Epic Of The Demonic Sage

'Hmm… depending on the time that I have in my hands, I'll have to prioritize one over the other.' Lucius thought.

Lucius was interested in both the commercial as well as the research and development side of artifact creation.

He had hundreds of rune crystals from his raid on the Bergan's Band vaults which he could choose from, so what he only needed was the amount of time to dedicate to each artifact creation on top of everything that he had on his plate.

'Depending on whether it's from a rune beast or a human, I suppose it'll determine where I'll put it to use.' Lucius considered as he paid attention to Bishop Reynald's lessons.

While he was willing to use human rune crystals, if people were to discover it… then it would be a less than positive reaction.

"The second step is the material component for the artifact. It needs to be compatible with the rune crystal and also conform to the type of artifact you wish to create." Bishop Reynald explained. "Do you have any other artifact in mind we can use as an example, Apostle Asher?"

Lucius nodded.

"A shield artifact, perhaps, Bishop Reynald. I can think of the Gift, Iron Skin can be utilized to create a shield… its strength and durability can be displayed. It's most likely to create a double effect if you used it on a shield already made from metal, but if you were to put it on a wooden shield, then it can drastically improve the wooden shield. Of course, one would only opt for wood if you were at a loss for materials but had excess rune crystals."

It wasn't exactly the best example, but Lucius wanted to hear what the Bishop had in mind.

"That's a good example to consider." Bishop Reynald said. "Have you been reading on Gifts? I do not think Priest Maleck is usually allowed to provide the book on all the repository of gifts that is associated with the legendary Appraisal Sphere of Etara although there are similarities with human and beast gifts at times, but there are various books on the gifts of rune beasts that you can read about. I will have more books sent from my personal library."

"I've read some before with the help of Master Kain. He also works with the Artificer's Guild."

"Ah, yes, I've heard of him. A fine fellow." Bishop Reynald nodded. "He is accomplished for a man his age and his expertise on Rune Beasts does prove helpful for artificers who wish to safely procure rune crystals. Actually, if I may go into a tangent, it's also quite likely that he may go to Aisse territory, or some other Rune Beast Master."

"Aisse territory?" Lucius raised a brow.

"There were some people from Bergan's Band that have approached the Artificer's Guild to study a recent rune beast that assailed them." Bishop Reynald's gaze went slightly distant. "We do not usually interfere with affairs and matters outside of research, especially with the reputation of the mercenary group, but I think them mentioning it as a new variation of Plow Worm has caught the attention of others."

"Is that so?" Lucius murmured. The Lost Plow Worm was something that he had made explode as a last ditch attack that took out half of the Bergan's Band military strength.

While there were several eyewitnesses and survivors, the chances that they'd find something substantial in the chaos was quite slim. The area was still dangerous with all the uneven ground and tunnels that surrounded the area.

Lucius was mildly interested if it would bear them any fruit, and if it did… then it would be something that he would need to intervene upon.

Bishop Reynald cleared his throat.

"Ahem, but I am straying from my topic. It's not unusual to be forced to use available materials if they're scarce and I know that the material wood is compatible with the Iron Skin rune crystal."

Lucius nodded. It was a pretty basic example he had given.

"…But even the material wool can be compatible with Iron Skin rune crystal, although its counterintuitive to use a soft material with a shield for example. Some kind of cloth, perhaps, but not a shield. We wouldn't want a soft shield that can be pierced through easily. A rune crystal can only do so much for a material."

"Thank you for the explanation, Bishop Reynald."

"You're welcome, and so we move on to the next step which actually prevents most people from becoming Artificers. The theoretical know how can be overwhelming and shocking. I am talking about Inscription. This takes into account the use of runes as well as the unique channels that allows Aether to be carried within them."

Lucius remembered Priest Maleck using some chalk when he activated the appraisal crystal and this was something he was already familiar with as something he'd done prior.

'I've done a lot of similar things when upgrading the gifts of the people here in this world, and it's not actually that different from what I've done in my old world. Truly the fundamentals of each world may slightly differ but still be similar.' Lucius said.

He was looking forward to doing this.

If anything, Lucius already contemplated on inscribing on materials that would send Bishop Reynald into a fit of incredulity.

'Materials such as bones or bodies already have natural channels for Aether, and they normally allow for one Gift, but depending on how I familiarize myself with the channels and add additional inscriptions… perhaps it will not actually be a stretch to conduct experiments and implant more than one rune crystal into a human, or Lost.' Lucius mused silently to himself and weighed the benefits and cons of doing so.

"Apostle Asher, I will be providing you a lot of books, and we'll also be carving and drawing rune channels on different materials to help you familiarize yourself with them. I am sure that Etara has granted her Apostle a deep understanding of this or else she wouldn't lead you to take this path, but practice with materials will help." Bishop Reynald said. "And so, we move on to the final step."