The Runesmith

‘This Rapid Assembly skill is actually quite nice…’

Roland thought to himself while looking at the skill that had already leveled up to the second level. While it seemed it was poised for assembling things like golems or machinery with moving parts it also worked on his runes. It didn’t even use up that much mana but made the process of runesmithing faster by around ten percent.

‘The level up added another five percent, that would boost it up to fifty percent when I max it out…’

An increase of fifty percent was quite a large boost. This would allow him to substantially hasten the production process of all of his tools. The skill seemed to work on everything he was working on, even creating tools and weapons was included.

It was an active skill that worked in quite an interesting way. It felt as if time was slowing down around him while he concentrated on his work. He had to go through all the usual steps to create everything. Yet at the end, he would finish everything faster as if he was stopping time for a few moments.

There were similar battle skills that were like this one. It was alike bullet time in the old video games that he used to play in his old world. However this skill could not be used during combat, he actually needed to focus on crafting something. If he turned his attention elsewhere the skill would instantly be canceled.

‘I wonder… there might be a way to actually use this skill during combat…’

Roland remembered one of his traits that he could potentially use together with the assembly skill. There was a small possibility of it working but he would need to make some preparations before using it.

Then there was his other skill, Machinery Affinity which also happened to work on runic structures. Apparently, the system that ruled this reality was seeing runes as some kind of machinery or just adapting to the skills' modern naming scheme.

This one was a bit more tricky as it had a random chance to trigger. Luckily for him, he had been given ample materials to work with. All the divine swords and spears that Arthur commissioned to be inscribed with runes were used by him for testing purposes. Perhaps it was due to the skill's low level but only one of the items he worked on had been enhanced.

The highest value corresponded to the rune that he inscribed and it had an additional plus symbol. This was an indication that the rune had gone above its limitation and would achieve some kind of bonus. Regretfully he could not really test it out as these weapons were charge based.

They needed to be powered up by a priest before the smite spell started working. Roland was researching the crystal side of divine weaponry and the two weren’t interchangeable. He would need a whole different runic structure for it to work together with a divine crystal. If he attempted to do that he would erase a large chunk of the old rune and lose the plus bonus.

‘It should probably be more powerful or efficient in some way… I’ll need to see if I can get the same result on the regular magical runes.’

The order was now finished and the weapons only needed to be picked up by Arthur’s people. For two days he was cooped up in his workshop after returning from the underground dungeon. His workload for the entire week had been finished and his new skills and levels made it a lot faster. The constant increase in stats made things easy but this was always what happened when he reached the threshold of another tier.

Even though his level was only one hundred and forty, tier 3 was around the corner. Usually, things became easy at this point before crashing down. He was already apprehensive about the next test that he would be given. The last one made him spend multiple weeks creating strange contraptions while the one before it made him fight multiple monsters at once.

It was a given that the next trial would be the most difficult challenge that he ever faced and he needed to get ready. He was still undecided but not quite sure if he should really progress further without maxing out his current class.

‘I’ll leave that for later… now, should I prioritize leveling or do something about those turrets outside.’

It hasn’t been that long since the Abyssal Cult problem arose. While he had constructed a large wall around his house and placed defensive measures around it, there were ways of improving them. With his recent advancements in both skills and levels, his brain continued to work faster. Ideas were flooding in and perhaps now was the right time to organize everything.

The safety of his home and the people around it was important, perhaps more important than gaining levels fast. There was also a problem with his paranoia, that didn’t let him function normally. Roland didn’t want to make it too obvious for everyone and so made the dungeon visits sparse. Even with the hidden tunnel, there was a possibility that his secret grinding spot was discovered. It could be a reason for him to lose his adventurer license or be fined.

It wouldn’t even be strange to go to jail. The dungeon still belonged to the kingdom and the nobles that ran it. This discovery would fill out the Valerian household's pockets and Arthur’s the most. If he knew that he could safely farm tier 3 monsters from a distance to gain materials then perhaps his status as a Runesmith wouldn’t protect him.

