The Runic Artist

Nate walked into an empty classroom. Moonlight shone through one of the windows, lighting up the various tables and comfortable chairs. Even when it came to classrooms the nobility did not go without the soft and cosy chairs designed to keep them happy. He waited patiently for less than a minute before he sensed that Frick was ready. He spun up three runic arrays around him in preparation.

The first was his ever present barrier, just in case there was danger waiting at the other end. He wasn’t expecting any, but he’d learned time and again that it was better to be careful. The second runic array was based on his Wind rune, which he forcibly shifted towards the Subconcept of air using Imbue Intent. That runic array was filtering the air around him, while maintaining a bubble of air for him to breathe. As far as he knew, there was no air supply or filtration system where he was going and without his preparations he’d likely struggle if he was there for more than a minute or two.

The third and final array was his newest creation. Mixing Illusion and Obfuscation, he made himself appear invisible while also hiding his presence. He wasn’t sure how well the Obfuscation effect would work on sight, which was what the invisibility effect was for, but it should be very effective against sound and smell, which were incorporated into a custom rune. It was the only one currently in his robe that used more than two Sigils.

Finally ready, he activated True Teleportation and appeared deep below the surface. The mana density here was the highest he’d experienced since Arikanvil’s research station and he watched as Frick danced along the glowing solid gem pathway that ran through the small excavated cavern.

His mana problems were solved, probably.

“Alright, talk me through it again?” he asked Frick.

“Sure thing, Boss. So, these veins run through the city. They release at specific locations closer to the surface. They’re always guarded. Couldn’t get into any of them. Well, that’s not true. I might’ve been able to, but I wasn’t sure if I would set off some alarms or wards using your runes to goblin-storm the places. Like I said, at least two were Dungeons but the others were just districts in the city. I stayed the fuck away from the Royal Palace like ya said, but their mana pipeline was the biggest of the lot. Like, super big. Anyway, the earth around the veins tends to insulate ‘em a bit. Like, it’s reducing the amount of leakage, so this little excavated hole is a bit of an anomaly in terms of mana density. Umm, that’s about it. Whatcha reckon?” Frick replied.

“I think it’s perfect. So, this vein is for the University?”

Frick just nodded vigorously.

“Good. After they didn’t do anything about my burned out room, I am feeling less like this is stealing and more like this is payback. Fuck ‘em,” Nate responded and got a grin and a cackle from his Familiar.

Setting up two of his mana gathering runic arrays and filling them with eight mana gems each, he began using Runic Creation to carve two separate runic arrays into the earthen walls. The Mana Barrier runic array was to keep the mana from escaping further into the earthen walls. It wouldn’t do to have the leaking mana alert someone to the problem. He doubted the mana would’ve made it far, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and with the leaking ambient mana, his barrier had all it needed to keep itself powered from now until forever. The second was a Mana Obfuscation runic array. Even with the mana barrier preventing the mana from escaping the small room, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be detectable. If anything, it would make the room shine like a beacon. A bubble in the mana vein pumping mana into the University grounds. Anyone with a halfway decent mana detection skill would notice it. So he needed to obscure it. To make it seem normal. Make it look like there was no bubble.

The amount of Intents required for the Mana Obfuscation runic array was the first time in a long time that he found himself struggling. His Imbue Intent was up to seventeen imbued intents. That should’ve been enough for almost anything, or so he had thought until he was forced to try and make the Mana Obfuscation rune ignore the mana vein pumping through the middle of the room. The issue was obvious. If he obscured all the mana, that was just as bad as doing nothing, as it would appear like a gap in the mana vein, much like doing nothing would make it seem like there was a mana bubble. Anything that might make someone want to investigate the area around his little mana container needed to be handled. The whole process ended up taking him over an hour but finally he was satisfied that the whole area would appear normal from an outside view. He’d even had Frick move up higher to create a secondary chamber that was within range of his Awareness of the Runic Artist so that he could use his own sphere of awareness to see if he could detect an issue. It wasn’t perfect. His Runic Knowledge - Concepts had whispered at him as he tried to detect the mana around his little cavern, but it hadn’t screamed and he suspected that given the time he’d spent on it, it was as good as it was going to get.

