Runology

After Elan's help kept Fran from being confined for several days, she returned to her dormitory and began thinking about something.

She remembered seeing in the Star Gazing Art that she would kill Richter in the future. What had happened today made her realize there were more things to deal with.

For instance, what would she do after killing Richter? An Advanced Apprentice was different from an ordinary apprentice. Could she still handle things as easily as she had today, just by relying on connections?

Then there was the question of combat strength. Judging by what she had seen in that future scene, Fran figured that even twenty of her current selves wouldn't stand a chance.

After using the Breathing Technique, she had killed an Advanced Apprentice in a matter of seconds. But right now, she was nowhere near capable of that.

Fran also felt that the day of that future scene was drawing closer. She thought Richter might have noticed her a long time ago.

The apprentice who ran as soon as he saw her was the best proof. Something must have been holding Richter back, keeping him from coming after her right away.

That something was probably the year-end assessment. Richter was likely preparing for it, and it was so important that he couldn't afford to come after her now.

Once the assessment was over, though, that would probably be Richter's chance to make his move.

She checked several of her skills. She was confident she could bring them all to the proficient level within three months, but there was one she wasn't so sure about.

That was the Swift Wind Breathing Technique. It had given her a huge boost, but her progress had slowed considerably. If she only practiced every day, there was no way she'd reach proficiency within three months.

She had noticed, however, that the Breathing Technique earned a lot of experience in battle.

So she would have to find Bela for "sparring" more often.

Fran looked at the sign in front of her that read "Second Weapon Smith." This was the club she had been looking for.

The club enchanted weapons and equipment. She wanted to see if she could obtain the Enchanter Profession there.

Fran pushed open the door. At the front desk, an apprentice in a robe was sprawled in a chair, looking sleepy. Still, when he saw someone arrive, he forced himself to perk up.

"Hello. Are you looking to have a weapon enchanted? Do you have a specific Enchanter in mind?"

The receptionist quickly spotted the sword at Fran's side and realized she might be a customer, so he asked right away.

"No, I'm here to learn Enchantment Art."

"Ah... Wait a moment. I'll find someone..."

Knowing that he couldn't make that decision himself, the receptionist went to fetch someone else.

After a while, the receptionist came running back, pulling someone along with him. The newcomer was a tall man who looked a lot like a blacksmith.

"Hello, I'm Hall, the club's vice president. You're here to learn Enchantment Art?"

Hall frowned. He had been excited to hear that someone wanted to learn Enchantment Art. The club hadn't had a new member in nearly half a year.

But when he looked at Fran, who was tiny compared to him, with her slender arms and legs, he wondered whether she could really learn Enchantment Art.

Just like the club's name suggested, an Enchanter was essentially a "second weapon smith."

In theory, an Enchanter only needed to carve runes onto a weapon and check that they worked properly.

But things weren't that simple in practice. For one thing, every weapon had a different shape, so the size of the runes that could be carved onto it varied.

And not every weapon was made from a metal suited to rune carving.

This meant that an Enchanter also needed excellent blacksmithing skills to make adjustments for all sorts of situations.

For example, he often had to coat a weapon with a layer of adamantine or mithril, then draw the runes on that layer.

And many advanced enchantment techniques required specific spaces to be left in the weapon during its forging. Without knowing how to do blacksmithing, it was impossible to become a good Enchanter.

He tried to gently dissuade Fran.

"Um, you might not be suited to Enchantment Art..."

Fran wasn't willing to give up.

"I can pay to learn Enchantment Art."

"It's not a matter of money..."

Fran took fifty silver coins from her pocket and asked,

"Will this be enough?"

She had plenty of money on her now. As the saying went, money could solve most problems...

"No problem. I'm sure you can defy convention and become great at Enchantment Art!"

Hall happily took the silver coins from the table. It was a fortune to them.

Since everyone in the City of Apprentices was an apprentice and they all used staves, runes had little effect, so there wasn't much business.

The real business came from other big cities. The nobles there needed enchanted weapons, and plenty of mages wanted ornaments. A sword decorated with runes was an obvious choice.

Besides, apprentices in the City of Apprentices were eager to learn. Many wanted to study Enchantment Art, which had led to the formation of numerous related clubs. Cuilan Academy alone had six.

On an ordinary month, they were lucky to get three or four jobs. They might take in a dozen or so silver coins in total, before accounting for materials, equipment maintenance, and wear and tear. By the end of the year, they might not even have earned sixty silver coins.

So those fifty silver coins were almost a year's income for him. How could he not be excited?

Hall had no objection when Fran asked to start learning right away.

Hall handed Fran a book with a worn, creased cover. She carefully ran her fingers over it and found the paper strangely familiar.

The cover read Runes in Weaponry. Fran flipped through it.

It seemed to explain how to carve runes onto weapons and where to place them for the greatest effect. Since it covered many runes, the book was quite thick.

When Fran saw the familiar handwriting, she looked over at Hall.

Hall smiled.

"Our club president got this from the Exchange Hall with Contribution Points. It's been here for three years, I think. Every new member starts learning Enchantment Art by reading this book."

After skimming the section on the first rune, Fran immediately asked Hall to let her try it.

If a brand-new member had been so impatient, Hall would have slapped him a few times.

Normally, he had new members read for a day, then watch others draw runes for a few more days. Only after they had answered his questions correctly would he let them try.

But since Fran had paid, he couldn't do that. In the spirit of good customer service, Hall laid out the materials and explained,

"Um, the materials we use here aren't free. I'll give you these ten sets for free, but after that, you'll have to pay for each one yourself."

Fran nodded, signaling him to hurry up and begin.

With practiced skill, Hall quickly drew a rune on a special practice board.

Then, following Hall's instructions, Fran used her mental power to draw on the practice board. As her mental power moved, the rune gradually appeared.

But Fran wasn't very skilled yet, and she failed when she was a quarter of the way through. Still, she smiled happily.

[Runology (Uninitiated) (Proficiency: 0/10): The study of using runes.]