Chapter 38：Runes Card (1/2)

After he settled down, he took out what Hazel gave him. It was a rectangular piece of hard paper that looked like a playing card. As he looked at it, he found it to have some mana paths on it. He realized this was what Ori talked about in the club room. This was a Runes Card.

He remembered that Ori said this was a onetime use, so Arthur didn't try to activate it. However, he had a different idea in mind as he looked at it. Sitting down, he placed the card in front of him as he began to study it. After a long while, he didn't receive any message from his legacy.

Arthur decided to observe the runes tree since it signified his progress in runes. After several times of studying the card and observing the tree, Arthur realized that one of the runes was getting brighter. It was the Protection-I rune.

”Is this card related to it? Can the reason I'm not learning a new rune-like the time at the willpower test be that this rune is artificial?”

The difference between artificial and real runes was vague, but Arthur understood the concept. To achieve a certain result, a rune is like a link between mana and the world. It converts mana into different phenomena. To attain this, the mana moves in a specific pattern being the rune's path. Using its link to the world, the mana rune then manifests different phenomena.

But what if there was no link, and merely a mana path? The rune wouldn't achieve the same result. It would then turn into a process of gathering a phenomenon from the world using the rune's path. It was a complex process, but it all boils down to a phenomenon called resonance. The mana path would resonate with the world and alter its reality.

This came at the expense of a greater mana cost and lower effect. For example, an ice rune would work better in a frosty environment. This was attributed to resonance as well.

Real runes, in comparison, would directly create things out of mana. This came because of the link to the world that humans don't have, but Arthur did.

Arthur decided to put the rune card down and started to practice his mana control. After the fight with Lian, he had seen huge changes. Even though he still needed time to use this technique, and he still couldn't stabilize the mana around him, he felt confident that he could take out the violet-gem goblin ant underground with a bit more practice.

After he was done with his practice, Arthur ate a meal with Kira before he started inspecting the rune card. As he studied it more, the protection-I rune started getting brighter and brighter. After a while, simply looking stopped getting the rune brighter. He started to feel the lines running along with the card, where they met, the materials they used. Arthur even smelled it just to be sure he was doing everything that should be done.

After another hour of experiments, Arthur decided he only had one thing to do. It pained his heart to waste it but he activated the card anyway. A sphere of light appeared around him and disappeared after 3 seconds. Arthur looked at this in bewilderment wondering if he might have used it improperly. However, his legacy proved that was it.

[Protection-II rune has been learned.]

[Protection-II: This rune would protect you from attacks for 5 seconds. Applies defense that equals your strength stat. Mana Cost: 15% of your Strength stat.]

It was the same as before, with only the word 'physical' missing. Although Arthur expected a higher degree of defense for this rune, he still felt pleased that he no longer needs to worry about magic attacks. However, the cost of using this rune increased as well. Arthur showed his current stats point to see his growth.

[Scholar Guardian's Legacy]

[Level: 10 (5%)]

[Strength: 42]

[Agility: 46]

[Stamina: 35]

[Perception: 27]