It was the middle of the night, or at least the nighttime within the biodome. The crystals’ lights were dim, and the area became suffused in darkness.

To Zeke’s eyes, however, they remain lightly lit, and thanks to his Recovery skill, he was able to perceive the flow of energies even from within the objects around him, giving him a pseudo dark vision, though at the cost of his mana.

As for the reason why he was peering through the darkness of the biodome, it was simple. He was awake, and away from the small campsite.

Out of everyone within the barrier, only he would know who entered and who left, particularly those who were originally part of the inside of the barrier. If someone other than him were to head out of the barrier for long periods, the barrier would stop recognizing them as potential allies, which was his limit of figuring out which was still friend or foe. If his skill was stronger, or he was better with his Intelligence, it could last longer as long as he was unconscious of it.

But if he was the one who left, no one would be none the wiser, and only he can easily get in and out of his own barrier. Ever since the night the angel came, he kept thinking on what to do, on how to handle this new situation that dropped onto their laps without their consent.

Throughout the venture, Mikella has been working hard to counter the monsters along with the other fighters, with the Journeymen standing by as they needed all the XP they could have, though that was still a small priority compared to finding the tower. Zeke had been thinking hard on what to do on how to improve his combat strength further.

His class, Spiritual Runist, allows him to create runes that could create any form of magic as long as he had the mana and the knowledge of the runes used to create said magic. Thanks to his Acquired skills, Barrier Craft and Recovery, he became a perfect support mage, mostly using his runes to use his Barrier Craft to the best of its ability.

But that doesn't mean he can’t also fight. His Runic Spell class skill allows him to easily create spells from runes that resemble a mage’s skill, allowing him to attack with spells like an actual mage. The only cons were that he had to draw out the runes and use more mana to create said spell. But he knew that doing so would only just make him a half-ass mage.

So he thought about how to circumvent that. He actually had an idea about what to do when he was training with Mikella and the others. Perhaps there might be a way for him to be a better mage–but he knew now that his true passion was fighting on the front lines. That’s why he kept training with Mikella and the others. And if there was one thing he learned so far, it is to follow your own path, fueled by your passion and belief in it.

So that was why he was away from the camp–he didn’t want anyone else to see what he was about to do. Even he didn’t like how he made this idea and was actually about to try it out–but it was the best way to help conserve his mana without sacrificing his support mage role’s potential.

So he thought about something he hadn’t really thought before–couldn’t he make runes that strengthen his body?

He could create basically anything with his runes. Not just spells, but even structures such as his butterbirds, appliances like the stove and fridge, and even complex workings like the Hell Barrier course.

So couldn’t he, to some degree, alter his stats to his needs with his runes? If he could somehow alter his stats without damaging himself, he could be a force to be reckoned with without relying on magic at all. When he had that idea in his mind, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. It got so bad that he sneaked away because he knew how crazy it was to try it out.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried during his downtime, he wasn’t able to improve his body at all. After all, how could he draw runes on the barrier, then place them on his body?

The barriers wouldn’t move as he instructed, and if anything they would just get in his way.

It made sense. It was possible to do the theory he concocted, but the application was wrong. He kept thinking harder on what to do. His mind whirled at the possibility of this actually happening–then it hit him.

Rather than drawing on a magical construct to improve his body, he just needed to draw on his own skin.

So he tried to do that, pulling out the pen and placing the tip of it on the bottom of his right forearm.

Of course, his basic human skin didn’t work at all as a medium. Sure, he could simply draw on his skin, using it as a surface, to make the most pitiful cooling or heating pad he could make with his runes. But that was about it.

However, he realized that while doing the most basic thing didn’t work out, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a bad idea. The fact that the heating and cooling rune he tried experimenting on his skin worked at all proved that it was possible, but he needed to do something more drastic.

So he tried doing the next best thing, hence why he needed to get away. If the other folks found out what he tried to do, they might reasonably stop him from doing something so crazy.

The only way to draw runes effectively on his body is by directly carving a rune into his skin. It sounded completely mad, because he had to cut into his own flesh to draw runes. But he had a feeling that there was a better word for it.

In other words, he wanted to make rune tattoos. He never once imagined himself getting tattoos. In the old world, he always had negative connotations regarding tattoos, even though they were just forms of expression of the human soul. But now he was using that idea to try and literally carve spells into his body in hopes that it would work out.

Though he knew that just doing it on the skin wasn’t enough. They needed to connect deeper into his soul, all the way to his core so that he could get the change in his attributes. He needed to draw the runes as closely as possible to his magical channels.

He knew the moment he had this idea that he might as well be abusing his channels again. But he just had to try. Even if there was a risk of potentially making his body disfigured by doing this, he would find a way to make this work.

