Zeke felt useless throughout the entire day, not really realizing what it is he was supposed to do.
He kept studying rune after rune, trying to make sense of them despite that he was already a Runist. But it was like trying to understand hieroglyphics with nothing but hopes and dreams as his source.
While Mikella was fighting for their livelihood, potentially risking herself, he was here sitting on his ass. He grimaced that he leveled up while he was considering standing up to get a drink.
> Level up! You are now Level 20. You gain 6 free points (6 FP total).
>
> You have gained +3 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +3 INT from your class.
> You have gained +3 SPI from your class.
…..
> You have reached level 20. You are now able to choose a new skill to add to your Class Skill list.
>
> Choose from one of the two new skills available to you.
He knew it was possible for him to level up alongside with Mikella, but to see himself level up while doing nothing but reading and studying felt off.
Not just that. It felt scummy. He felt like a leech, and for someone who wanted nothing more than to help support his partner, this was an affront to everything he was working towards.
Still, he knew why it was done this way. Mikella specialized in attacking and defeating threats. Meanwhile, Zeke was specialized in one area that Cloud promised would be beneficial to everyone.
Runes. Runecrafting.
Mikella didn’t quite understand what it does, and neither did he, if he was honest. All he knew was what Cloud told him what Runists can do.
Runists are, in a weird sense, programmers and engineers of the magical side. They’re basically mages that use the written magical language to inscribe on items or materials, pouring mana into them to activate their magical properties.
In some cases, Runists can even cast spells that normally one can learn from a skill in exchange for more mana and time spent writing the runes.
So not only can they cast spells, but they can alter items to work in ways one can only do with mana, such as the working stove and fridge this house has in a fantasy world where electricity shouldn’t exist. At least not magically.
It was a shock to them at first, figuring that it was something the lords have full use of. When they heard it was made with magic, it was made with exactly that–with runes inscribed onto the appliances to give their effects. For the stove, one inscribed runes of fire, heat, conservation, and retension for anything put inside. With some added knobs for specific control over the runic structure, one can easily cook any form of meal they can ask for.
The same goes for the bath and the fridge, each one consisting of complicated runes that Cloud made himself. While he wasn’t a Runist, he had a high level Runecraft skill that helped him out.
But as a Runist, he could do so much more. All the benefits from earlier, a Runist can do tenfold. Compared to someone who has a General Skill, a Runist with a plethora of Class Skills can easily outdo a simple Runecraft skill-made structure.
But the thing was, Zeke was having a hard time learning them all. Even with the handy Runic Library skill he chose from earlier, a skill that allowed him to retain all the knowledge of previous runes he studied, he was still having difficulty as there were not just several dozen–but a million different form of runes to learn.
By his estimation, it would take him decades to learn every single one by heart and adding them to his Runic Library. Much less the ones that seemed useful. There were so many, and new ones could be made and added in later by other Runists or by his own making, something he clearly doubted he could actually do.
He laid back on the wooden chair, hearing his weight making the wood creak under the sudden stress. He rubbed his eyelids, trying to make sense of it all, but in truth he was just exasperated, letting out a big huff of air.
That’s when a knock on the wall got him to see Cloud with his fist raised and an understanding smile on his striking face and eyes.
“Having trouble?” He asked, still grinning as though he could read his mind like an open book.
“I feel like even college students would find this impossible... and I never even been to college.”
It was one of those things he really didn’t want to touch upon, considering his… troubling history. However, even he could tell that those students would balk at this and just quit the class entirely.
Cloud went over, puzzling over what he was saying before noticing the book in front of Zeke.
“You can always ask for my help,” Cloud said, repeating it several times by now. “But I noticed you tend to keep to yourself.”
“I didn’t want to bother you,” Zeke said regretfully. “You’re already doing so much for us. And I have… so many questions.”
He exaggerated, but his mind felt like it could burst at any moment. Cloud nodded, crossing his arms. He was wearing his usual robes, much more elegant and styled than his simple brown one.
If he could, Zeke would Identify to see what sort of effects it would give to Cloud, but apparently if a person’s wearing it, it won’t work–it would just Identify Cloud, and it only showed his Class archetype and his question marks for a level.
> Mage, Level ???
“It’s easy to understand why you’re having trouble,” Cloud said. “I only just told you to pick the class rather than trying to explain it fully. I know it wasn’t fair, but I’m thankful you took my advice.”
“You said it was a good choice,” Zeke shrugged. “I trust you, all things considered.”
It might sound foolish, but considering everything Cloud and Val did for the three this past month or so, he had no reason to deny that Cloud only had good intentions for him. Even if it was something he would be stuck with for the rest of his life, Zeke knew the Runist Class is something he wanted, even if he doesn’t fully understand how to use it.
The following only cemented his resolve for choosing the class.
