~~~Lee~~~

Class Level Up: Runic

Runic has reached the Expert Threshold. No Evolutions Available. Ranking up to Level 100 (Expert)

New Class Choice Available.

I don't believe it, Lee thought as he stared at the flickering rune in front of him. The rune that had finally pushed him up to the next level. A rune he hadn't thought would work. Hell, it still shouldn't work... not like this.

Gabriel stood smiling beside him. "See? Everyone knows that fire is hot."

"That's..." Lee shook his head. It was a light rune. A damn light rune that gave him his long-awaited level. Not his gravity rune. Not the indestructible armor or weapons he'd created. No, it was the simplest rune in his entire library of runic knowledge.

Although it wasn't only a light rune. It was a firelight rune. Except it was exactly the same as his previous light runes... only, it flickered and gave off heat. Like a fire would.

"Was it hard to change the light?"

Lee shook his head again. "No..." He'd simply thought about fire while creating it. "Not hard at all."

That was not how it should work. That was not how any of this worked! Except it had worked.

His time bubble popped, and Lee put up another one before Jeremy could do more than open his mouth. He knew what the man was going to say and delayed the inevitable a little longer. "How did you know it would work?"

"I... didn't," Gabriel said sheepishly. "But it seemed right! I can feel it when you make the runes, and they always work better when you really want them to!"

That wasn't much of an explanation, but Lee understood. Mostly. Ever since making Three, his runes had felt more... living? Or less static? He wasn't sure what the right term was—maybe flexible?

Even before Three, he'd altered his skeletal rune. That had definitely been a big step, and one he was sure had helped when it came time to create Three. Of course, the source had played a large role as well. More than he could remember... including, most likely, whatever had given Gabriel his uncanny knack for all things rune.

Lee watched the boy as he smiled innocently down at the plate, holding his hands out as if warming them before a fire. Which, for all intents, he was. So young. So innocent. Even after everything.

"You did good, Gabe. Very good." Lee returned the beaming smile with a little less unbounded optimism and then glanced at the unmoving Jeremy outside the time bubble he kept refreshing. "But I think it's time for your classes."

Gabriel had already seen the other man, and he knew what it meant as well as Lee did. "I don't want..."

"I don't think either of us really has a say in that, do you? Or are you trying to get me in trouble with your mom?"

"Mama's not that scary..."

Lee hid his grin at the blatant lie. "So, are you going to tell her you don't want to go to school?"

Gabriel folded instantly with a muttered, "No." Then he grinned mischievously and whispered, "But if we stay in the bubble, then it won't ever be school time!"

"Sadly," Lee said. "My bubbles aren't that good. I think Jeremy will swap you upstairs if we wait too..."

"That's okay! I like Uncle Jeremy's swapping! Can I stay until then!?"

It was Lee's turn to fold. "Sure, and until then, what runes do you think I should put on this?"

He pulled the white ceramic stick across the room with Mana Mind, ignoring the pain in his head that accompanied the sudden drain of mana through his brain.

Gabriel touched it with a frown of concentration. "It looks like your plates."

"It is!" Lee held up the two-foot-tall stick that was on its way to becoming a staff. A proper wizard staff. One fit for a runic.

"But it's not a plate."

"You're right," Lee said. "But it's made out of plates. Watch." He concentrated and cast his Create Plate skill, focusing carefully on size and placement. It materialized slowly at one end of the nascent staff, like a large coin, with a good few millimeters of its thickness appearing inside the already created material.

His plates were the best material Lee had found that started off with purely neutral mana. Much like his own liquid mana. Or presumably, like Gabriel's would be once he became an apprentice.

Lee hadn't forgotten about the level-up notification—one long-awaited and eagerly anticipated by the child in front of him. But he didn't mention it. Not yet. He would talk with the boy’s parents first.

They'd already given Lee the go-ahead for apprenticeship, but he would still wait. Gabriel was their child, and Lee had a strong feeling that the boy would have to adapt before it was over. Adapt in a very major way. He wouldn't go there without talking to them once more.

One last chance to change their minds.

Lee didn't think the change would be irreversible. But at the very least, it would cost Gabriel some of his adaptability. A finite resource. So far as they'd discovered.

Not that he expected the boy to change his mind about being a runic. Not after all he'd seen and heard. But he was still a kid—a little kid—and this felt like far too big of a choice for someone his age to have to make... It also felt inevitable.

To that end, Lee had already started preparations for the expected eventuality. Namely, he wanted Gabriel to be, not only safe, but also empowered. Not that the kid would get anywhere near the fighting. Not if Lee had any say in it. Or his parents.

Unfortunately, he remembered all too well how the monsters out there always zeroed in on him over other people. A phenomenon that first Trak and now Z confirmed was because of his legendary class. A class that Gabriel would soon share. Which, unfortunately, would make him monster bait as well. Even as an apprentice, according to Z.

