Chapter 543

Rune mages were actually a special kind of spellcaster. Rather than casting spells through incantations or rituals, they crafted spells into individual runes beforehand. Then, by using magic power to activate those runes, they could cast the spells they wanted.

Compared to ordinary spellcasting, rune mages cast spells more flexibly and swiftly, but they also required sharper reflexes and stronger bodies—because the materials used to make runes generally had to be quite sturdy in order to bear the power of spells. "Sturdy" and "heavy" were more or less twin brothers. Anyone capable of carrying a large batch of runes had to be, if not broad-shouldered and thick-backed, at least an unusually powerful strongman.

Not to mention anything else, with Palin's small frame, giving him seven or eight runes would already make every step a struggle. Give him twenty or thirty, and they might crush him to death alive.

Thus, rune mages were generally brawny men, and because they needed to cast spells, they also required powerful magic. There were not many spellcasters who possessed both qualities, but among certain races, they were quite common.

For instance, the dwarves.

The dwarves were a race jointly created by the God of Earth Element and the Goddess of Earth. Originally, they had wanted to create a race that combined strength and agility, while also being fairly intelligent and possessing decent magical aptitude. But when they actually began creating it, they discovered that these advantages simply could not be reconciled—or rather, the power of those two deities was insufficient to create a race that possessed all of them.

With no other choice, they settled for the next best thing and ultimately created this race: slightly shorter than humans, with exceptionally thick and sturdy limbs, great strength, decent magical aptitude, and reasonably flexible minds.

Overall,