Rune Artifact

After learning of the trial, time seemed to have been put on fast-forward.

In the blink of an eye, half a year hurried past, and the trial was drawing near.

Over these past six months, Benjamin had poured nearly all his time and energy into the final-stage research of combining runes and talismans.

He had to admit that, because he had spent most of his energy on Runology and Alchemy Studies over the years, his progress in the Potions Department had indeed been less smooth than in the former two fields.

However, in the direction of combining runes and talismans, he had still achieved a breakthrough.

Thanks to more than three years of deep work in Runology, although the nine core runes of Runology had been among the last group to be inscribed in his Spirit Sea, he had successfully constructed the foundational Wizardry Model of the Runology school—Analysis Art.

If his "Alchemy" specialized in analyzing and controlling the composition of matter and souls, then "Analysis Art" specialized in understanding rules, energy, and even more abstract levels.

Analysis Art allowed him to "see through" the essence of energy, the principles of runes, and even the workings of certain rules.

Using the combined analysis of Analysis Art and Alchemy, he analyzed the operating principles of wizard runes, the Talisman Seal structures of cultivation talismans, the energy properties of materials, and the methods by which concepts were anchored.

Only then had Benjamin, in just a few short years, barely managed to analyze and "translate" the principles behind some basic talismans.

Seeing that the trial was approaching, Benjamin decisively shifted the focus of his research toward practical application.

He decided to try creating a new talisman he had long conceived of—or, more accurately, a Wizard Artifact that combined the technological strengths of two civilizations.

"No, although this is merely a half-finished concept, it can be called something else now..."

Benjamin looked at the blueprint in his hand, which he had just completed the preliminary design for, and pondered for a moment.

According to the naming conventions of the Wizard World, an inventor's name would usually be incorporated into the invention to distinguish it.

"Let's call it Benjamin's Specific Rune..." Benjamin did not dwell too much on the name.

"As for the Wizard Artifact... since it is a Wizard Artifact engraved with runes and Talisman Seals, let's call it a Rune Artifact."

Having casually settled on the names, Benjamin quickly entered the manufacturing stage of the Rune Artifacts.

He did not intend for the Rune Artifacts to be one-use items like talismans. That would be far too wasteful, and their cost would become difficult even for him to bear.

Benjamin referred to the Great Dao Library's methods for crafting certain talisman treasures that could be repeatedly used and replenish their power by absorbing Spirit Energy or the primordial energy of heaven and earth. Combining that with the Wizard World's theories on Wizard Artifact manufacturing, he decided to make his Rune Artifacts the type that could be repeatedly activated and used permanently.

As for materials, he drew upon the stockpile he had accumulated over the years.

As his strength increased, Benjamin had also been able to use a relatively conventional extraction method recorded in the Great Dao Library to refine "Metal Essence" containing specific conceptual and energy properties from various metals.

Over the years, aside from gold, he had tried refining many other metals. Since he had never intended to sell them in the first place, he had accumulated quite a bit of this special material.

"The main body of the Rune Artifact... it really still has to be an old friend!"

For the core base of the Rune Artifact, Benjamin still chose Adamantine as the core, supplemented by several Metal Essences discovered through Wizard World material science that excelled at storing and coordinating energy, as well as one Metal Essence that could produce a powerful resonance with spiritual power.

Adamantine provided stable conceptual anchoring, while the latter materials were responsible for the circulation and activation of energy.

Mixed in certain proportions and smelted together with his "Alchemy" wizardry, these materials formed the sturdy base of the Wizard Artifact.

As for the rune patterns on the surface of the Wizard Artifact—the core Talisman Seals—they were formed from another type of Metal Essence with an extreme affinity for elemental power.

This essence could efficiently draw elemental power from the environment and guide it into the internal Talisman Seal structure.

Merely testing the material ratios for the core base, along with the methods of smelting and shaping, took Benjamin a considerable amount of time.

He continuously tried, calculated, and adjusted, consulting the Artifact Refinement Methods in the Great Dao Library while comparing them against existing Wizard Artifact formulas and theories from the Wizard World. Only then did he finally find a relatively stable material ratio.

"Next, I need to consider what type of Rune Artifact to make." Benjamin looked at the materials that had passed testing in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

"If the goal is combat, then the three most important requirements should be attack, defense, and mobility. Which one should I make?"

Only children had to choose. Benjamin wanted them all!

Since he had sufficient materials and points anyway, Benjamin created three Rune Artifact prototypes with different functions based on the three most commonly needed aspects: attack, defense, and mobility.

The Attack-Type Rune Artifact was engraved with a Talisman Seal based on a combination of cultivation flame-spell talismans and Wizard World Fireball Spell runes.

This was a classic Fireball Spell. Once activated, it was powerful, fast, and destructive. Moreover, after generations of wizards had modified it, its runes had been optimized quite well.

Without deliberate control, it would only release a simple Fireball Spell.

However, Benjamin also used the flexibility of Alchemy and Talisman Seals to allow a certain degree of shape manipulation through a faint amount of spiritual power, such as splitting the fireball or changing its flight trajectory.

The Defense-Type Rune Artifact was engraved with a Talisman Seal modified from a Protective Body Charm Talisman Seal from the Cultivation World and the Wizard World's basic energy-shield runes. Once used, it could form a full-body energy shield.

The most unique aspect of this shield was that it could absorb and transform different elemental energies, forming shields with different properties.

For example, absorbing earth-element energy would form a thick, heavy shield with the strongest defense; absorbing wind-element energy could form a light shield capable of deflecting ranged attacks to a certain extent; while absorbing fire-element energy could form a scorching shield with a fiery counterattack effect.

The Mobility-Type Rune Artifact used the Wizard World's Flight Spell runes as its main body, paired with a touch of the Immortal Cultivation World's Lightness Spell Talisman Seal effect.

Once activated, it granted the user the ability to fly. Moreover, because of the Lightness Spell's effect, it was faster and more agile than a wizard of the same level using the Flight Spell alone.

All the knowledge and preparations required in the early stages had long since been completed, so crafting these three Rune Artifacts did not take Benjamin much time.

"Finished!"

Slowly controlling the spell formation, Benjamin lowered the three newly crafted Rune Artifacts floating in midair. For some reason, he felt a little excited.

After briefly testing them with the laboratory instruments and confirming that there were no problems with the runes, he could no longer wait. Carrying the several Rune Artifacts he had just refined, he eagerly strode into the training ground.