Glimmer

At night, the stars glittered. Ace showed the Scholar's Badge issued by the city-state and, with a Beguiling Spell, won the village chief's trust.

For one Silver Taler, he rented an abandoned courtyard and had already been living there for more than half a month. The village was called Thirty Li because it lay thirty kilometers from Tsimari Fishing Port.

Ace tried to study the Burning Short Sword and discovered that it scorched any invading mental power, blocking spiritual perception. There was no way to discern the Soul Rune structure that might exist within it.

He put away the short sword and began sensing Sharp's heart.

The runes within Sharp's heart were highly unusual: a complex rune structure formed from Lesser Runes, with a Soul Rune unexpectedly overlapping at its very core.

At first, he thought it was an entirely new structure, that a Soul Rune could actually be combined with Lesser Runes. But after a closer examination, he found that the Soul Rune merely overlapped them in the same position.

It was still highly distinctive. Considering Sharp's strength, which was close to Hero-class, Ace could assume that becoming Hero-class required the heart to form a Soul Rune structure, and Sharp was currently in the process of forming one.

This was of great reference value to Ace, even greater than discovering the runes themselves. He had vaguely touched upon the possibility of advancing to the next stage.

The Soul Rune in the heart was quite ordinary and could be recorded as Soul Magic #3. The Lesser Rune structure, on the other hand, was novel. Ace deciphered several new runes from it.

Fire Element Rune: this rune rearranged magic power and gave it an active fire attribute. It was a completely new type of rune, belonging neither to tool runes nor basic runes. Even the related Auxiliary Runes were ineffective on it. Ace called it an Attribute Rune.

Experiments showed that the Fire Element Rune could be incorporated into a meditation method, altering the magic attributes of the mind and soul. Ace worried that while this would strengthen fire-attribute magic, it would greatly restrict his range of spells, so he continued using his original meditation method.

Besides the Element Rune, he also discovered three new tool runes: the Scorching Rune, the Radiance Rune, and the Explosion Rune.

When magic power possessed a fire attribute, the Scorching Rune took effect, giving the magic intense burning and high-temperature properties. According to experiments, it could melt an iron sword.

When magic power possessed a fire attribute, the Radiance Rune could emit light of varying brightness according to the caster's diagrammatic expression. It was a variable rune similar to the Sound Rune.

When magic power possessed a fire attribute, the Explosion Rune produced an explosive effect.

Ace studied and dismantled the rune structure in the heart, creating four lesser utility spells: Lesser Firebolt, Lesser Light, Lesser Flash, and Enchantment Spell.

Lesser Firebolt required no casting materials and could launch a burning magic missile. Its effective attack range was three hundred meters. When it struck an object, it would scorch through it before exploding half a second later.

Each casting required 1.5 units of mental power, and its damage far surpassed Magic Missile and Acid Splash.

Lesser Light created a floating point of light that moved according to the caster's will. It could move within ten meters of the caster and illuminated a radius of five meters.

Lesser Flash erupted with intense light before a target's eyes in an instant, leaving them dazzled for one minute.

Enchantment Spell could "contaminate" an object into a magical item, granting it abilities such as scorching, illumination, and explosion. This was an entirely new spell, which Ace called alchemy.

As for the deliberate creation of extraordinary objects, Ace felt that calling them extraordinary objects was not quite fitting, so he called them magical items. If it was a weapon, he called it a magical weapon.

After obsessively researching for nearly half a month, he finally succeeded in creating a magical short sword. Alchemy could not be accomplished in one stroke; it required four stages.

The first step was "blank forging." Ace beguiled the village blacksmith and borrowed his forge to make the blank. He ground Sharp's heart into powder and dried it in the sun, then fused most of the powder with molten iron to forge a magical sword blank.