With his new mana sourcing facility set up, he began leap-frogging across the city, using Frick as the anchor points as he let his Familiar lead the way towards the Slums. The Phantom Artist had struck only once. It was time to indulge in his first love. The first place he intended to go though was the graffiti he’d already created. He was curious if it still stood, what had happened to it, and if the fountain had run out of mana, or if the mana-gem he’d left was even still there.

Appearing near the Uncommon sandstone wall he sighed. It was utterly destroyed. Not a casual destruction either. An intentional one. It looked like the sandstone blocks had been bulldozed over. Of course, they didn’t have equipment like that on Galle, but they certainly had Skills that could mimic the effects. There was still a faint sense of hope emanating off the toppled stone and a few of the pieces had been stood back up, someone clearly trying to remake the graffiti. It was for naught though, as some pieces of the stone had been fractured. Fixing it might’ve been possible, but not for those who lived in the Slums.

He took a seat on the edge of the fountain, looking at the destruction. Awareness of the Runic Artist told him his mana-gem was still present, even if it had run out. The fountain was once more filled with naught but sand and dust. The sadness he felt left him with an odd juxtaposition to the faint hope in the air from the remains of the rune embedded in the artwork. He didn’t know how long he sat there when a voice spoke from off to his left, shocking him.

“Don’t mourn it, son,” came the gravelly tone.

He quickly glanced over to see an old man standing outside of the range of his sphere of awareness. The old man was hunched over, wearing some sturdy yellow pants and a loose vest that displayed a wrinkled and bronzed chest criss-crossed with scars. White scraggly hair, both on his head and his chin completed the appearance, but that wasn’t what gripped Nate. The old man's eyes were bright. Unnaturally so. Almost glowing with an inner light as the old codger stared at Nate. At a guess, he could see through the Illusion with those eyes.

The old man moved closer with a slow but steady gait until he was next to Nate.

Piercing Order of the Hidloptrix (R) (52) / Swift Swashbuckler (U) (39) Observant Sailor (C) (10)

He got an identification off immediately, which elicited a raised eyebrow from the old man and a chagrined grin from Nate.

Spinning to look over the remains of the artwork the old codger spoke again, “Ya got nothing to fear from me, son. Twas beautiful. Your art. Ya are the one who made it ain’t ya?”

Nate nodded slowly.

“Wouldn’ haf expected it. Even afta seeing how ya competed in tha Guild’s Tournament. Aye, I was there. My grandson competed. Didn’t make it through, but tha’ was always a long shot. I ain’t ashamed to admit I thought tha Null kid would have ya. Coulda heard the creak of tightening rope in the stands when ya brought down tha barriers. Enough of an old man’s huff an’ puff though. So, this is what ya get up to when ya ain’ off adventurin’? Paintin’ pictures for us common folk?”

Nate nodded again, “What happened to it?”

“Same thing that happens ta anythin’ that ain’ to tha guards likin’. The bastards knocked it down. Cracked a few ‘eads that tried ta stop em. Might’a been worse but there was a few too many o’ us around so least they didn’ kill no one. Reckon they woulda stolen ya mana-gem as well if I weren’t sittin’ right ‘ere. Right bunch o’ feckin cowards tha’ lot.”

They settled into silence that lasted a few minutes before the old man interrupted him again.

“So, whatcha gonna do now, son?”

That was the question, wasn’t it, he thought. Apparently the guards would destroy his artworks if they found them. But, didn’t that make them even more important? The people of the Slums had tried to protect the artwork, putting their bodies on the line for just a hint of beauty and hope. If they were willing to go that far, he could live with having his artworks destroyed. Was it any different to what had happened back on Earth? His graffiti pieces there rarely lasted either.

The old man grinned, showing off his missing teeth, “Figured ya haf a bit of steel about ya. Gotta to keep fightin’ after hafin’ an arm cut off. I know a place tha guards almost never go. An tha people will keep their mouths shut. This one, well, they were always gonna find it. It’s on tha feckin patrol route ain’ it? But this spot I got in mind should be good fer ya, if ya still wanna do another?”

Nate thought about it for a moment. There was the obvious risk of wandering off into the Slums with a stranger. But, if the old man wished him harm he could just go tell the guards who he was. Even with the level difference, he was confident he could escape as well. After considering the risks, he gave a small nod. He had to suppress a snort as he realised the risks he was willing to take just to create art. He could’ve just sat comfortably in the University and painted in his room. Instead, he was out wandering the Slums with an old stranger just to create the particular type of art he wanted to.