Roland was sure that the Adventurer guild would create an outpost in that secret location. They would start milking the entrance and even tier 3 adventurers would start to appear. He was in a way blocking the city from expanding further for his own selfish reasons. Yet this was the fastest way of gaining levels and valuable metals. Without proper backing, he just could not let such a chance be wasted.

‘Arthur can wait a few years before I’m done with that location…’

The metals that he gained wouldn’t be wasted as he would be making valuable items for the auction house. Arthur was still making money from the sales that he was presenting. Then he was also giving him quite the deal when inscribing runes on these divine weapons. Then there were the boxes that identified any infection that in Roland’s head justified his deception.

‘Not like anyone else wouldn’t just use that location for themselves.’

It was a cutthroat world without that many rules, he needed to look out for himself and his loved ones first. A lot of people depended on him remaining successful and running this shop and as it seemed, that number would only increase. Some of the orphans would soon be picking up some of the workload.

They would start off by doing some of the easy chores like cleaning and delivering letters but if he continued expanding then perhaps they could also start working as craftsmen. This all depended on the kid's future classes which would be given to them at the age of ten. It would be very fortunate for them if they could be trained into blacksmiths from a young age. Even if they received a worse production class after leveling to twenty-five they could become part of his workshop if they so desired.

“Hey boss, I’ve assembled one of the new prototypes, it’s ready to go on the wall.”

“Already?”

“He he, don’t think that you’re the only one that can work for long hours! I’ve put in some work back at the wifeys workshop, it’s not as good as this one but gets the job done.”

Roland smiled but didn’t know if he felt happy about his assistant picking up his bad habits. At least he had superior stats and vitality that allowed him to work long hours without destroying his body. Bernir on the other hand lacked in that department but he was also probably not working as much as his boss.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Aye.”

Soon the two went outside while tugging the somewhat large assembled turret with them. There they met a rather sad-looking Ruby Wolf. After swallowing the empyrean crystal he was banned from entering the workshop. Until the next time that Roland headed into the dungeon Agni would remain outside.

“Don’t give me those eyes, you know what you did.”

“Worf!”

It seemed that the punishment was working but if he stopped swallowing crystals remained to be seen. The turret that he prepared was indeed a bit larger and bulkier than the other ones. Long gone were the cactus-like turrets that fired bolts of energy when something entered the line of sight. This one would be able to follow movements independently while also analyzing its opponents. It was more similar to an actual golem.

Roland actually had a lot of freedom with these devices as they weren’t limited by something like guns. The cannon part didn’t need to be that long and most of the runic structures could be integrated into the main body. There was no ammunition or a magazine that needed to be supplied as long as it remained connected to the generators or a battery it would continue to function.

The golemic turret had a thicker circular base with six latches around it. Through those large screws would be inserted to attach it firmly to the wall pillars. The turret would be able to move almost in all directions with the cannon’s maximal upper angle being at ninety degrees. If something managed to get behind it, the turret would need to spin its body around to continue to fire.

Its canon wasn’t all that long and to the sides, it was surrounded by thick angular blocks. On them, there were several runic inscriptions that would allow it to use various other spells. It was not just a device that spammed homing mana arrows like its predecessors. There were several options that would work on various types of enemies. A divine energy option was also in the works but Roland had still not been able to figure out a way to emulate the godly energy.

Everything had been tested before attaching this bulky defensive machine to the wall. Thus after placing it onto the wall it only took a few minutes to get it up and running. It was still a feeling that he wasn’t fully used to. With only a touch he was connected to the whole structure and even though the code was confusing he understood it all. Everything became a bit easier with his new class that was focused on the crafting part a lot more than the previous one.

“That looks a bit imposing, boss…”

“Yeah, one blast could critically injure a high-level tier 2. It should even give a tier 3 a run for their money if we create enough.”

“A tier 3? Are you sure boss?”

Roland just nodded at Bernir, who wasn’t that convinced. It wasn’t strange as he did not really have a reference point. Being a blacksmith didn’t give him much insight into the fighting capabilities of such powerful class holders. For Roland on the other hand it became less and less difficult. He had already hunted the Infernal Skeletons and was becoming used to it. The moving cannons would certainly not be able to one-shot any of those skeletons but they could not be ignored either.