The second step was "magic infusion." Through continuously circulating accumulations of magic power, the sword blank was slowly permeated with magic power and transformed into an item with high magic concentration. This took roughly one week, with six hours of infusion each day;

The third step was "elementalization," transforming the iron sword's magic power into elemental magic power, such as fire-attribute magic power. This took roughly one week, with four hours of transformation each day;

The fourth step was "enchantment." He drew a spell model upon the iron sword, centered on the basic runes Automatic Absorption, magic power, and magic crystals, supplemented by the Attribute Rune, the Fire Element Rune, to transform magic power. Together, they formed a spell model that automatically absorbed magic power and converted it into fire-attribute magic power.

Then, using that spell model as the core, he added a Scorching spell model, an Explosion spell model, a Light spell model, and a Flash spell model, forming a composite rune array.

The rune array could operate on its own. Once the sword wielder guided it properly with their will, it could release different effects during a sword swing. Single-function rune arrays were easier to create successfully than composite rune arrays.

Relying on his superb rune-drawing skill, Ace succeeded on his first attempt. Had he failed, the short sword used as material would have been ruined outright.

Ace swung his first magical creation, his heart exceptionally joyful, and remembered words he had once spoken.

"Heroes are strong because of their bloodlines, while casters will be strong because of knowledge. With an objective and impartial spirit of research, I will kindle magic's torch. The long night is dark; I am the only light."

Ace solemnly engraved a word upon the hilt of the magical short sword: "Glimmer."

Having finished analyzing the runes, Ace bade the village chief farewell and drove his carriage out of the village toward the rising sun.

After fully grasping the new runes, Ace could disguise himself as a descendant of the God of Fire. With his skilled martial arts and Glimmer's versatile abilities, he could even appear more like a Divinely Inspired than an ordinary descendant of the God of Fire.

This was magic's advantage. Through research and imitation of extraordinary creatures, casters acquired extraordinary knowledge. By applying that knowledge to transform and innovate, casters could possess power greater than those born extraordinary.

Ace leisurely drove his carriage to Tsimari Fishing Port, arriving at around four in the afternoon. The Tzimali people were hauling fish cartload after cartload, every face brimming with happy smiles.

"Thanks to the great Lord Pontos!"

"Thanks to the Child of the Ocean's protection!"

Ace rubbed his nose uncomfortably. Tsimari Fishing Port truly was as prosperous as the legends claimed, but the entire port reeked of fish, which was a little unbearable.

He drove his carriage into Tsimari Fishing Port proper, found the largest inn, and comfortably went back to sleep.

At dusk, a lively clamor woke him. He opened his window and looked down to find people holding torches, dressed in distinctive local clothing, parading through the streets with pipes and drums.

It was only early spring, but Tsimari, being a fishing port, had a pleasant climate. Though evening had already come, it was still warm and balmy.

Ace left his room, and when the inn's attendant saw him come down, he eagerly approached.

"Hello, guest. My name is Perrin. I see you're wearing a Scholar's Badge, so you must be a great scholar from Medimoth City, right? I've admired knowledgeable people ever since I was little. Would I be lucky enough to show you around Tsimari Fishing Port?"

"It is already evening. What is there to see?" Ace looked at the attendant. He was actually quite young, with several obvious pimples still on his face, and his expression was both expectant and nervous.

Ace himself was only thirteen, but since his mental power had broken through the limits of ordinary people, his body had developed rapidly. Judging only by his build, he stood over 1.6 meters tall and was quite sturdy, making him look more like a fifteen-year-old youth.

"You don't know this, but the most interesting thing about Tsimari Fishing Port is the Bonfire Festival at night. It happens once a month, to thank Lord Pontos for his gifts and for granting us a bountiful catch every month. There are all sorts of acrobatic performances at the Bonfire Festival, as well as fiery Tzimali girls. At ten at night, everyone gathers in the grand square to dance around the divine statue, and a feast of grilled fish is shared for free."

As Perrin spoke, he lowered his voice mysteriously. "This month's Bonfire Festival is especially unique. At this time every year, Lord Pontos bestows blessings upon the luckiest few people at the festival. Those who receive blessings gain benefits beyond imagination."

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