“I appreciate that. If I had a chance, I would’ve chosen Runist rather than Shaman, the Class I chose. But back then, I was filled with arrogance and pride. None of it helped me through all those years. I’m just glad I was able to snag a young one to follow my path instead.”
Zeke chuckled. “You make it sound so ominous.”
Zeke honestly saw Cloud as an older brother of sort, or an uncle if he was honest. He helped him out in a lot of ways, such as learning the common sense of the world, including how the system works and its history.
The two shared a bond of scholars, of sorts. Zeke liked to learn a lot of new things, and Cloud was the same. He was always curious even back in the old world, but it was always filled with nonsense that didn’t affect him.
But now? He has to learn everything if he wants to keep his family safe.
“But I gotta be honest,” Zeke said, looking back at the book that stayed open–mocking him for not being able to learn it. “This is tough. There’s this gap that I can’t seem to cross no matter how many books I read. I feel like I’m missing something.”
“Well, sure,” Cloud pointed at him with a finger. “You don’t have an inscription tool.”
“Well, yeah,” Zeke turned to him with a frown. “I know that. But it says here that I have to use some special material to draw on. And I don’t have anything. I don’t want to keep asking for more things from you, especially after you told me about that communication coin you used before.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The coin in general was exactly one of the Runist things he wanted to try. If he could, he could contact Mikella no matter how far away he was. However, he had nothing on hand that could help.
Cloud only pursed his lips. “So you’re saying that if you have an inscription tool and a material, you’d start to learn runes?”
“Well… I mean…” Zeke looked at him, his brow raised. “Yeah.”
“Alright… then for a material, how about your barrier?”
“....what?” Zeke looked at him, baffled this time. “What about my barrier?”
“Use your barrier,” Cloud said, slowing his words with a rising grin. “To draw runes on.”
“But that won’t…”
Then he paused. The books, all the books he read about runes from, never actually mentioned anything on what kind of material it had to be.
It had to be something that can channel mana into. It has to be acceptable with magic. In other words–an item that is completely magic based.
So what’s more magical than his barrier made entirely out of mana?
“Wait, would that even work?” Zeke asked incredulously. “I mean, it’s my own skill and… I mean, would it work?”
He asked again dumbfoundedly. Now that he had the option for it, it kept churning in the back of his mind, whirring like an engine that won’t ceased. Cloud nodded, as though he could see his head burning aflame.
He turned around, digging into one of the desk drawers and pulling out what looked like a pen. It wasn’t an ordinary pen obviously, but an old fashioned ballpoint pen with a sharp diagonal tip. On that tip was a clearly crystalline surface, transparent as though it was a bulb that could light up. It was extremely thin though, enough to shatter into super tiny pieces.
He handed it over to Zeke, to which he took it graciously.
“Now try it,” Cloud said, smiling once more.
“Wait, for real?” Zeke asked, looking at the inscription tool, then back at Cloud. “Right now?”
“Right now.”
“B-But what kind of rune should I draw?”
Zeke stammered, his mind grinding to a halt. There were so many runes that he could draw on, but nothing came to mind.
“Something safe,” Cloud answered. “How about a rune for light?”
“Right… right, light.”
Zeke nodded like an excited child, the swirling excitement in his chest rampaging. Standing up (he felt better standing), he took in a big breath before conjuring his barrier in front of him.
It was a small, head sized square shaped barrier, like a tablet screen. With the pen handed to him by Cloud, he placed the crystalline tip onto the surface of his barrier.
He closed his eyes, and recalled everything he learned about runecrafting. The skill itself activated in the back of his mind, and he let the mana from within swirl straight through his arm, then to his hand and fingers holding the pen.
The pen actually took in the mana without question, and he could feel the magical energy driving towards the tip of the crystalline pen, making it glow with a turquoise color, much like his barrier.
With a grunt of effort, he drew the rune for light. There were many kinds of runes that could mean light, from one syllable to a whole ass sentence. That’s because each letter of the ancient runes doesn’t mean just one thing, like how the letter A in the alphabet means only A.
It could mean a plethora of things due to the everchanging nature of mana. As a runist, it was his job to use the proper meaning and context behind each letter, using them to his needs much like weaving mana together to make a skill. The skill itself for runecrafting made it easy, but it still took effort for him to draw even just one letter for light.
If he wanted to make it easier, he could draw more to solidify his meaning, but that would also spend a lot of mana and time. If this was a battle, he would already lost his head for taking too long. But at the same time, it would also decrease the amount of potency behind the activation of runes, all of its energy spent running through more letters to activate the sequence, so to speak.
So to summarize, he only drew one letter with the intent to make it work. It was a simple letter–it looked like a round circle with a zig-zag figure at the center, then the same on both sides of the circle turned sideways.
With his letter finished, he looked back at the rune drawn on the barrier. Just that alone was enough to surprise him. He looked back to Cloud who kept watching intently, smiling as he nodded to him.
