an adventure and became rich and powerful to an extent by his own volition.

Almost all of the kids here were around the age of fifteen and it reminded him of his school days. They were similar to kids at the ending stages of middle school and the beginning of high school. He somewhat recalled thinking that he was almost an adult at that age, regretfully it was nothing but wishful thinking. Even after he reached his twenties, becoming an adult still felt far away.

“Hey, isn’t that the Full Mithril Professor?”

“Yeah, if he is here… then we probably don’t have anything to worry about!”

“I hope we see him kill some monsters, I heard that he is an active adventurer to. Do you think he ever fought a dragon?”

“A dragon? Those things are tough so probably not but maybe a Wyvern or a Drake?”

Roland forced himself to look away from the gossiping children. Whenever he glanced in their direction, they would flinch and quiet down. However, it seemed that at least among this group he had garnered a good reputation. Even though they were apprehensive about him they didn’t seem that unhappy about his presence here. This was most likely due to the origins of these people, who didn’t come from higher houses of nobility.

This advancement class was designed to help youngsters who were behind in their leveling. Wealthy merchants and nobility could pursue such endeavors on their own time and in a safer fashion. The group here consisted mostly of commoners, kids of rich merchants, and lesser nobility which also included knights or adventurers who had enough money to pay the steep tuition. Everyone who was above them in status usually saw these classes as beneath them and not something they should partake in.

Even while he wasn’t facing anyone and looking into the distance, he could still observe everything happening on this ship. The small spiders he had taken on this trip would act as his monitoring system. He could see and hear every one of the students. He aimed to see if anyone harbored animosity toward his sister and was up to no good. Luckily, without any higher nobles or even ones in middle positions, everything seemed fine.

Eventually, the airship’s engines hummed to life to signal that they were ready to depart. The missing leader was a bit late but he finally arrived when it was time to take off. He was an Elementalist at tier 3 and would be the leader for this trip. To Roland's knowledge, this man was on good terms with Delauder, who was turning out to be the main antagonist to his residence here. If someone attempted to pull something then it would be him, but Roland could also not discount Ulfine, whom he also didn’t know too well. Even though she was acting friendly it could just be an act to lower his defenses.

The man had a stern expression on his face and was wearing a somewhat colorful robe. It was kind of eye-catching as it contained four colors, each one representing a base magical element. He was not alone as three people were behind him who looked like teachers and were probably ones from his department. He was a Professor, so the others could be his assistants. A person didn’t need to be a department head to get such a role, but the next promotion was to become a department head like Thorne or Arion.

“There he is, casually late as always. I see he still has those bad habits…”

Ulfine commented while a sigh escaped from her mouth. The Liger that was lazing on the side snorted as if the two were annoyed by the man’s appearance. He did look like he had a stick up his behind but Roland didn’t want to make an assessment from just his looks. This person had a graceful way of walking and a very upright strut. He reminded Roland of a peacock when doing all of this in that eye-catching robe.

“Lady Ulfine, It’s a pleasure to have you with us on this voyage.”

After taking his time walking up the ramp, the first thing he did was waltz over to the woman that he just met. She didn’t seem like she liked his presence too much. When he attempted to kiss her hand, she just didn’t hold it out which created a somewhat awkward exchange. Some of the students started chuckling but before they could comment, he produced quite the glare.

“Yes, I’m also very pleased now, let's just get on with it, Professor Ernas.”

The seemingly annoyed Ulfine responded and started walking away. Ernas didn’t seem too shaken by her demeanor but instead, he even seemed quite content. His face was rather handsome and more on the feminine side. His hair was long, covered his left eye, and multicolored to seemingly match the elements on his robe.

“Of course, Lady Ulfine. With your expertise and guidance, I'm sure the classes will pass by smoothly and on time.”

Roland observed the interaction with a raised eyebrow. It was certain that these two had some sort of history with each other or that perhaps the man named Ernas just fancied her. One thing was clear though, he didn’t seem to like Roland too much as he wasn’t offered much of a greeting besides a nod and some words.

“You must be the new Assistant Professor. You might be new but please try to keep up.”

“...”

It was quite a rude introduction but he kept himself from replying. It was better to just be silent than garner more animosity from this person. The man exuded a certain air of arrogance that he didn’t want to be too close by. After this introduction, he decided to take a tour through this airship and visit the engine room. Previously he was unable to do this when on the larger airship but this time, he was part of the Runic Department and had the correct clearance.

“Greetings, young mages. We embark on this journey not just to enhance your combat skills but also to broaden your understanding of the world beyond the Institute! Professor Ulfine and I will guide you so remember to always follow our instructions…

The ship’s interior was spacious and one of the rooms even had a classroom arrangement with seats for the students and a chalkboard. There Ernas took the chance to address the students on what they would be doing on this journey. His name was left out as in a way, his job was to play the role of enforcer and bodyguard, not to teach them anything. Thus, he took this opportunity to broaden his horizons and examine every enchantment on this vessel, focusing mostly on the engine room.

After a little walk, he arrived in the engine room, which didn’t produce much more than just humming. Once inside, he got to see the heart of this airship which was a floating stone inside of a large column. This column was glowing and covered in various runes and was busy at work. This wasn’t quite the same as an engine from a modern plane as it was more akin to a computer.

It had two functions: one was to float the ship up with the help of the levitation stone inside, and the other was to manage other magical energies that would produce thrust. In this case, magic winds would blow at the ship’s sails or block them out whenever the natural air currents were too strong. On the upper deck, there was a regular ship crew that worked similarly to regular sailors. They had a slightly easier job as everything here could be assisted through magic.

