Nate stared out of the window of his suite as he looked over his gains for the last few days.

Amplified Magic 13 > 17

Empowered Runic Artistry 26 > 27

Runic Creation 28 > 30

Imbue Intent 30 > 31

Conceptual Material 28 > 29

Awareness of the Runic Artist 28 > 29

Runic Knowledge - Concepts 26 > 28

Using his mana constantly with his Skills, especially in combat, was quickly driving Amplified Magic towards its first evolution. That was a concern for him as he hadn’t really considered how to direct its evolution yet and was on track for another flat bonus evolution. That wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either. If he’d already started to shift his Embodiment towards something aligned with his art, he’d likely have pushed the skill in the same direction. But without that overarching guidance, he was at a loss. He would give it a little more thought, but it was almost a certainty it would evolve by the time he had finished the Tournament. That left him little time and he might need to accept a minor evolution this time and focus his efforts on how to evolve it when it reached level forty. With a sigh he pulled up his Status.

Stats

Physical

Mental

Magic

Strength

12

Intellect

142

Magic Power

126 (26)

Dexterity

68

Charisma

17 (3)

Magic Control

47

Agility

23 (10)

Creativity

117

Channelling Speed

38

Endurance

50 (3)

Willpower

22

Mana Reserve

125

Constitution

30

Perception

117

Mana Absorption

48

Classes

Primary Class - Level 10 (30)

Secondary Class - Level 1

Tertiary Class

Wandering Runic Artist (M)

Wandering Realmwalker (L)

…

Skills

Runic Knowledge - Concepts (L) Lvl 28 - (+33% Intellect)

Conceptual Material (M) Lvl 29 - (-14.5% Mana Cost, -25% Time Required)

Awareness of the Runic Artist (M) Lvl 29 - (+66% Perception, +18% Creativity, 14.5m Sphere of Awareness)

Imbue Intent (L) Lvl 31 - (17 Intents, 8 Imbued Intents, +15.5% Intellect)

Runic Creation (L) Lvl 30 - (-58% Mana Cost, +15% Creativity)

Empowered Runic Artistry (L) Lvl 27 - (-36% Mana Cost, +66 Magic Power for Runic Arrays)

True Teleportation (M) Lvl 22 - (220 metres teleport range, +18% Magic Control)

Amplified Magic (L) Lvl 17 - (+21% Magic Stats)

Spells

Minor Spatial Lock (R)

Status Effects

Divine Translation Spell (Permanent)

Familiar Contract (Permanent)

Class Core Concealment Soul Engraving (Temporary, Legendary)

Obfuscated Mana Soul Engraving (+40% Bonus to Hiding Mana Signature) (Temporary, Legendary)

It made him smile to see the new Soul Engraving. More than one person had been able to sense his sphere of awareness and after a short discussion with Evindal, he’d determined that for most of them, they were recognising his mana signature. The distinct flavour of the mana as it passed through his Class Core, tainted with his affinities, skills and even concepts. Even at Evindal’s vaunted level he couldn’t glean much from detecting mana beyond matching it to the source, but that didn’t mean others with high-level and tier skills couldn’t.

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He’d spent most of his spare time for the last two days designing the rune, as he’d needed to work with an Apprentice tier Sigil for Obfuscate. Offsetting it with his Master Tier Mana Sigil wasn’t enough to help the rune to approach Legendary, so instead he’d relied on Runic Knowledge - Concepts. Most of his time had gone into it, working alongside the Obfuscate sigil until he’d raised it to the Journeyman tier. The variation was small and he even sensed the Subconcept of hidden within the new Sigil. Two days to take a Sigil from what was the equivalent of Rare to Epic. It was a lot of time to spend, but it also opened up a whole new world for him with his existing Sigils. Especially if he could continue to also create variations that even echoed the Subconcepts he was interested in.

It was also not the only new rune he had created. He’d created a new rune for Kiri to engrave onto her soul. That one, which he was calling a Soul Empowerment rune, worked directly with soul energy, enhancing everything done with it. In Kiri’s case, that meant it magnified almost every one of her skills. She could teleport further using Soul Shift, it increased the space in her Soul Space, her boosting skill increased her speed and durability by even more. Every single one of her Skills was empowered.