It was a good drawing. If he was honest, he could do it a bit better, but it was still decent. Now he could activate it.
He placed his other hand to the top of the rune, not directly touching it. He could feel the warmth of the mana from within the rune, begging to be used. His Mana Perception could tell him all of that, and the Internal Senses general skill gave him a good grasp of how much power it had.
Once, it was just full of magical energy consisting of a barrier–now it had another swirl of mana within the confines of another–magic water in a magic box, if he just simplified it hard enough.
He then activated the mana within the rune, intending it to activate much like conjuring his barrier or Recovery skill. His eyes lit up as the same happened for the square barrier in front of it.
It lit up the entirety of the study, completely enlightening the darkened shadows caused by the dim lights above and burning bright all around. It was intense, enough for Zeke to close his eyes and curse to himself. It was imperfect. He meant to make it as dim as the light around him, but he poured in too much mana while he was drawing.
It was so sensitive to deal with. Yet, he can’t help but grin wildly at the machinations in front of him.
“Holy shit… it worked,” Zeke whispered as the light faded. It only had enough power to light up for a short while. Soon, the rune–along with the barrier–dissipated into nothing.
“Congratulations,” Cloud said, a smug smile and a proud tone entering his voice. “You just created your first working rune. How it’d feel?”
“I…”
Before he could say anything else, a notification popped up in front of him.
> Runecraft Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +1 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +1SPI from your skill.
…..
> Internal Senses Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained+1 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.
Zeke smiled. “I think I finally took a step forward.”
“Good,” Cloud smiled. “Now, let’s get into more fun runes to try out with. How about…”
Cloud went ahead and listed off some of the runes that, at first, baffled Zeke. But the more he explained, the more Zeke learned, excitement drew him back into its clutches.
Needless to say, he found a good hobby to sink his fangs into. Not to mention…
He opened up his skill choice screen. Cloud had stated that while Runic Library was essential to which Zeke was glad for, he should choose his own skills however he wished. A runist would only be mediocre if he didn’t follow his own heart.
So when Zeke looked up the choices, he was confronted with a serious case of choice paralysis.
> Class Skill: Inscription Proficiency
> A runist’s goal is to create magic from the letters. Hence, the letters should make sense. Allows the Runist to accurately draw out the runes with perfect clarity. Decreases the amount of time spent drawing runes infused with mana according to the level of the skill and the current Dexterity stat.
…..
> Class Skill: Runic Spell
> A runist can conjure a spell just as any mage can, for what is a Runist if not a mage? Allows the Runist to conjure any type of spell as long as the runes allow. Increases the potency of runic spells and decreases the mana cost according to the level of the skill and the current Dexterity stat.
…..
> Class Skill: Runic Ward
> A runist is capable of conjuring wards and barriers just as well as any mage can. As long as they put in the effort. Allows the Runist to conjure defensive wards or barriers, depending on the type used to defend against. Increases the potency of the runic wards and decreases the mana cost according to the level of the skill and the current Spirit stat.
The last skill, if he was honest, was easy to decide–why bother with this kind of Class skill when he has an actual Acquired Skill that can do that and more? It was from first Class Skill choice aside from Runic Library, which even if Cloud didn’t offer to take the skill, he would’ve chosen Runic Library regardless.
No, the real choice were the first two choices made after reaching level 20, thanks to Mikella’s fighting. These two choices were incredibly useful, one helping him draw runes faster and easier while the other helps him make spells.
If what this skill said is true, then according to Cloud, with this he could make a fireball spell to launch at enemies, or use any other types of spells.
His mind churned at the choices, now that it was possible for him to draw runes on his barrier. With this, he could be a powerful combatant even with supportive skills to help him fight.
This time, he really felt like wanting to consult to Cloud, but he believed he would just answer that he should choose however he wished.
This definitely felt like one of those moments, so Zeke took a bit of time before eventually relying on a single thing.
Which one he needs the most right now? On the one hand–a skill to cast fireball and any other powerful spells. On the other hand–allowing him to draw runes faster, thus preventing the earlier thought of getting his head chopped off for taking too long.
…
Zeke let out a heavy breath. He chose the skill.
> Class Skill learned: Inscription Proficiency.
There was no need to think on it further. Now that he thought about it, he could always just go back to the skill once he gained another five levels. It could take a while, but at least with this, he could probably help with leveling the Class himself, and potentially help Mikella raise her own class by way of their connection.
So just when Zeke was ready to draw up a storm with his newly acquired Class Skill, he heard a powerful shout calling their names.
“Daddy! Bobo! We’re here!”
Ana’s voice rang out loud and clear, enough to alarm the entire city if possible. His ears winced, but he and Cloud chuckled as he walked over to the door out of the study.
“Ready to head out?”
“Yeah,” Zeke nodded, following Cloud out.
He made a promise. If Clara came back from studying with Vivian, he would play with her. That was his job as her Bobo, after all.