He normally wouldn’t even give this a try, much less actually planning on perfecting it. But the meeting with the angel changed things.

He needed to get stronger, while also trying to use the best of his circumstances. He needed a backup in case he needed to settle things by himself. He can’t always expect Mikella and the others to fight the battles for him.

And he certainly can’t expect his barrier to always save the day. After all, no matter how incredibly useful his barriers were, he realized that there would always be weaknesses to his barriers.

His constant training with Mikella and the others proved that time and time again. Sometimes he was allowed to use the small barriers like back at the Hell course while sparring. But no matter how many times he reinforced his barriers, Mikella would find a way to pierce the defenses as long as she worked on it long enough. For instance, she was able to pierce the barrier at one point without him noticing, only targeting that specific point each time. The moment she had her chance, she managed to break through the barrier despite his constant reinforcement and kick his ass.

Zeke had the epiphany that his barrier wasn’t as indestructible as long as he had the Mana. But it was better finding that out now than in the long run. It may be at Epic rarity, but it is still just a skill that an Expert mage can create.

In other words, he can’t rely on his barriers, not in the way it is now. If the angel said that he needed to be a Journeyman in less than two years, he had no other choice but to find other ways to get stronger. That way, he can help gain experience by killing monsters alongside Mikella, upping the XP gain by double, or at least half as much as hers by himself.

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Once he got to a far enough distance, making sure not to stray too far from the barrier to avoid getting spotted by the monsters in the biodome, but also making sure that the others wouldn’t hear the potential life-threatening procedure he was about to do, he sat down on the ground, and lifted his pens out into the air.

He first drew runes on a barrier to provide a dim lighting over his surroundings. Then, he created a sort of mirror-like substance on another barrier, making sure that it captures every part of his now exposed forearm to the humid air. It wasn’t perfect, but the lightning made it good enough.

With everything ready, he let out a slow breath. After keeping his posture steady and his heart pacing normal, he flared Recovery through his eyes.

With the skill active, he could see his own magical channels which normally couldn’t be visible by the naked eye. Since being fused with Internal Senses, a skill gained from his Runist Class, it made it a lot easier to see the inner workings of a person or object.

He focused deeply on the part of his forearm where the center was directly on top of his magical channels.

He breathed slowly, allowing his Pens of Paroth to float seamlessly near him. He focused one pen, and used the other to draw a tiny rune on the first pen. After the rune was done, the first pen’s tip then exhibited something he never imagined before

The tip covered itself in a layer of magical energy, re-creating the tip that extended, then shortened. It was slow at first, then it rapidly increased in speed. He wasn’t into tattooing, but he recalled that it involved a needle that goes up and down more than a thousand times a second, rather than making it heat up like he first imagined.

However, his hesitation was beginning to creep up on him like a ghost. He forced himself to remember why he needed to do this.

To get stronger. To reach Journeyman. To help his comrades by reaching Journeyman. To help his partner, Mikella.

To help his little sister, Clara.

That was all that he needed to force the intensifying tip of his pen straight to his forearm. A hot sensation unlike anything he ever felt before traveled across his forearm, up his arm, and straight to his nervous system.

He hissed, but he forced himself to grit his teeth and bear it. The pain wasn’t bad, but it was so pinpointed in such a bad way that it made him want to tear up. He knew it was close to the magical channel, but he didn’t expect the reaction to be this bad.

He immediately let go, but he didn’t plan on stopping just yet. He looked down, using the special mirror and lighting he created to see the horrid mark he left on his arm. The pain was still there, nearly causing him to feel hot flashes around his eyes. Blood welled up from where he pressed it, already creating a terrible flow that dripped to the ground below.

He knew he messed up when he couldn’t handle the pain, flaring Recovery to heal the arm. The wound healed up immediately, since it wasn’t that bad, and it even left the skin scar-less.

He breathed again. Now that he knew what to expect, he pressed the rapidly vibrating tip onto his arm. More pain ensued, and somehow it was worse than before. He put it even closer to where the channel was, trying to see a reaction.

Then, he started to draw. Slowly, ever so slowly, he dragged the tip across his skin and forced himself to stop hissing. His face began to sweat, and his eyes started to turn blurry from the pain. But he willed himself to keep trying, to keep drawing.

The first rune he wanted to create was something that related to one word–Strength. In the runist language, the word alone is enough to signify the attribute of the status screen, the stat that governs physical power.

It was enough to relay his intentions onto the rune as he formed it, but he cursed whoever made the letter for Strength so long and convoluted, having so many strokes and swerves that made his skin start to blister. But as he drew, the pain continued to increase until it eventually became somewhat numb.