He smiled, grabbing up the last couple of runes he had carved. Nothing special, but alternatives in case he needed them in a pinch. With the eleven slots in his robe filled, he headed downstairs. It was almost lunchtime, which meant he was due at the arena. There had been a fair few battles lined up over the morning for those who’d won four out of five fights. He’d suggested to Aisling that he should go watch the competition but to his surprise she’d told him his time was better spent crafting and preparing.That anyone who hadn’t managed a perfect run was unlikely to be enough of a challenge that he would need to prepare specifically for them.

Instead she’d told him to prepare a number of surprises for his opponents. What those surprises were supposed to be was entirely up to him. He had made more than a few as he stored the various runes, all carved into Rare pieces of wood. It had burned through all his spare mana except for two mana gems. His rainy day fund. Every single other mana gem was tucked away in the Mana Gathering Arrays gathered in his room.

At first he’d thought it might be better to separate the Mana Gathering Arrays, but it only took a glance to realise that left them fighting to pull the mana to themselves, reducing their effectiveness. Bundling them together actually helped the effect, to the detriment of the rest of the inn. He was starting to wonder if they were even impacting the Guildhouse’s own array. The mana differential was certainly noticeable as he stepped in the door of the Guildhouse.

He was about to use Awareness of the Runic Artist to try and detect the enchantments that were driving the Guildhouse’s own arrays when someone attempted to touch his arm. He’d felt them nearby but hadn’t expected them to actually try and make contact. His barrier kept them a finger width from making contact as he spun to face them.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” said the woman as she snatched her hand back.

He frowned at her for a moment, taking her in. He recognised her. Her black hair in a pixie cut and striking blue eyes. She was one of the ones he’d felt trying to identify him on his first day. She’d been with another woman with black shoulder length hair. He couldn’t remember what colour that other one's eyes were, but the blue of this one was so striking that it had been easy to remember.

“It’s fine,” he muttered. “You just surprised me.”

“Sorry, again,” she replied, flashing a smile at him.

“I just wanted to congratulate you. I heard you were one of the competitors that got through the preliminaries with a perfect record. Five and zero. You are the Barrier Mage, right?” she gushed, stepping closer.

He blushed slightly, taking an unconscious step back, “Yeah, that’s umm, right. Thanks for the congratulations. Aren’t you a competitor too?”

“Oh yeah. I am! Sorry, I am being so rude! I’m Helena. My sister and I are both competing. Her name is Gabrielle. She’s around here somewhere,” Helena said, looking around the room in what he thought might be consternation before she focused back on him. “We just thought you were really impressive. With the barriers and controlling earth! Just like Prefect Porter!”

“That’s cool,” he replied, unsure what to say to the overly friendly woman.

“Yeah. I know we’re still in competition with each other, but we were wondering if maybe you’d like to have a drink with us later?” she asked, her voice hopeful as she looked up at him. “Either to celebrate our victories or commiserate our losses. I find it’s always better done in good company, and you seem like you’d be excellent company.”

As she said the last bit he felt her eyes flick over him with what he suspected was additional meaning. Rather than feeling flattered for some reason it made him uncomfortable. No one who had approached him with interest in this world had been quite so forward. Whether that was because in Valeria’s case she’d felt there was a difference in ‘station’ or in the case of Lorimer, the Helmfirth Guild Librarian, because he was uncertain of Nate’s own proclivities, no one had ever been so brazen.

Smiling awkwardly at Helena he gave a slight shake of his head, “I’m flattered, but later I will either be preparing or practising with my teammate. Best of luck in the Tournament.”

As he finished he quickly spun on his heel and beat a hasty retreat.

“Boss, what are you doing? That was a freebie! She was basically throwing herself at you! Maybe her sister too! Add one more and you could match Luc!” sent Frick mentally, nestled in the Familiar Contract in his chest.

“That felt weird, Frick. I am not sure that’s what she wanted. That felt like she was sniffing for intel on me or maybe a set up to poison the competition or something,” he replied.