The walk was longer than he expected and the streets weren’t completely empty. He sensed people in some alleys as they skirted anywhere that was heavily populated. As they walked he felt eyes drift over him as though he wasn’t there, unable to pierce his Illusion, instead focusing on the old man before either shrinking further into the darkness or simply closing shutters and doors. The old man was clearly a known quantity and the criminals wanted no part of him, while the others paused to acknowledge him with a nod or two. He supposed that was the impact of being the equivalent of a Platinum, or close to it. He was beginning to wonder if the old man was the highest level individual in the Slums when they turned into a large yard. It was clearly a public gathering area, but hidden between multiple buildings. What he suspected was a number of shop fronts faced into the large area that, like his first artwork, had a fountain in the centre. The old man indicated one of the walls that shielded the area from the street outside.

“Gets plenty o’ traffic, but tha guards stay away. Bribes o’ course. But the shopkeeps like it tha’ way. They got their own guards. I’ll haf a word wit’ em. Make sure tha visitors know ta keep it to themselfs,” the old man explained, sitting down on the edge of the fountain. “Do ya mind if I watch?”

Nate shook his head. He really didn’t mind. He was mostly just surprised at how invested the old man seemed in having him create a new art piece. Maybe he’d ask him about it some time. Not today though. Staring at the wall he considered what he wanted to paint, and just as importantly, what runes or Sigils he wanted to embed in the artwork. It didn’t take him long to figure the latter out. They’d apparently liked Hope in the first artwork. He’d reuse that and add his recently stolen sigil, Joy.

That just left his choice of artwork. He had considered painting a scene based on the idea of the locals defending the previous artwork from the guards. The problem he had with that, is he lacked the Sigils to capture the emotion he thought such a scene deserved. So when he got access to the necessary Sigils he would paint that picture. Instead, he went with something that he thought was appropriate for the emotions of Hope and Joy. With a smile he got started, under the gaze of Frick, the old man and an uncaring moon. Tonight was for art. Tomorrow, he’d have to decide whether to do a Dungeon run with just Kiri or to expand the team with a couple of extra Guildies. He pushed the thought away as the first splash of paint hit stone. He had a few days left to decide.

*************

Kiri hid behind the chimney on the roof, watching as Nate began to paint. She was shaded in the darkness cast by the chimney and was using her first spell, Wisps of Shadow, to further conceal herself. It wasn’t enough to hide her from the old man. She knew he’d spotted her ever since they’d first encountered each other at Nate’s destroyed artwork. Deverell had been abundantly clear that it was her job to shadow Nate if he undertook one of his nightly forays. It seemed that Aisling had accepted that Nate wouldn’t be prevented from doing so and instead had shifted from a preventative approach to a protective approach. It was good training, but even if it wasn’t, she would’ve done it anyway. Nate was skilled, but not infallible. Better to make sure he had back up.

She thought she had lost him to be honest. Well, she had in fact lost him. She couldn’t get a Soul Tether on him without him noticing, for now at least. That meant she had to track him in a simpler way. Her Soul Sense had a range of seventy-two metres. That was significantly shorter than Nate's own teleportation range which meant she needed to use Soul Shift multiple times to try and find him again. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Frick, she’d not have managed it all. The Familiar’s soul energy was incredibly distinct and the only way she’d managed to track Nate, even after losing him three times. It didn’t help that she couldn’t see him. Whatever he was using to hide himself didn’t hide his soul energy, something she intended to inform him of, but it did keep her from seeing him physically. So she had settled into wait, expecting him to paint something, while keeping a wary eye on the old man.

When the old man had begun to approach Nate she’d drawn her blades. That alone had caused the old man to seem surprised and after a look of recognition had appeared on the old codger’s features, he’d waved his hands placatingly at her and pointed to the destroyed artwork. She’d let him approach after that and listened to their short conversation. If the old man had attempted to lure Nate into a trap then blood was going to get spilled. Instead they’d gone to some sort of mini-market complex. Now, finally, Nate was painting and she let herself relax, barely. She enjoyed watching him work. That didn’t mean she was going to drop her guard. Not until he was back in his room. For now, though, she’d play the role of a hidden guard for him while he painted. Then, tomorrow, she’d convince him that they should accept Null and Britt’s offer of a group Dungeon run. It was important they got along with the other Guildies after all.