As he started the process, his Meditation skill took over by autopilot. He only focused on the rune now, ensuring that no mistake was made. He made this rune countless times, and his Runic Library and Inscription Proficiency was enough to avoid making any mistakes.

Yet he felt that nothing was working. He was forcing a rune onto his skin which by theory should’ve worked–but his magic wasn’t reacting to it no matter how close he was to finishing it.

Eventually, he finished drawing it, putting the pen down. He felt like he was ready to go unconscious, but he kept focusing on why the rune wasn’t working. It should’ve worked this time as the medium wasn’t just his skin, but his very flesh and core of his soul. And there was nothing more powerful than using the human body as a medium. It was impractical for many reasons–why the hell would you draw it on your own body? It’s painful as hell.

He also made it close to the magical channel, so it should’ve worked, but he felt something was missing. He was also sure to pour his mana as well, however…

“What are you doing?”

Zeke flinched as he looked up to find none other than Cloud crossing his arms, staring hard at him. He had a frown on his face, signifying exactly what he thought of the situation.

Zeke had done it now. Of course Cloud of all people would notice the mana he was trying to pour into his runes. As he tried to figure out a way to make this situation as less bad as it should, Cloud spoke again.

“...You forgot the main point of making runes; You need to stay calm, otherwise, it wouldn’t work.”

Zeke raised his head. Now he was more confused than scared shitless.

“You… you’re okay with this?”

“Of course I’m not,” Cloud shook his head as he shrugged. “But what can I do? You’re the ones who have to deal with angels and gods. The best I can do is to make it better for you both.”

Cloud approached Zeke, and at first he was afraid he was gonna do a spell to knock him unconscious. Instead, Cloud sat near him, looking over at the work over his arm since it was already exposed and all.

“...I see what you’re trying to do,” Cloud said. His lips pursed as he put on a pensive stare. “But you do realize how dangerous this could be, right? I told you that runes can have a massive effect on their surroundings. So if you put it onto your body, you're asking for some major consequences if this fails.”

“...I know,” Zeke breathed, closing his eyes. The face of that angel that was currently possessing Clara moved to the forefront of his mind. “But I don’t know what else to do. I have to get stronger, and I know that the way I am now won’t cut it in the long run. I need to get started on something else, something that will be beneficial later on and get stronger. I don’t want to just support everyone else as they get stronger–I want to get strong with them.”

He felt selfish–childish even to admit this to Cloud, his master and benefactor ever since they came to this world. Cloud stared at him for a while, then back to the rune on his forearm.

“...I know how you feel. All I could think about when I was little was to become strong, to be better than anyone else. To ascend to Master stage.”

Cloud looked ahead, and Zeke noticed the long-distant stare in his eyes.

“Back then, it was just for pride and my ego. It’s no wonder why I failed. I see why now how you two managed to advance so fast. You have a goal, and a decent one at that.”

Cloud turned back to him. “But you’re still too young. You need to at least have someone watch out for you when you’re planning something so dangerous. You didn’t like it when Mikella headed out on her own during training, right?”

Zeke winced. He was pretty much doing exactly that. Cloud chuckled softly as he pointed at the messed up rune carved into his flesh.

“The reason why this didn’t work is because you’re focusing too hard on your surroundings, and less on the rune crafting. What you’re implying here is too high of a concept for the amount of mana you’re putting in. I could tell you’re putting in at least 10% efficiency like I taught you, but this particular one requires a whole lot more.”

Zeke widened his eyes. “But you told me that going any farther would make the rune combust itself.”

“Yeah, and it’s no wonder why you kept it low. You’re doing it on your own skin. But the rune you’re trying to draw, which I’m guessing is to improve your body, is too high for even that much. You’re going to have to try harder, and not be afraid of the backlash.”

Zeke swallowed whatever was left in his throat. He was already on the precipice of his limits, and Cloud was telling him to go even farther.

But Cloud shook his head.

“Normally, I would put this behavior down. A Runist could never do a thing like carving runes into their flesh. It’s unheard of… but you have what others don’t–ample experience of runecrafting, and a decent healing skill.”

Cloud smirked lightly, raising Zeke’s hair on end.

“Not to mention, that Recovery skill allows you to peer deep into your body, way better than a normal Internal Senses skill. You have a much better chance of achieving this impossible feat than any other runist I know. Surely, repairing a lost limb or two shouldn’t be impossible for you.

He should’ve realized that Cloud would’ve pushed him harder than this. No matter how much he tried to get stronger, even Zeke was hesitant on going too far on his own body.

But seeing Cloud’s reaction to this, now there are no more limits. His mind stopped working as it should and threw caution to the wind.

Tonight, he’ll feel the kind of pain he had never felt before. Perhaps to the point where even acquiring skills from skill books would feel like child’s play compared to this.