It wasn't really the monsters that Lee worried about. Not the ones in the lairs. It was the other humans he feared more.

Gabriel would be a runic. Lee had no doubts about that, but his expectations about what he would be capable of weren't high—not with Gabriel's much lower soul attribute. The key bit was that the kid could also move freely beyond Three's walls. Unlike himself. It shouldn't be necessary, but there might be an occasion where it mattered enough to send him out there.

Which was why he was making a wizard staff. Something that would accept a lot of liquid mana. Something he could hopefully stick a lot of powerful effects onto to protect a child if worst came to worst.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a quick creation process. He had to force the skill to slow down if he wanted each plate to appear partially inside the others without violent results. He'd learned that the hard way.

While he worked and while Gabriel watched, Lee checked the notification. It had some strange wording...

New Class Choices Available.

It was supposed to offer him a new class skill, wasn't it? But this notification offered something else when he focused on it.

Your actions until this moment have provided you with options to alter the trajectory of your Runic class going forward.

Choose your path:

[Indomitable]

[Creation]

[Utilitarian]

He got a description to go with each option, but it wasn't a lot.

[Indomitable]

You have pushed your runes to the limits of their power... and beyond. Keep pushing.

[Creation]

You have created a legendary item. Create more.

[Utilitarian]

You have provided runes of function and utility to those around you. Become indispensable.

Very sparse, though, with some clue where each would lead. The different options also gave him a certain... feeling of where they'd come from.

The first one made him think of his runes on the building from before he’d created Three. Also his countless armor and weapon runes, and his skeletal and soul runes, with those last two far outweighing the rest.

All of them were runes that had saved his life in one way or another. Not counting Three.

The creation option was obviously all about Three. Well, almost. There were other runes that came to mind, but all of them were far outshadowed by the masterpiece that was Three. Obviously.

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As for the last option, it felt the least meaningful. His light runes, heating and cooling runes, and all the other little things that made life easier or helped someone else's abilities work better. Not bad, but it couldn't compare to the first two choices. Not in Lee's mind.

Unfortunately, that was all he had to go on. No more descriptions. There was nothing that really told him what each one would mean. Nothing more than a vague feeling that it would mean leaning into more of the same.

He was internally debating between the first two options when Gabriel vanished from beside him and appeared upstairs among the other gathered children. Lee let his bubble lapse and could feel Gabriel's intense disappointment through the soul link. Far too intense for the circumstances.

It was a child's emotion. An overreaction to mild inconvenience. In the same vein, his disappointment didn't last. Despite his complaints, the kid actually enjoyed his schooling. Just don't tell him that when he's enjoying something else... classic kids.

"Jeremy, are you up to expert with your class yet?"

The man scoffed. "While I have made some progress, I'm not that good. Why do you..." His frown turned into a smile. "Oh, you finally got the level? Gabriel must be thrilled. What was his affinity?"

"I haven't told him yet. Want to talk to his parents first."

"Probably a good idea."

"I'm also not sure how to see his affinity..."

"Don't ask me," Jeremy said. "But I expect Alejandro or Maria can explain it for you."

"Yeah." Lee frowned. "They aren't in Three right now, but if you see them before I do..."

"I'll let 'em know." He looked away, almost nervously. "You get any good class skill options?"

Lee shook his head. "That's the strange part. I didn't even get the option for new skills... It's... something else."

"Something good?"

"I think so..." Lee said slowly. "I haven't chosen yet, but... I think I know which one to pick."

"Doubt I can offer anything useful, but I can give you my two cents if you want it?"

"Thanks... but I don't think you'll be much help for this."

Creation was a tempting choice. Even if it didn't say how it would help him. Three was absolutely fantastic. The building had protected him countless times and even saved him and Stanley from the soul wound. If he could make more stuff on that level...

Still, it wasn't the choice he was leaning toward.

Three was great. So great that Lee didn't think he needed another. It felt far more important to do all he could to ensure Three's survival and, through it, his own. More than that. He would ensure his new family's survival. Nothing was more important than that.

The experiments with upgrading Three's base materials were a good start, but he wanted more.

Indomitable.

Lee wanted Three to be indomitable, and the building was full of his runes. Full of his soul. If he could upgrade those runes...

The same feeling that told him what each choice meant also told him it wasn't all-or-nothing. This choice wouldn't force him down a narrow path while blocking all others. It would only make one path smoother—one path stronger. Better.

He made a choice.

New Trait Earned: [Indomitable]

