True Ancient Runes

This happened the day after the dinner.

Fran got up early and sat down at the table to finish what she had been interrupted about the day before.

She gripped the carving knife and began carving runes onto her longsword.

She had long since washed away the original runes with a special solution, making it look almost exactly like the one she bought from the street vendor.

Because this sword is the one she's most comfortable using; its original rune configuration was already top-tier, making it a powerful weapon for a First Order warrior.

However, after she obtained the methods for creating these suspected ' Ancient Rune ', her previous runes became somewhat outdated.

So she erased the runes on it and used the rest to inscribe a real Ancient Rune.

She imagined the Lord of Radiance and carved the image onto her hand, one-to-one.

She felt the energy consumption was similar to that of the ' Ancient Rune ' whose key information had been erased, except that she had carved them with excessive detail, resulting in a much higher consumption than before, roughly one-third of her total Mental Power.

After carving a stroke, she felt that it seemed almost imperceptible, but she couldn't erase it under these circumstances, so she could only draw it this way.

The drawing process went very smoothly; Fran felt nothing more than the depletion of her Mental Power.

At a certain moment, Fran was inspired and drew the rune in one stroke.

[You have deciphered the key to the Ancient Rune, and like ancient humans, you have inscribed the image of a god onto your weapon. Runology Proficiency +20000]

She held the longsword upright and examined the rune carefully.

She gently infused her Mental Power, and saw the entire sword covered in a layer of white light, making the original silver blade almost invisible.

She stood up, gripped the sword, and slashed at the wall.

Activating the rune seemed to grant her a speed boost; with just a slight effort, the sword left afterimages in the air and instantly appeared below.

It made almost no sound when it hit the wall, and there were no obvious marks on the wall.

Only with Fran's Mental Power could one see an extremely narrow crack left on the wall, almost invisible to the naked eye from a distance, and the crack was very deep.

"Excellent!" She felt as if this weapon had been elevated, almost comparable to those weapons made from precious materials.

Then she increased the amount of Mental Power she poured into it. Upon closer inspection, she could feel a progress bar that was charging up, and once it was full, it would unleash tremendous power.

According to her estimation, this power would be slightly weaker than First Order spell, but only by a small margin, and it would have a cooldown period of about one day.

She was very satisfied with the effect of the rune, placed the longsword on the table, and watched as the runes on it emitted a golden glow.

Then, she silently read the instructions on the Panel.

[Name: Fran

Profession: Ancient Rune Warrior (one star), Mage (one star) (Forge, Modifier, Sword Song School, Elementalist, Spirit Realm), Radiant Priest (one star), Artisan (half a star), Apothecary (half a star)

Attributes: Constitution 6.4, Spirit 15.0

Arts: Runology (Extraordinary) (Proficiency: 20056/100000)... (omitted)

Traits: Mystic Power (There is a chance to gain enhancement after using a temporary rune in battle.), Mental Power... (omitted)

Fran glanced at the Panel and was quite satisfied. The Ancient Rune Warrior Profession not only boosted her Constitution to 6.4, but also slightly increased her Mental Power.

Her original Rune Warrior -like Mental Power trait remained unchanged, and she gained an additional mystical power trait.

However, the description of this trait is somewhat of a riddle. What does it mean that there is a chance to be enhanced after using a rune?

However, Fran is probably referring to those Ancient Rune symbolizing the gods, which have a chance to enhance the user's power if used in battle...

In any case, Fran intends to keep this trait hidden. It seems to be related to those Deity, so it's probably not a good thing.

"Next up is the Monster Hunter Profession. After completing that Profession, my Constitution should be at least 8 points."

However, she was still somewhat dissatisfied with these Profession because she felt they indirectly increased her Profession attribute.

Ancient Rune Warrior tend to have a slight emphasis on both sides, Monster Hunter don't seem to notice a difference, but they probably add a little to both.

She also had a feeling that the Monster Hunter Profession might grant her powerful Magic Creature -hunting abilities, but it wouldn't necessarily give her general combat enhancements.

She guessed that they would most likely give her a trait that would enhance her damage against Magic Creature.

Something is always better than nothing. She put aside her thoughts and began to plan her route after leaving Gede Town.

"I received information about three Magic Creature, two of which are Magic Creature that even an apprentice could potentially defeat."

She chose these three Magic Creature not only to fulfill Profession requirements of Monster Hunter, but also because she was itching to try out Transmutation Surgery.

Although I can't have those extraordinary organs implanted in my body, that would be too conspicuous.

The Transmutation School has a prohibition against equipping mages from other School with too many supernatural organs, in order to maintain its advantage.

Otherwise, you can pretend, and so can I. Others will even have a lead over your School of magic. In that case, the combat power of all the mages in the Alliance will increase, and the Transmutation School will be completely reduced to support Profession.

That's why the Transmutation School issued such a ban; in fact, they considered two organs to be 'too many,' which resulted in most mages, except for members of the Transmutation School, having no organs at all.

However, it's a different story for some mounts or pets. The Transmutation School welcomes this kind of spending to enhance their companions.

So Fran decided to upgrade the Black Horse she had spent five Gold Coin on.

The three Magic Creature she chose, including the Earth Dragon, all possessed organs or materials that could enhance the Black Horse.

"First, go to the valley floor and the forest. There is a Forest Sprite there. After its body is crushed, you can extract the essence of the forest, which allows animals to walk in the forest as if it were flat ground."

"Then go to the grassland, where there is a Gale Rabbit. Its leg bones can increase speed, and they can be placed on the Black Horse's leg."

"Finally, there's the Earth Dragon. The last sighting report indicated it was on the mountaintop. Just search the area around there, and you should be able to find its trail."

She leaned out of the window, looking down at her Black Horse from above.

The Black Horse was leisurely grazing in its designated spot, facing the hay trough, completely unaware of the suffering that might follow.

"The Earth Dragon's heart seems quite powerful, but it's also too big. The Black Horse doesn't seem to fit inside. We'll have to strengthen it using the infusion method."

"The blood of the Earth Dragon seems to be able to strengthen the skin, which is perfect for giving the Black Horse a boost."

Looking down at the Black Horse, she could already imagine how powerful her future mount would be.