The Runic Artist

Nate smiled as he glanced over at the three members of his team lounging around the campfire. He added the final few strokes to the painting he’d been doing and spun it around to face the group.

Britt clamped a hand over her mouth as she unsuccessfully tried to suppress a squeal of delight. Kiri and Null both just looked on with bright smiles. He may have been sporting a grin of his own. The painting detailed them around the campfire, all four of them. It was the first time he had inserted himself into a painting and he had to admit, he liked the way it looked. Moving over to join them he leaned up against a fallen log.

“I love it,” whispered Britt.

“You can have it. If the other two don’t object,” replied Nate with a glance at Null and Kiri.

Both indicated they didn’t object and Britt moved to stand up.

“Give it a bit longer for the paint to dry,” he added.

Their Defender sat back down but she only had eyes for the painting.

Kiri tossed Nate a bag with some dried fruit, or what he figured amounted to fruit on Galle. They’d brought their own rations since sometimes the denizens of the Dungeon weren’t edible. It appeared they had gotten one such run. Everything they had fought so far had a plant-type lean. The only thing missing was mushrooms, which he supposed made sense, if they were classified as fungi. They had managed to defeat two of the five challenges and gotten a hint of one of the Bonus challenges. He’d sensed an odd item through his Awareness of the Runic Artist. The odd item had turned out to be an enchanted gem that had been hidden inside of a tree.

They hadn’t been sure what it did, his identification refusing to tell him, potentially because it didn’t know but more likely because the Dungeon Curator was blocking him. They’d figured it out anyway when they got near the base of the volcano and found small altar slots for five such gems. That had led to Nate sending Frick off to find the others. His Familiar could scour the Dungeon before the sun, or whatever passed for one in here, rose in the morning. They also knew where the final regular Challenge was. That meant there was just one bonus challenge they had yet to figure out. They hadn’t decided what to do about that, but if it didn’t show up, that wasn’t a huge issue. Either way they’d still have completed four Challenges and each gotten a Dungeon reward.

Those were tomorrow's problems though. For now, it was just rations, a warm campfire, and good company. Kiri was regaling them with stories of Nate’s mentor Luc and the Den of Desire. Null thought it was hilarious while Britt blushed furiously, though Nate caught a few considering glances in his direction.

“So, I asked where Nate was. You know? I just wanted to talk about how well my date with Coralie went, besides the Frickcedent of course, and Deverell finally tells me he’s gone to the Den with Luc. I was surprised, you know? Frick spent so much time talking about brothels that I thought, maybe, just maybe, the little bastard had started to rub off on Nate. So, of course I head over to see just what’s going on. When I get there, Luc’s lounging, half-drunk and an arm around two women. So I am thinking, oh fuck, he’s gotten Nate plastered again and sent him off to bed. So I demand to know where Nate is. Luc starts laughing his ass off. Manages to wheeze out that Nate had gone upstairs with a young gentleman who kindly requested to have Nate do his portrait like he did for Florence!” Kiri struggled to get the last few words out, she was laughing so hard.

Null had joined in and Britt laughed a little but it seemed more just to not be left out before she flashed a bright smile in Nate’s direction.

“I totally get what Kiri meant now when she said you’re an artist first, Nate,” Null added as he stopped laughing. “You really love it, don’t you? It’s just an interesting mix given your capability with combat. I’d never have expected it. Like, maybe if you just dabbled in art, but it seems like it really is your main priority and everything else sort of comes off of it.”

Nate just nodded agreeably. Null wasn’t wrong. Art was his first true love. He glanced at Britt and her hopeful eyes. When they got back to the University he would let her know and then let her decide if she was still interested. It was only fair, after all, to let her decide. But for now, he was just going to enjoy some good company. Even if their chatter lasted late into the night, they had the Stats to get by.

