City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

To Repair The Aria

Richard’s heart started racing with the very first item he took out of Greyhawk’s bag; it was a fragment of a fallen star, extremely useful when crafting spatial equipment. He quickly estimated it to be worth about 200 reward points, and this was only one of more than a dozen items!

The next item was a set of bones that contained the soul of an ancient beast, usable for the extraction of a magic soul to form the basis of a saint rune. With his gifts as a soul hunter, he would even be able to analyse the basis of that entire soul, crafting into countless smaller ones. More than half a dozen other items were quite similar, and following them were special herbs and ores that he wasn’t as good at evaluating. The only thing he could confirm was that they were full of energy.

It was when he picked up what resembled a red ruby that he was immediately pulled by what felt like a primordial conscient, almost enchanting him for a moment. He focused and examined the thing closely, finding the silhouettes of fierce beasts flickering within. Activating the Field of Truth, he found that most of the laws defining this crystal were so foggy that they were clearly beyond his current abilities. From what he could tell, the only laws more complicated were the ones that governed Sharon’s library.

He gasped with admiration, “Laws that exceed mere planes… No, there are some fundamental laws of the void in this. Just what is it?”

Greyhawk smiled, “A drop of blood from the Beast God.”

“Oh,” he blanked for a moment, staring at the ruby with even more confusion. It was nearly impossible to estimate the value of such an item; he would never have imagined that he would be able to hold something so highly revered across Klandor. This drop alone was definitely worth the three divine items.

The only thing that left him hesitant was that he simply couldn’t handle something so exquisite just yet. His control over souls wouldn’t be enough to even extract the soul from within, forget replicating its properties. And supposing he managed to do that, any rune with this as the central agreement would be grade 6. He couldn’t craft such a thing with decent hopes of success.

Greyhawk continued to explain, “The Beast God is characterised by violent strength and pure offence; all of its defence comes from its high vitality. I think this information should help you decide just how to use this.”

These words snapped Richard out of his daze, and a light went off in his mind. He suddenly remembered something else had that could form the basis of a grade 6 rune: the activated ember essence. The combination of the two could fuse their laws into an optimal mix, possessing incomparable boosts to one’s vitality and recovery.

This was the final piece that would allow him to repair the Deepblue Aria!

Sharon’s rune was exactly what a combination of ember essence and this drop of blood could bring. While it used astral energy, it still allowed one to switch effortlessly between physical and magical combat, boosting one’s passive strength and defence when not used as such. Sharon was powerful due to her heritage alone, but fortified by a fixed Aria her strength would trounce all others. Even an all-out attack from Apeiron would barely cause any damage.

The Deepblue Aria was the rune buried deepest into Richard’s heart. He had renewed his research into it ever since he came across Sharon’s library, his progress speeding up to the point that he had almost mastered it all. He was only held back because he was thinking within the confines of astral energy, which he still wasn’t completely familiar with. The Deepblue Aria already optimised astral energy to near perfection, only lacking recovery. With the combination of the Beast God’s blood and the ember essence, it would become a perfect rune that would leave her with no weaknesses.

“What’s wrong with you?” Nasia suddenly snapped him out of his delighted thoughts, bringing his attention to the fact that Asa and Greyhawk were staring at him. He smiled awkwardly, “I’m fine, I just had an idea for a new rune.

“A rune that could astonish the only divine runemaster in Norland? It seems extraordinary, would you mind describing it?” Greyhawk asked.

“Sure. It’s a rune that harvests the energy of the stars and brings one to near perfection. It’s called the Deepblue Aria, a grade 6 rune.”

“Grade 6?” the Prince stood up in astonishment.

“Mm.”

The significance of such a statement could not be overstated. Richard had once said that Midren’s battle edition was a rune beyond mere sainthood, but it wasn’t truly grade 6. His title of divine runemaster was a little exaggerated, but even approaching grade 6 it had swept every other saint runemaster away. If he managed it, he would truly earn the title of best runemaster ever known to Norland.

