Chapter 73：Dimon (1/2)

Leaving his earnings aside, Arthur took a couple of cores and decided to experiment with them a bit. There has been something bugging him ever since he got his ability.

It was that there was a clear difference between runes.

Until now, Arthur has encountered two runes other than his Legacy runes. It was whether their action was active or passive. For example, Strength-II, Agility-II, and Stamina-II were passive, but he only used them as temporary runes or a one time strengthening permanent rune. The other one was the active ones, like detection, protection, force, restore, and others. They would act as artifacts when inscribed on inanimate objects and as skills for living beings.

Here comes the real question. What if he used his passive runes on inanimate objects? He has always considered them to be buffing runes since the first time he received his legacy. That thinking was influenced by his 'gaming' mentality that he had developed because of the status menu.

Runes were alive, they weren't coded effects. They were what created everything.

Arthur picked up a low-mid-tier core and decided to inscribe a Strength-II on his armor. Even though there was a chance of failure, there was also the chance that he could come up with something extremely crazy.

And he did.

The rune fused with the armor, glowing faintly on its surface. A single message made Arthur's started heart beat so loudly that he doubted the whole village heard it.

[Permanent rune created. This item would now boost its wearer's strength by 10 points.]

”Holy…”

Arthur was ignorant of artifacts and runes. He knew that much. He didn't know if such artifacts were available, or even artificial runes, out there in the world.

He still doubted it.

Artifacts boosting its wearer's body were unheard of. Even if they exist, they would be rare. As far as Arthur's knowledge was concerned, he didn't know of such artifacts. There could be some, but he doubted the public would know of them.

He knew who would, though. The military. This would be a military secret.

What would happen if Arthur started selling these? Countries, kingdoms, and any power would fight over them. They were the perfect equipment to make armies. If you gave one thousand people several artifacts, each strengthening them by 10, you'd have an army of awakeners in a matter of seconds.

Such a terrifying notion. Wars would happen at a moment's notice. Arthur even feared someone might find his equipment and find out what they did. What would he tell them? Did he get it out from the military? He either needed to discard old equipment or only inscribe new ones.

He felt a headache thinking about this.

The world was already brimming with tension, as Si said. He knew the reason for this. His breaking of the trial. He didn't know why, but it seems that the major powers around the world are tensed at the unexpected occurrence.

Someone has succeeded in prematurely ending the trial. Someone they didn't know his identity. They were probably thinking a new power has emerged.

The blood of the guardians.

This was the key to enter the trial. Arthur remembered bits of his conversation with Jizo.

'Long ago, there were nine guardians that ruled over the world and protected the human race. Worshiped by the people as the Lords of the world, these guardians boosted great prestige.'

'However,' Arthur remembers how his body felt like it was going to get crushed when Jizo looked angry. It was for a brief moment, but Arthur could label that moment as one of the scariest in his life.

'Five of the guardians betrayed the wills of their people, two remained neutral, and two opposed the other five.'

'I was one of those that opposed.'

'And what happened?' He remembered himself asking.

'We split the world into two.'

***

Leaving the hut in the afternoon, Arthur felt the power surge within him. He strengthened himself using three mid-tier cores. He increased his strength, agility, and stamina each by 5 points. After his runes evolved, he was able to evolve the permanent runes he had on his body as well. The net increase in stats was 5 points each since he already had the previous version giving him 5 points.

[Scholar Guardian's Legacy]

[Level: 17 (32%)]

[Strength: 85] [+10]