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

Kiri walked towards the small altar with the last hidden gem. She wasn’t sure what to expect. The third challenge had honestly been the easiest of the Challenges so far. It was some sort of vine monster but the problem it suffered from was simple. Its vines weren’t that thick. She and Null had absolutely eviscerated it. Null with his trademark Nullifying Mana Slash, and her with four tethered arms on display, amounting to six blades. Britt had kept the main body busy mostly by standing there and getting wrapped up while Nate had done nothing, which was fine as he had done plenty with the hidden gem collecting and the other Challenges. He had of course tried to let her go first but she had insisted it was his turn. He’d gotten a couple of Rare Orbs of Perception which he’d immediately used. They were slowly edging closer to their Stat Orb cap, but she was honestly curious how they were going to manage it any time soon when every time they levelled they added another seven to nine to the cap. She supposed eventually they would claw their way up, it was just slow going.

Placing the hidden gem into the altar she glanced up as the gems began to shine with an inner light. Slowly the light gathered, flowing towards the peak of the altar before it burst forth, shooting up into the sky and piercing the clouds. A loud caw echoed out across the island before she got a sense of a soul approaching so fast that she barely managed to throw herself out of the way. Rolling to her feet she looked over as the bird of prey took off again, a massive crater left where it had landed. The place where a moment before she had stood.

“Gryphon,” called Nate. “Epic Primary Class and level fifty!”

Kiri ground her teeth as she flexed Soul Imbuement to the maximum. She needed to be as fast as she possibly could be. She was about to show this fucking bird what the meaning of speed really was. As she felt her Agility exceed four hundred she crouched, waiting, Soul Sense cast out as she made herself the target. Britt was in full armour projection, while Nate and Null had backed off for the tree line, using it as a shield, with Nate’s barriers protecting them both by expanding his barrier beyond Null's nullification range. She didn’t blame them for that. The speed and force behind the attack could likely do real damage to them and she knew Nate’s sensory skill no longer had the range to give him plenty of warning. She guessed he might still be able to activate True Teleportation in time, but it was a risk. A risk not worth taking. She on the other hand was about to hunt down this creature. To Slay it.

She felt its breakneck descent again as it plummeted towards her far faster than simply falling would account for. It was diving. Diving with the intent to flatten her. Just before it landed she activated Soul Shift, appearing above the creature. As she fell towards it she got to see what it was. Not really a bird at all, she thought. It looked like a bird of prey crossed with an alliram, short two legs. The four legs it did have looked powerful though. Ultimately that wasn’t going to matter as she landed on its back and with six blades started going to work. Soul Drain activated as she started drawing out its soul energy, coupled with her Dagger of the Torn Soul the beast was leaking soul energy like a sieve. It roared in disapproval and launched into the sky. She wasn’t letting it get away this time though. Clinging to its back she used two of her arms as anchors to let her ride it into the sky as she continued to slash furiously, carving into it. If it had a heart she was going to rip it out.

The air grew cooler as they ascended even as the brightness increased. She didn’t even notice as they flew through the clouds, the beasts' squawks growing weaker and weaker as she continued to carve a hole through its back. Finally she found it. The thump, thump, thump of its beating heart. Stabbing it with her Dagger of the Torn Soul she heard one final pitiful shriek as the Dungeon Challenge died. She felt its soul energy trying to escape and clamped down on it with To Slay a Soul as she absorbed it into her own soul, nestling it within her Skill, ready to be called on when she needed it. Only then did she look down as she plummeted back towards the island. She thought she could probably survive the landing with Soul Imbuement so long as she used the corpse to kick off before impact.

The island got closer and closer, moving from blurs of green for the forest and yellow rimmed before giving way to blue water, to slowly becoming distinct tree tops and the sight of small waves lapping the edge of the island. That turned into a view of distinct fronds, and her teammates below, watching her fall. She grinned like an idiot, preparing for what was likely to be very painful, but she’d healed through worse. That was when she felt her descent begin to slow. Glancing over the edge she could see a glowing three-dimensional rune in front of Nate. His Gravity Control rune. She laughed loudly as she descended the last thirty metres gently before alighting on the altar astride the gryphon's corpse.

“Painting worthy?” she asked calmly, striking a pose, her leathers, hair and face absolutely covered in blood.

Britt and Null stared at her like she was crazy while Nate laughed quietly. At least he enjoyed her joke. Some people were just too stiff. She strode down towards them. It was time to collect her rewards and as far as she was concerned she had absolutely earned them!