‘I think that these wind generators will reach their limit soon…’

The biggest problem with the design came from the powering issue. Down in the dungeon, he could just grab the crystalized Elokin’s fluid and use it as a main power source. Here on the other hand he was reliant on his wind turbine farm. There was a limit of how many of these turrets could be used at the same time.

For that reason he had already created a backup generated that was composed of his runic batteries. If for some reason the turrets needed more juice it would be supplied from there. Yet that was just a bandaid for a bigger issue, of ever-increasing runic quality. When he actually reached tier 3 then the generators would probably not be able to support any tier 3 enhancements to the equipment.

There were two ways of getting over this energy deficiency. One of them was to make more wind generators. He had bought some of the unfertile lands behind his current workshop and could just use it as a power plant instead. This wasn’t the optimal choice as the wind generators took up a lot of space but didn’t generate that much electricity to be converted.

Then there was the other option which was to expand into different fields of energy generation. He had always seen the underground lava dungeon as a potential resource. It generated a massive amount of heat that when harnessed could be changed into geothermal energy.

This was the biggest reason that he had created the underground tunnel, not to have a shortcut to the dungeon but to have unlimited access to the heating it produced. He had already confirmed that it was possible to insert pipes through the dungeon walls without them being damaged. What he just needed to do was to extract all of that heated energy and turn it then to steam that would power the generator.

Yet this was easier said than done. The easiest way of producing one would be with a naturally existing water well. The steam that would be extracted from this heated pocket of underground water would make the turbine spin. Afterward, it would cool down and be sent back to the basin that would reheat and turn it back into steam.

If he didn’t discover any natural pockets of water then he would need to create something by himself. Water wasn’t really required; he only needed to heat up a liquid that could turn to vapor and have enough pressure to spin the generator around to produce energy. There were some chambers in the upper dungeon filled with smaller lava pits close to the edge where he could potentially create something like that.

‘I should probably get my tier 3 class before trying… disclosing the mining spot to Arthur at that point might be wiser, everything will become much easier with a proper permit.’

While he could try to be secretive about everything, there wasn’t really a need for it. Living under the constant stress of being discovered wasn’t his cup of tea. If he could use that spot to achieve a few things it was enough. There was no need to take the secret to the grave as there were many other ways to earn money. Roland believed that Arthur would allow him to build a few generators and it would also be a good chance to propose a business offer.

Finally, after the day came to an end he had a few minutes to himself. Even though his body wasn’t much older than twenty he felt like an old man. His wish of becoming a business owner had come true but it came with a lot more trouble than he expected. Yet he would not give it up even though he was working many more hours.

It was a much different feeling when a person worked for their own dream for a change and not for the dreams of others. It gave him the motivation to go on and suffer through the growing pains of his little shop.

Time began passing and the days turned into weeks. The city was quite peaceful at this point in time, even though a threat lingered in the air people continued to move forward. The city was showing a lot of growth while others around it continued to fail.

Thanks to the city runesmith the hidden threat had been taken out and proven to the people. The citizens began to feel at ease with their lives as the necessary steps were taken for their protection. More checkpoints appeared, guards with better weapons that would work even against evil creatures.

The person that had come in close contact with this threat on several occasions continued to prepare for the worst outcome. Producing weapons, improving his armor, and setting up defensive structures while also pushing himself to the limit for his levels to rise.

“So this is it, level hundred fifty… I should probably call it a day.”

Roland continued to grow at a rapid pace and finally, he had hit that threshold. This could be potentially a new start for him or just a stopgap for the real thing later.

‘I should see what classes I can take and decide later…’

He looked at the dead skeleton that he had defeated as many else before it. For some reason, it felt as if something was observing him. However, when checking his radar he could not spot anything out of the ordinary there. Yet from within that second dungeon, he could see a faint green light. It had continued to appear whenever he visited this place and was a big reason for the unusual feeling.

‘It’s probably a torch… or maybe some kind of trap that activates after a skeleton is killed…’

Without being sure what to make of it he returned home, there he would visit the place where it all started.