Rune

"As for the materials, I've already prepared them. I spent many years collecting them and only recently found the most perfect Fire and Ice Magic Stones." Master Bentham opened a box as he spoke. It was filled with the materials he had collected.

"What's this?" Abel found something very familiar among the materials. There were three rubies and three sapphires. He took the six gems out of the box and examined them carefully. They were indeed the gems he had sold.

"These are Fire Magic Stones and Ice Magic Stones. Perfect Magic Stones like these are rarely seen. I was lucky enough to buy them in Harvest City." Seeing how happy Master Bentham looked, Abel carefully wondered whether he had sold the gems too cheaply. He had sold those Magic Stones as ordinary gems. Exactly how many gold coins were Magic Stones worth? Abel had no intention of asking. He was afraid he would vomit blood after hearing the answer.

"Your task from now on is to use the brush to draw those runes. The angles, the amount of force, and the thickness of every stroke must be exactly the same." Master Bentham repeatedly emphasized this as he took a brush from the box.

"Is this a calligraphy brush?" Abel was stunned again. It was yet another thing he knew very well. This was the calligraphy brush from his former world—the shaft, the bristles, everything. It was a genuine calligraphy brush.

"Calligraphy brush? That's a good name. Its actual name is Rune Brush. The shaft is made from anti-magic tung wood, while the tip is made from the softest tuft of fur at the back of a Wind Wolf's head. The Wind Wolf's wind attribute allows the Rune Brush to channel rune ink more easily, while the anti-magic tung wood prevents all kinds of minute external magical power from affecting rune production." Master Bentham explained as he handed the Rune Brush to Abel.

"This Rune Brush is extremely difficult to master. You'll need to study and practice extensively before you can draw the rune lines correctly. You can try it first." Master Bentham found a bottle containing ordinary ink, opened it, and placed it on the table. Then he took out a sheet of parchment and spread it across the table before encouraging Abel.

Abel took the Rune Brush and naturally clamped the shaft between his middle and ring fingers, bracing it with his thumb. He dipped it into the ink, then gently wiped the excess clean against the mouth of the bottle. After glancing at the runes in the book, he wrote the runes on the first page of the parchment in one smooth motion.

Master Bentham was stunned as he watched from the side. He had practiced with a Rune Brush for more than twenty years, yet even his posture and control were inferior to Abel's on his very first attempt. He had also learned how much ink to use through countless repeated failures. As for the runes Abel had written, there was still a slight gap between them and Master Bentham's work, perhaps, but the lines were smooth, the straight parts perfectly straight, and the curved parts turned seamlessly. They were already no worse than Master Bentham's own writing. With just a little more practice, Abel would surpass him.

A powerful sense of jealousy surged through Master Bentham's heart. The gods are far too biased. Not to mention Abel's knightly abilities—he had never heard of anyone else becoming a Level 5 Apprentice Knight at this age. As for blacksmithing, Abel had learned for only a month and was already capable of forging Hundred Refinements Greatswords. Even the spiritual power Master Bentham had always regretted lacking was possessed by Abel.

This was Abel's first time practicing runes, yet he was already skilled enough to rival the results of decades of effort. Master Bentham waved helplessly and said, "Go back and practice on your own."

After saying that, Master Bentham drove Abel out of his room, leaving himself behind to quietly soothe his wounded heart.

Abel could also tell that something was wrong with Master Bentham. Carrying a large pile of things, he went straight back to his room in the castle. The Blacksmith Shop had no place where he could practice runes in peace.

If Abel had known what Master Bentham was thinking, he would have told him, You're overthinking it. The calligraphy brush—no, the Rune Brush—was something Abel had systematically studied in his other world since elementary school. He had never put it aside, even after starting work, and whenever he had free time, he would write a few characters with a calligraphy brush to cultivate his temperament.

After spending a week, Abel had completely mastered all four runes. Whether he wrote them larger or smaller, he could maintain their proportions perfectly. While writing the runes, he also discovered that the Fire Magic rune looked extremely familiar.

It was very similar to Rune #8, ral, from Diablo 2, whose Chinese name was Ral. The Fire Magic rune merely contained many more connecting lines—some connected to the sword hilt, while others connected to the entire blade. The outline of its main body was still extremely similar. Rune #8 added 5–30 fire damage, which was also quite similar to the effect of the Fire Magic rune.

Could the runes of this world be connected to those of the Dark World? According to legend, the rune system of the Dark World had already been lost, and the rune system could only be activated through Rune Stones made in ancient times. That meant the runes of this world still existed. If I master more runes in the future, will I be able to create the Words of Power from Diablo 2 as well?

However, it was still too early to say. At present, Abel had only mastered four runes, while Diablo 2 required 33 Runes to be combined before a Word of Power could be created.

After carefully analyzing and identifying the four runes he had mastered, Abel compared them with those in Diablo 2 and determined that they were the Fire Magic #8 rune, the Ice Magic #10 rune, the Lightning Magic #9 rune, and the Poison Magic #7 rune.

Abel searched his memories and found a Word of Power. If it had not usually been listed first among the many Words of Power, he might never have remembered its existence. Its ability in Diablo 2 was simply too poor, not even as good as an ordinary low-level unique item. This Word of Power was Ancient's Oath.

Ancient's Oath:

Required material: 3-socket Shield

Required runes: 8# + 9# + 7#

Attributes after successful creation:

+50% Defense

Cold Resistance +43%

Poison Resistance +48%

Fire Resistance +48%

Lightning Resistance +48%

10% of damage taken converted to Magic.

Perhaps this could be created. Abel looked at the attributes, which were nothing special in the game, but would definitely make for a powerful shield in reality. Thus, Abel decided that once he successfully created a single-rune magic weapon, he would make this shield.

The next day, Abel put the Rune Brush and rune ink into a box and went to the Blacksmith Shop. He found Master Bentham and said, "Master, I've completely mastered the four runes. I've decided to start making magic weapons today."

Master Bentham had already become completely numb to how quickly Abel mastered runes. Even if Abel had done it a few days faster, he could have accepted it. Abel had dealt him too many blows, and he had gradually grown used to them.

He took out one of the Hundred Refinements Greatswords he had forged earlier. All of the Hundred Refinements Greatswords Abel forged belonged to him. Knight Marshall had long ago stipulated that every piece of equipment Abel forged belonged to Abel himself. As the heir to the castle, Abel also had the right to use the iron ore resources.

After being forged, these Hundred Refinements Greatswords had been casually tossed by Abel into this workshop, which Master Bentham had designated for Abel's exclusive use. If an outsider saw everything here, they would definitely go mad. The Hundred Refinements Greatswords scattered carelessly across the floor outnumbered those in Harvest City's weapon shops. In the past, Master Bentham's one Hundred Refinements weapon per month had all been supplied to those weapon shops. There were only three master blacksmiths like Master Bentham in all of Harvest City, and their output was extremely limited. After all, raising a weapon from 80 refinements to 100 required either spiritual power or complete reliance on experience and mental calculations. Ordinary masters forged only a few refinements a day once they reached 80, and sometimes managed only one refinement in a day. Only a blacksmith like Abel, who could use spiritual power, was capable of forging a weapon from 80 to 100 refinements in a single uninterrupted session.

Master Bentham's monthly Hundred Refinements weapon no longer needed to be delivered to another weapon shop. To get Joshua back, Lord Joel had offered a weapon shop in the most prosperous area of Harvest City as ransom. Knight Marshall had generously thrown in five servants as well.

That weapon shop, worth more than tens of thousands of gold coins, was now bringing Hari Castle more than 500 gold coins in wealth every month.