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

Nate rode with the wind in his hair, the alliram’s six legs pumping beneath him as they galloped across the plains and away from the Guild’s Dungeon Fort. Kiri was balancing on her mount, effectively surfing it. He had expected Deverell, who was always so reserved, to have his pupil stop. Instead he had encouraged it, saying it was good training to get used to fighting on the move, and had her draw out her blades and practise various moves while they charged across the grasslands.

For him, it was time to go over his development from the Dungeon. His rewards had been two Rare Perception Orbs from one of the Dungeon challenges. He’d already applied them both. On top of that he’d gained two levels.

Accrued Mana applied to Secondary Class.

Level up…

Level up…

Stats adjusted: +2 Magic Power, +8 Magic Control, +4 Channelling Speed, +4 Mana Reserve, +2 Mana Absorption +10 Free Stats

It was a little slower than normal, but that was because they’d completed the Dungeon with extra people present, which led to receiving less processed mana. On top of that, they were getting higher in level and each one seemed to require more and more processed mana. It didn’t help that his classes took more processed mana to level as well, though he shared that drawback with Kiri. But it was a minor thing when he considered that his Classes gave higher Tier skills. Dropping his ten Free Stats into Intellect he moved onto his Skill development.

Empowered Amplified Magic 24 > 25

Empowered Runic Artistry 34 > 35

Runic Creation 36 > 37

Imbue Intent 38> 39

Awareness of the Runic Artist 38 > 39

True Teleportation 28 > 29

Two of his Skills were now just two levels away from evolution. He was excited to see if his work in preparing for their evolutions would pay off. He still had another week or two he suspected to further develop them in the direction he wanted to go. Bringing up his Status he reviewed his overall development.

Stats

Physical

Mental

Magic

Strength

12

Intellect

302

Magic Power

144 (26)

Dexterity

78

Charisma

17 (3)

Magic Control

65

Agility

23 (10)

Creativity

143

Channelling Speed

75

Endurance

60 (3)

Willpower

32

Mana Reserve

177

Constitution

30

Perception

202

Mana Absorption

72

Classes

Primary Class - Level 20 (40)

Secondary Class - Level 3

Tertiary Class

Wandering Runic Artist (M)

Wandering Realmwalker (L)

…

Skills

Runic Knowledge - Concepts (L) Lvl 38 - (+43% Intellect)

Conceptual Material (M) Lvl 31 - (-15.5% Mana Cost, -40% Time Required)

Awareness of the Runic Artist (M) Lvl 39 - (+86% Perception, +18% Creativity, 19.5m Sphere of Awareness)

Imbue Intent (L) Lvl 39 - (35 Intents, 17 Imbued Intents, +19.5% Intellect)

Runic Creation (L) Lvl 37 - (-72% Mana Cost, +15% Creativity)

Empowered Runic Artistry (L) Lvl 35 - (-44% Mana Cost, +97 Magic Power for Runic Arrays)

True Teleportation (M) Lvl 29 - (290 metres teleport range, +18% Magic Control)

Empowered Amplified Magic (L) Lvl 25 - (+39% Magic Stats)

Conceptual Automation (L) Lvl 11 - (-8% Mana Cost, +57% Power, +28% Duration)

Metal Shaping (R) Lvl 8 - (-18% Mana Cost)

Spells

Minor Spatial Lock (R)

Status Effects

Divine Translation Spell (Permanent)

Familiar Contract (Permanent)

Illusory Class Core Veil Soul Engraving (Illusory Class Core: Runecaster (E) (40) / Space Mage (R) (3) ) (Temporary, Legendary)

Obfuscated Mana Soul Engraving (+40% Bonus to Hiding Mana Signature) (Temporary, Legendary)

System Contract - Luc Crozier & Evindal Ravalynn (Temporary)

His smile lit up his face. He was coming along nicely, or at least so he thought and to him, for now, that was all that mattered. His mana supply issue was solved with his secret spot near the University's mana vein. He would put his name down for another Dungeon run when they got back but would likely have to wait a month or two for access. His Skills were almost ready to evolve again. The University classes were just getting started but he was already incredibly curious and interested as they delved into topics he’d never considered. They’d be back in the classroom this time tomorrow in fact. But for now, he was galloping across the plains with friends and having a great time. Life, he thought, was pretty damn good.