~~~Somewhere Very Far Away~~~

Kaelen Elendern watched his nephew approach in silence. One nephew among thousands. Though perhaps this one stood out a touch more lately...

"I have done as instructed, Uncle." Vaelin bowed shallowly—too shallowly. He'd grown a bit more spine since their first meeting.

He also didn't need to say anything; Kaelen could clearly sense that his nephew was now D-grade. Sure, his power was naught but a flickering candle compared to his own, but he had risen to the challenge and ascended through the low ranks faster than any of his cousins. "You're early."

Vaelin brightened, though he tried to hide it. "Then you have the key?"

"Of course. This old man is not without means." Though he suspected it would have proven far more difficult had Vaelin not done so well at keeping information of the new race from spreading.

"Wait, if I'm early... then that means the dungeon is not yet D-grade?"

"Indeed."

"Then why push me to D-grade?" Vaelin questioned, a bit too much heat in his voice. "You only give the monster time to grow stronger! Or for another to steal our prize!"

Kaelen didn't react to the blatant and, from any other, deadly disrespect. Instead, he only relaxed the shield protecting this insignificant weakling from the weight of his own power. Relaxed it ever so slightly.

A small fraction of his power filled the room, and Vaelin fell prone instantly, only barely hanging on to his consciousness as Kaelen reminded him of his place in their partnership. Yes, Vaelin had provided valuable information, but that was all he had to offer.

The gall of this weakling... routed from an F-grade dungeon only to come crawling here and begging for help. If he was truly worthy of the Elendern name, then he would have defeated the legendary at their first meeting and returned triumphant.

Though it was for the best that he hadn't done so...

Kaelen reined in his power, then waited for the sniveling wretch to finish gasping for air. "Don't forget yourself, Nephew. While you have done well in bringing me this information, you are not indispensable."

"Yes, Uncle," Vaelin gasped, trying and failing once again to hide his seething resentment. It was good. He needed more fire in his belly. So long as he aimed it at the appropriate target.

"Now," Kaelen continued while withdrawing an item from his storage. "If you had known to bite your tongue, then I would have explained the reason I insisted on D-grade." He held up the item for Vaelin's inspection. "It was for this."

He watched his nephew inspect the item and then saw his eyes go wide with the expected reaction.

"But this..." Vaelin closed his mouth and ducked his head. "Would you explain for this one why you have changed course, Uncle?"

Kaelen smiled at him. That was better. Proper respect. "Why yes, my dear nephew. You see, while you were out there enjoying the dungeons I provided for your advancement, I uncovered what class the legendary is."

Vaelin opened his mouth to demand an answer, then closed it and waited instead. Excellent.

"It is almost certainly a Runic."

He watched the thoughts and emotions play across his nephew's face before, finally, Vaelin spoke, his tone just shy of accusatory. "I vaguely recall hearing of that before, Uncle. From my time in the nursery. As a babe."

"I am familiar with the nursery rhymes, and yes, those are the very same I speak of now. The legends. The original class of a primordial race. The lost and forgotten Runic."

"That is... fascinating, Uncle," Vaelin said, clearly not understanding the significance of what he'd heard. "Yet, I fail to see why this changes our plan to harvest the core."

The ignorance wasn't his fault. Vaelin was barely a child taking his first steps in the multiverse. "Because the rules, as you know them, don't always apply when it comes to the primordials. By all known accounts, things were vastly different in those early days. Some even say the Great System was different..."

Obvious blasphemy, but more importantly... "In the beginning, Mana was not what it is today. Saturation was low, and those who wanted any real power had to channel it directly from the Ley-Lines."

