The Runic Artist

“Do you have to be so crass about it?” griped Nate, staring at Kiri as she joined him at the table. “And how did you even know? Was it Frick?”

“Wasn’t Frick. That’s one of the reasons I swung by, but we’ll get to that. So, what happened? I thought you were going to just tell her you didn’t have time for a girlfriend?” asked Kiri, ignoring the comment about being crass. He wasn’t surprised. She could be as bad as Luc when the mood took her.

“I did. I said that. But, umm, I may have given her a painting…you know…to soften the blow of rejection?” he explained.

“Talk about mixed signals,” snorted Kiri. “Then what happened? Besides the obvious. I don’t need the details. Was hard not to tell, to be honest. You wouldn’t believe how much sex goes on at this University. Might as well call it the University of Desire, if you catch my meaning.”

“Umm, she suggested something casual could work, then you know…apparently you really know,” Nate replied, putting the bracer he had been working on down next to the cube he had won in the Fourth Hell. Something he had taken to keeping out for inspiration. “Anyway, how are you spying on everyone? I didn’t sense anything.”

“Well, you’re both adults, so you do you, just be careful, Nate. Casual probably suits you. You do get a bit…sidetracked…with your projects and art. Taking risks you probably shouldn’t. Like wandering around the slums with some strange old man?” Kiri suggested, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Ah. Saw that huh? Was it Aisling or Deverell’s idea to have me followed? In my defence…if he meant me harm he could’ve just run to the guards about…you know,” he explained. Even hearing his reasons made him suspect he was touched in the head when it came to his art.

“Dev’s the one who asked, but who knows if the Stormspear put him up to it. Not like we can ask her either for a few months. Never knew that higher tier Dungeon’s got so big. Anyway, I have a few things that we need to work through. Together. Firstly…you got a way to make it hard to spy on us? I can’t sense anyone nearby but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be hiding themselves from my Soul Sense.”

Nate pulled out a small cube of metal. Sitting a mana-gem in the open-slot in the top of the cube the runic array activated as it started receiving a steady mana flow. It wasn’t his best work but the runic array that combined a mana exclusion barrier rune and a sound obfuscation rune should be enough to handle most spying Skills. The metal cube was only Rare tier so far, but it was Frick’s second priority to keep raising it, the first being the bars of manerium. He suspected it would be a bad idea to keep the smugglers waiting and more wealth was always useful.

“Okay. We’re good. So what did you want to talk about?” he asked his best friend.

“Your illusion that you used doesn’t hide your soul energy. But I have been thinking about it, and the time I died…or whatever it was…and how we got into that situation. Can I test something on you?” she asked. For the first time in a long-time his best friend seemed unsure, her blue eyes boring into him as he suspected she was trying to gauge his reaction. She didn’t need to worry. He trusted her with his life.

“Go ahead. If it’s embarrassing though, it stays between us,” he replied.

“And me,” Frick added.

“And the asshole,” agreed Kiri.

Frick lit up with a smile at the insult. That faded away though as Kiri stared at Nate and spoke. He was sure he heard the words. He definitely saw her mouth move. But he couldn’t think of what she had said. His hands rested on the table and he realised he wasn’t blinking. Just staring at Kiri. But why would he stop? That’s what he was supposed to do. But why? Was that the words? The seconds dragged on and then Kiri tapped the table twice with a finger. All of a sudden he could hear everything again. Hear everything and remember.

“Oh fuck,” he whispered.

She nodded her agreement as he remembered what she had said.

“Look at me and hear nothing, forgetting my words, until I tap a finger on the table twice.”

That is what she had said. He’d not even sensed the effects in time to do anything about it. It was the battle in Firth Forest all over again. The Enchantress using Suggestion and Command on him. He’d had no resistance then, and he didn’t now. Worse, he’d not even felt it or seen it, like he had when the Enchantress had used her Command skill on him.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Command the Soul and A Hidden Soul,” Kiri answered. “I don’t think my Class specialises in the former. That took a significant amount of soul energy to influence yours, even for such a basic command.”

He could see she wasn’t wrong. Her usual soul energy seemed like it was down almost a quarter. That said, he really had to focus with Awareness of the Runic Artist to see it. He ignored the notification that he had reached level forty in the Skill and focused on her soul energy. It was like her soul energy was being obscured. The second Skill she mentioned was his guess.