“You sure, Boss? She seemed pretty keen and she didn’t even try to scan you again. I mean, I agree she’s probably scoping out the competition, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t interested in a little bit of the double-backed goblin,” came Frick’s voice, followed by the Spirit cackling.

“I am just saying it felt weird. I don’t have time for that right now even if she was genuine. Besides, did you feel it when we tried to scan her?” asked Nate.

“What? No, Boss. I didn’t even notice you were doing it! That rune you made is so sneaky! You’re like a conniving goblin now!” Frick sent back excitedly.

“She’s got a veiled class core,” he replied.

“....what?” Frick sent, sounding confused.

“I don’t trust it. So keep your guard up, okay?” he finished with a note of vehemence.

“Got it, Boss. Sentry Goblin Frick is on-duty.”

Nate rolled his eyes but continued out to the training grounds. As he got closer he could hear the gentle hum of thousands of people moving, speaking and generally just existing. Stepping out the back door of the Guildhouse, a few other people passed him, going in both directions.

He stopped to admire the changes to the grounds. The four training grounds had remained for the preliminaries, with the centre set up as a stage for the Prefects and a few of the referees to mingle around and observe the various fights. Now that the preliminaries were over, they had removed the elevated stage in the centre and combined all four training grounds into one big arena. For now the arena itself was empty, but he knew that wouldn’t last much longer. They were just waiting to announce the top thirty-two and then it would be time to kick off the single elimination matches to start whittling the remaining competitors down to the top eight.

It wouldn’t stop there, but for now, that was what Nate had his eyes set on. Top eight. Guaranteed entry to the Royal University. He felt his heart flutter a little at the thought of all the Sigils they would have. That wasn’t even considering the information they might have on Runecrafting itself, and of course on Concepts and Subconcepts. Maybe they’d be able to help him identify the best path to take his Embodiment. That last thought left him feeling conflicted. Could they help him with that? Should they even? It was his path. He should choose it. But perhaps they would reveal some options for him and he could see what resonated with him. With who and what he wanted to be. The thought made him smile. But he was getting ahead of himself. Top thirty-two first.

He found Aisling and Evindal in short order and they guided him over to a small area that had a few of the other competitors already waiting. He spotted Flash who was glaring towards the back. Following his line of sight he saw the source of his glare. Kiri was leaning against the earthen wall of the stands, chatting to Coralie. The expression on Coralie’s face was as frosty as ever but the bleach blonde girl didn’t seem completely uninterested, slightly leaning towards Kiri. He wondered if this one would stick, but had his doubts.

Continuing to scan the competitors he spotted Null who returned his gaze and gave him a small nod. Both of Null’s teammates stood with him. The woman in armour, her hammer hanging on a belt at her side and the lanky archer were both doing the same as him, their eyes scanning over the other competitors. Only Null seemed not to care. Nate found it hard to blame him. If what they suspected was true, it was unlikely there were many here who could compete with him. They hadn’t even seen the full extent of his skills yet either, of that he was sure.

Null may not care, but he certainly did and he used the moment to scan the archer.

Arcane Archer (R) (35) / Arcane Ranger (U) (5)

Seeing Kiri’s old class was somewhat nostalgic but only for a moment. The path she was on now was the one she’d always wanted to be on. The fact that the archer had a perfect embodiment, so far, was a little cause for concern. Still, the tier difference in their skills should still allow him to snatch victory if they were matched. Seeing that reminded him that Null’s other teammate had also had perfect embodiment as well. Stalwart, if he remembered correctly. Did that mean Null did as well?

Before he could finish that thought, a large thud was felt throughout the arena and they spun to see Prefect Raoult standing in the middle of the arena floor, arms upraised. “Lets not keep everyone waiting any longer. Allow me to introduce to you the top thirty-two of the fifty third Royal University Entrance Tournament.”

Nate marched out onto the arena with the rest of the competitors, noting Helena and her sister Gabrielle had joined in time. It was time for the real fights to get started. Even if he wasn’t keen, he was prepared. Time to find out if he was prepared enough to make top-eight.