Vaelin frowned, then his eyes narrowed. "I know what I felt. The human wielded a source, not a Ley-Line. Which would be just as impossible..."

Kaelen studied his nephew but still saw no sign of deceit. He truly believed that an F-grade had taken a source. An impossibility. But... if that human also happened to have a primordial class?

Despite his hunt for knowledge, information on such topics was not easy to come by. Even harder was separating fact from the over-embellished tales those stories had become in the eons since the actual events had taken place.

"Doesn't this only make the core all the more valuable?" Vaelin asked, with blatant dreams of wealth dancing through his hungry gaze.

"If you wish to sell it as a relic of a bygone era. There are no primordial races left, remember? What good is a class shard if no one can learn it?"

Dreams of wealth faded in his nephew's eyes but didn't go out completely. "It still might fetch more than..."

"Gods, you are a fool!" Kaelen growled at the idiot child, sending Vaelin back to his knees with the mere strength of his ire. "The humans can learn it! Any of them!" His greed for the shard had already blinded him to the greater value of what he'd found.

Vaelin lifted his head but kept his gaze on the floor. "So... it is still valuable?"

His brother had always been a weaker specimen; it was no wonder that his offspring would be subpar. This one was no better than the rest. Pure dumb luck had given the idiot a chance to ascend further than he ever would have, and he would waste it all if given the chance.

Still, he would get a chance to succeed and prove himself worthy of ascending, but failure would not be allowed. Kaelen held up the item that was worth more than a thousand D-grade dungeon worlds. "You will use this on the human. If it survives, then you will return it to me here."

"If it survives?"

Kaelen scoffed. "Why do you think I am waiting for D-grade? It is the lowest possible grade that might survive the experience, and only because this human holds a primordial class and wields a source. On any other, I would expect even B-grades to succumb..."

Vaelin gaped at him, but Kaelen continued. "Either way, you will also return with enough breeding pairs that we can keep a healthy stock. If the runic dies, retrieve the core, and we will train another. If it survives, we will apprentice the others to it. Do you understand what that means? What it truly means?"

"We..." Vaelin licked his lips. "We will have a supply of... primordial classed humans."

"The only supply," Kaelen said with a nod. "Why sell a class shard when you can make more? You would only empower your enemies while cutting your own feet off."

Vaelin's greed was once again on full display as he scrambled back to his feet and bowed. "I will contact my agents, and..."

"My agents have already established contact with your human," Kaelen interrupted, and saw the quickly hidden disappointment flash across his nephew's face as he stiffened mid-bow. "They will assist you when the time comes."

"Yes... Uncle." More disappointment.

"Now, go. Prepare. I will summon you when the time comes... and you will not fail me."

"Yes, Uncle," Vaelin said while failing to conceal his anger. Good. The fire was back in his eyes. Though it was amusing how the lower grades always thought they could hide anything from their superiors.

Vaelin was almost certainly dreaming of cutting him out of the deal somehow. He didn't take it personally. It was what he would have done in his place. It was practically a rite of ascension. The only question now was how he would go about it and whether it would cost him his life if he botched it too badly.

Kaelen rolled a dungeon key across his nimble fingers as he watched his nephew stroll proudly past the gathered courtiers and other family members here to grovel, beg, and demand whatever trifles they thought mattered. None of them knew what had been discussed beyond their sight and hearing, but all of them looked on hungrily as Vaelin left.

"Soon," Kaelen murmured after his nephew. "Soon you will prove if you're worth anything."

A notification flashed in his mind every time the key touched his fingers.

[Dungeon Key]

Rank: Gold

Effects: Targeted or Open World.

Useable up to A-grade Dungeons if the user's grade is sufficient.

Current Dungeon Targeted: [Earth](E-grade)

Sector: 616(Invasion Blocked)

Mana Saturation: Peak E-grade

Resources: Blood-Iron Mine

Structures: Greenfield Fort

Population: (701) Combat. (1892) Noncombat.

Minimum Entrance Restrictions(Easy): 1 Mid D-grade; 1 High D-grade; 2591 Peak E-grades

Maximum Entrance Restrictions(Legend): 1 High D-grade

Very soon, he thought as he dropped the barrier, the signal for the next petitioner to approach.