“A Hidden Soul is obscuring your soul energy I am guessing? Is that why I didn’t notice you spying on Britt and I?” he smirked in amusement to take the sting out of his words.

Kiri laughed, finally losing the serious expression she had been wearing. He suspected she had been concerned about what his reaction to her using the Command the Soul Skill on him would be.

“I’m just looking out for you and women in general. Your technique is improving, based on Britt’s reactions,” Kiri replied with a salacious wink.

“Gods damn it. I walked right into that one,” he groused, leaning back and smiling as both Kiri and Frick laughed. He joined in a moment later.

After they had finally calmed down he leaned back in the chair and voiced the obvious, “I need to protect my soul energy somehow so I can’t be influenced by Skills like that. Or at least, not without costing them something to force the issue. I’m never going to be able to match your Willpower. That’s the relevant Stat right?”

Kiri nodded her head in agreement.

“So, the question is, runecrafted item or Soul Engraving?” he thought out loud.

“You know my opinion, I think. It should be a Soul Engraving. So you can sense the pressure of an attack and it allows for a more…adaptable response. Like extra layers using your runes. Can you make an item that could warn you when you are being attacked?” she asked curiously.

“Probably. Not easily, but probably. I’ve got the Sigils for it, I think. But I agree with you. It should be a Soul Engraving. So much for my obfuscated mana,” he sighed, unhappy about losing that effect.

The moment he pulled out his notepad to start designing the rune Kiri laughed and stood up.

“Come find me when it’s ready. No wasting time, okay? Barge into my room if you have to. I hate the idea of you being this exposed,” Kiri said, heading for the door.

“Will do,” he replied, eyes glued to the page as he scribbled before glancing up and catching Kiri’s attention. “And thanks, Kiri. Really. I should’ve been more aware of the risk. Was it just seeing through my Illusion that made you realise I was exposed?”

Kiri paused at the door and shook her head, “No, it was when I realised my Soul Sense struggled badly with some of the Nobility that I realised that they were shielding their soul energy somehow. Then I asked the obvious question, of why. Was a very short leap from there.”

“Well, thanks again. Will have this ready by tonight.”

Kiri grinned and nodded before heading out the door.

*************

Kiri walked away from Nate's room, glad she had put her best friend on the right track. He hadn’t even noticed when she’d slipped a Soul Tether onto him. At least this way the next time he snuck off she’d be able to track him. Plus, once she engraved his soul barrier rune into his soul energy she would see if it removed the Soul Tether. She’d explain it to Nate when she did. He was the one with the head for how this stuff worked. Better to give him all the information, then take his advice. For now though, she had a date with the combat grounds. It was time to go pick on a few first year nobles. She smiled in pleasure at the planned violence.

*************

As Kiri left Nate pushed on Awareness of the Runic Artist to keep following her even as she moved beyond its range. He’d been testing this since before their Dungeon outing but this was his first time trying to use it on a person rather than just a location. He felt his sphere of awareness stretch, then a small bit disconnected and followed Kiri. It managed to keep up with her for fifty metres before the attempt collapsed. Another ping in the corner of his vision popped up.

Awareness of the Runic Artist 40 > 41

Awareness of the Runic Artist (M) is ready to evolve.

Evolutions Available! Please Select 1.

Skill Evolution Options:

Farsight of the Runic Artist (M)

The Farsight of the Runic Artist reveals the truth of reality. An evolved version of the signature skill of the Wandering Runic Artist, this Skill lets them peer into the underpinnings of the world we live in, be it runes, sigils, spellforms, concepts or the nature of space. While active the user will receive advanced information about anything within either of their spheres of awareness that they focus on, parting the veil and revealing the truth. Information revealed grows with Skill Level, Perception & Intellect. Enhances Perception by 10%. Increases by 2% per Skill Level. Distance for Sphere of Awareness is Skill Level * fifty centimetres centred on the user. Farsight Sphere of Awareness can be created and manually controlled to move. Maximum range for Farsight Sphere of Awareness is Skill Level * ten metres. Increases Creativity by 18%.

