Chapter 57：Kody Nightroad (2/2)

”That doesn't explain why you hurt him.” Arthur's emotions were still far from being cooled off, and he took a step toward the ginger.

”I know! I just wanted to give him a reason to grow stronger, hopefully getting them to be together.” Kody didn't take a step back and resigned himself instead. Arthur paused when he heard this. He remembered his brother's reddened face when he asked him if he liked this girl.

”Okay, I understand.” Arthur nodded his head, thinking of some plans. ”I also think my brother needs to change his mindset and be a bit more confident, but we'll be using a different way than yours.”

”We?” Kody's jaw dropped as his eyes widened almost becoming like a chicken's eggs. ”Are you helping me in getting them together?”

”I am, I can't have my brother miss on things like I did,” Arthur said and Kody's face was pained, looking like he was a single-loner as well.

”I'm sorry for what I did, I never used my ability against him. I only sought to intimidate him a bit, that's all. If you're willing, let's get these two together, and you have my blessings!” Kody reached out his hand for a handshake, and Arthur took it. Despite his actions, this guy wasn't so bad.

”I'll still beat you up though, repaying what Oren had to go through.” Arthur pulled on Kody's, fisting him in the face lightly. Screams echoed knitting the song of justice being delivered.

***

”So, you take the whole week off and then come back to beat someone up?” Markus laughed, looking at Kody who had a few bruise marks on his face.

”I was busy, and we're cool now,” Arthur answered after he sat on his seat behind Amelia. The girl was still as cold, and Arthur never saw her not drinking her strawberry milk.

”Are you sure? Because everyone is saying how the transfer student is bullying people.”

”Oh, and?”

”Uh…” Markus was taken off guard by Arthur's response, and he didn't know what to do. It was then that he heard a rare chuckle come out from Amelia, and he was even more surprised.

”I guess you two share the same mindset.” Markus shrugged before turning toward his phone. Arthur simply smiled and opened his phone as well. He needed to check the information Ori just told him, so he used the search engine to look up some websites.

As Ori said, there was a runes-focused association in the Yalveran Union. Unlike what he had expected, this was another world altogether that Arthur had no idea it existed.

To summarize it, the association registers anyone who wishes to be a runes' master. They would start as apprentices, veterans, masters, grandmasters, and so on. Arthur was stunned by the popularity of this profession, it seems that it was a branch of blacksmiths, engineers, and probably everything.

These people would create weapons and artificial artifacts using only the mana paths to make a living. They would study the runes provided by the association through their runic bracelets, providing virtual reality.

For the sake of convenience, Arthur decided to call these artificial runes and his runes to be true-runes. He had researched all this time about people having the same ability as him, and there were none. Abilities and runes were thought to be extremely different matters unrelated to each other.

This proved that the legacy Jizo gave him was truly unique. Even though he was grateful for having it, Arthur couldn't believe he was a 'chosen one' or anything.

He was not, that has already been proven by his near-death experience due to his overconfidence in the underground tunnel. He was someone lucky, and he needed to use that luck to rise.

Runic bracelet were artificial artifacts created by the association to ease the process of learning for anyone willing. Of course, they needed to be awakened people with no criminal record or past offenses. They would then be issued a runic card that would have the runes they purchase from the association.

Today's club activities made Arthur realize that artificial runes had a chance of failure if the materials used were inappropriate or the mana path had some mistakes. His runes were different in that Arthur used them as easily as he can breathe, without any chance of failure unless he had no mana.

Things were getting complicated so Arthur needed to close his eyes to think them through. He lied on his desk, thinking ahead of all the things he needed to hide or show.

First, artificial runes gave weaker effects. They usually are affected by the surrounding environment because they lacked the 'creational' property of his runes.

Second, artificial runes needed a medium to channel. Things like Runes' bracelets and artifacts were examples of those, and maybe even potions.

Third, he needed to fail a couple of times when trying to write an artificial rune to make things more believable. He wouldn't hide his talent, but he didn't want others to know of his trump cards. That was the best way to go if he wanted to rise.