Such a title wouldn’t just be unprecedented; it was also unlikely to be replicated. Unless Norland itself was strengthened to match other planes like heaven or the abyss, finding the talent to accomplish this feat again would be near impossible. However, even if Norland eventually upgraded it would take millions of years.

However, Richard stared into empty space for a moment. He now had a way to make good on his second oldest promise, but the owner of the rune itself was missing. Would he even be able to find her after all this?

Greyhawk wiped the sweat off his forehead, “Looks like we chose the right time to come here; we fall in the good graces of an incomparable figure. Anyway, tell me how many points I can get. You’ve already stolen my daughter from me, don’t be stingy.”

Richard chuckled at the joke; if the duo had truly come here with good intentions, his prospects in this war would improve greatly. It would also act as a huge deterrent against any schemes and conspiracies. However, the request for points quickly drained him of all emotion, “Fifteen thousand points, and we can add to the list immediately. I’ll have someone send you the weapons.”

“15,000? Does that mean I can buy a full version of Midren? It should make me near unkillable!”

“Hmm…” Richard frowned, “Technically? But the requirement on capacity is too great, Your Highness; I do not believe you can use it as you are. If you were to try, you would be paralysed the moment you activate it.”

“What?” Greyhawk was stunned, “Even I can’t wear it?”

“Not even you.”

“Err… Then who exactly can deal with this rune beyond sainthood?”

Richard pointed at Asa, “She can manage it, but she wouldn’t be able to use any other runes.”

The Prince started stroking his short beard, “So that’s why you put them on offer one by one. Those people who get a few won’t let go even if they can’t wear it. They’ll just think of ways to increase their capacity again and again. But then, isn’t it only obvious that an epic being would be suited to a rune beyond grade 5?”

……

Not long after, the three divine weapons were sent to Greyhawk and Asa’s residence. The two of them replaced their equipment and made some preparations before setting off with Richard on his next hunt. This battle went extremely smoothly; with the aid of two powerhouses around the epic realm, Richard’s team had an absolute advantage that limited the losses to one seriously injured saint, a few more with light injuries, and a dozen night elves.

When Richard started refining the wreckage, Greyhawk noticed the silver metal and asked, “Is that ember essence?”

Richard nodded, “This is the core of the reapers, and they only have a certain amount in any given invasion. Without it, they can’t build new warships; that’s why we need to stop and work on the wreckage after every battle. We can’t afford them recovering this and simply refreshing their troops.”

Picking up a piece, the Prince carefully examined the essence, “This doesn’t have a bulk of its energy; does it need to be energised before it can be used again?”

“Correct. I obtained some activated essence from the Eternal Dragon, a portion of which is the reason for my wealth of divine weapons. But that’s basically the only way for us to activate it; otherwise, we have to find a current of time and somehow wash it within.”

“Hmm… Have you considered how it is that the reapers activate this essence to make new warships? They must have the ability to energise it again, and the source might just be in the mothership.”

Richard was a little taken aback at this simple question, his heart starting to boom with both anticipation and embarrassment. This was an invaluable ability that couldn’t be passed upon.

Greyhawk continued, “Let’s continue destroying these troops, but if we find an opportunity it might be wise to launch an ambush on the enemy mothership. We will need to act quickly; from what I know, reapers are all controlled by a thought centre on the mothership It would be a problem if it destroyed itself or something.”

“Huh… Alright, I understand. I’ll see if I can make an opening.” Richard had already finished analysing most of the warships of the reapers, and was at a point where he could work backwards to try and determine how the mothership worked. If he could strike at the laws governing it, he could paralyse the thought centre and unlock most of the reapers’ secrets.

However, this was a difficult decision to have to make. His troops were already wary, and if he went all out at this point the reapers would likely give up and wipe out the mothership themselves. That meant he would have to sustain more casualties simply to keep up appearances and give them a chance of ambush.