Hidden Sight of the Runic Artist (M)

The Hidden Sight of the Runic Artist reveals the truth of reality without revealing the user. An evolved version of the signature skill of the Wandering Runic Artist, this Skill lets them peer into the underpinnings of the world we live in, be it runes, sigils, spellforms, concepts or the nature of space. While active the user will receive advanced information about anything within their sphere of awareness that they focus on, parting the veil and revealing the truth. Information revealed grows with Skill Level, Perception & Intellect. In addition the sphere of awareness is significantly more difficult to detect. Enhances Perception by 10%. Increases by 2% per Skill Level. Distance for Sphere of Awareness is Skill Level * fifty centimetres. The Hidden Sight of the Runic Artist is Skill Level * 2% more difficult to detect. Increases Creativity by 18%.

Walk your Path. Reach your Goal. Become One with Mana.

“Fuck!” he cursed.

“It’s like the System is taunting you,” added Frick as he joined him at the table.

“It really really is,” Nate replied with a sigh. “I want both. Like, I really want both. Fuck. Hidden Sight of the Runic Artist would make my sphere of awareness eighty-two percent harder to detect the moment I took this. I might be able to start piercing peoples veils. Would that be additive or multiplicative if I created a runecrafted item for obfuscating my mana? That’s so damn good!”

He wouldn’t have been having this conversation if his dinky Rare tier anti-scrying ward wasn’t sitting on the table still, but he had to admit it felt good to say it out loud, even if he should’ve kept it mental with his Familiar.

“So, thoughts?” he asked Frick.

“It’s a harder choice, Boss. The last evolution mighta been painful, but you know that your choice made sense since you’re trying to change your Embodiment. You literally had to pick that one, or else, kinda deal. This one…they’re both good and neither of them has anything to fucking do with your Embodiment plans. So the question is, do you want to be able to spy on things from further away, or more discreetly?” posed his Familiar.

That was the question. Being able to start checking out peoples Classes without them knowing he was piercing their veils sounded amazing. Might give him ideas, or let him scope out opponents while hidden behind his Illusion runic array. But it would mean he couldn’t spy on things from four hundred or more metres away. Sure, that might be more detectable, but he could literally sit down on the ground and scope out a huge area around him just by roaming his sphere of awareness over it. It also meant he could likely use it to find new Dungeons very quickly. But, was he going to get the chance to even attempt anything like that in the near future? He was likely going to be at the University for at least the next year or two. Maybe even the whole four if he hadn’t gotten everything he needed out of the place by then. Surely that would be enough time to take this Skill to its next evolution.

He smacked himself in the forehead. He’d forgotten about one of the major reasons he wanted to be able to move his sphere of awareness. For teleporting. He wanted to be able to scout ahead to where he intended to teleport without needing Frick to do it. In the end, that sealed the deal. He’d just have to work on a runecrafted item to obfuscate his mana so he could start piercing the veils around this place anyway.

With his decision made he selected Farsight of the Runic Artist. Bringing up his Status he looked at the two Skills he’d evolved and their new effects.

Farsight of the Runic Artist (M) Lvl 41 - (+90% Perception, +18% Creativity, 20.5m Sphere of Awareness, 410 metre summoning range for Farsight Sphere of Awareness)

Conceptual Intent (M) Lvl 41 - (42 Intents, 21 Imbued Intents, +3 Subconcepts, +41% Intellect)

With that done he turned his attention back to creating a powerful soul barrier rune that Kiri could engrave onto his soul. While he scribbled he thought over his plans for the following day. It was to be his first Enchanting lecture. He almost couldn’t wait. After he’d found there were no Sigils beyond Initiate tier in the standard Library at the University he’d given up on finding useful Sigils that way. Apparently the best way was in the lectures themselves, with Enchanting offering the most diverse selection. It was finally time to start growing his repertoire some more. If he didn’t get what he wanted he was seriously considering ways to break into the restricted section of the Guild Library. Because they were standing in the way of him changing his Embodiment. What he needed, more than anything, was to start crafting Grandmaster tier runes. That was how he was going to change away from Wandering. He was not like Arikanvil, and he never wanted to be like that unfeeling, uncaring God.

It was going to be a busy few days, he thought. Between his first Enchanting lecture; his first manerium delivery; and his plans for another graffiti outing in the Slums. He grinned and doubled down on finishing the rune.