There were some engineers here who were watching the various dials and measurement devices. They needed to make sure that everything was in order and that there were enough magical energies present to keep this ship afloat. With the help of a control console, they could adjust the output of various magics. The helmsman would communicate with this engine room and decide if he needed more juice in the sails or if they needed to encase the ship in a magical shield to block them out.

“Oh? Aren’t ye the new laddie from the Runic Department?”

To his surprise, Roland encountered a dwarf from his own department. He didn’t catch the name of this person previously but he remembered his face from the forge. It seemed that these individuals were spread thin and even utilized as workers in something like this airship.

“Ah yes, keep up the good work, I’m just passing by so just ignore me.”

“Sure thing laddie, if ya need something just let me know.”

The dwarf returned to his tasks and Roland continued his exploration of the engine room. It was quite fascinating to see different combinations of intricate runes different from his own. As he moved through the room, he noticed a side chamber that seemed to house a more delicate and complex set of runes. His curiosity was satiated and now he would probably be able to facilitate such a creation and perhaps with Arion’s help he could even get his hands on the full schematics of an airship.

There wasn’t much to do and people didn’t expect him to teach. Thus, he had enough time to look at every nook and cranny of this ship. He examined all the runic traces that were placed on metallic pipes and rods that ran through the ship's interior. While Roland preferred to use cabling more similar to the modern world he came from, this method also worked. It didn’t seem that anyone cared to mask the runes and traces so they produced a nice light show.

After he was through with his tour of the ship he made his way up to the upper deck. There he could see the wind element-empowered sails propelling them forward at a nice stable speed. The view was quite breathtaking and the speed they were going was quite fast. While these ships weren’t very aerodynamic, with the help of some spells that kept the wind pressure at bay it was possible to reach speeds similar to older planes. With the fastest ones reaching around six hundred kilometers per hour, which was not even close to the speed of sound jet airplanes could go.

When he was up here he also contemplated the situation he and the students were in. This wasn’t the only way of traveling as the mage towers had teleportation gate technology. To his knowledge, the city near the dungeon had one of these gates to make it easier to travel but it was only accessible to more influential people, which they were not. Just like before he was reminded that status meant a lot in this world and that he needed to be careful after they landed.

Soon the journey was underway and everything was going smoothly. He spent the day familiarizing himself with the ship and the rest just loitering around. There wasn’t really much to do, so he just pondered some theories from books that he read while contemplating the relationship between mana and spirituality. The person that he was supposed to get those secrets from lived within the dungeon and he would have an opportunity to meet them.

While he had left a positive impression on the students, no one really attempted to approach him. Lucienne with her two friends spent their time chatting and playing with his spider but it was probably awkward for them to strike up a conversation with a scary tier 3 adventurer. Ulfine spent the one and a half days of the trip trying to avoid Ernas who seemed to want to get closer. Many times did he see him flinch at the Thunder Liger who continued to growl whenever he got closer.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination where they would be carrying out the advancement classes. It was a city of similar size to Albrook who seemed to have also profited from being built close to a dungeon. Its name was Hazelfront and was characterized by its high walls and forests of chimneys. While it wasn’t quite freezing cold here, the air was rather chilly.

The airship gracefully descended into the city landing rather gently and without any issues. The whole area resembled the Institute’s magical architecture and was walled off from the rest of the city. When they were descending he could see the perfect circle it created, and after they landed, magical branches clung to the ship to hold it in place. The top over them was enveloped in green leaves that formed a sort of barrier over the whole ship. He could feel mana pulsating and he could sense various defensive spells in place.

The students, many of whom had experienced the thrill of their first airship journey, disembarked in a rather cheerful mood. Roland, waited for their leader to disembark first and soon followed from behind while keeping his eye on everything. This was a new place with new uncertainties.

“Everyone gather up, is everyone accounted for?”

Ernas asked one of his assistants who quickly performed a recounting of all the students.

“Yes Sir, every student is present.”

“Wonderful, let us seek out the Inn then we will spend the night there and then journey to the dungeon in the morrow.”

After all the students were gathered, they all headed out into the city. The port here didn’t seem to be open to the public but only acted as a spot to transfer the Institute students. To Roland who was quite the capitalist, this did seem a little wasteful. However, considering how much the tuition fee was, this was probably covered all by the students.

Once outside the personal ship port, they arrived at a new location where some armored men were waiting. This was expedited as this was a joint operation and youngsters from the nearby Knight Academy were here. The job of safeguarding these kids was taken very seriously as there was also a tier 3 Knight Commander level leader here. Together with the mages that made it four powerful individuals, with Roland included.

While it was improper to identify any mages from the Institute, he could analyze the Knight leader without getting into any trouble. His level was below Rolands but he was still a tier 3 class holder that couldn’t be ignored. With him there were ten tier 2 knights and then a whole bunch of squires.

In this advancement class, these knight academy students would be helping to protect the mages. Thanks to their lesser levels, Lucienne and the others would be able to take more of those precious experience points. They were mostly shield carriers who would just hold the monsters back while the magicians cast spells. Some would also round up slower-moving mobs and bunch them up together so that a wide area of effect spells could be used to hasten this process.

‘This seems relatively normal… but will everything go smoothly or not…’

Roland was here to meet the Spiritualist and after they took one day break, he would perhaps be able to. He had potentially three people who could be a problem but this wasn’t all. They were going into a dungeon where the rules didn’t apply anymore. Even nobles sometimes vanished from within and finding out the reasons after a body was absorbed by the dungeon, was almost impossible.