Chapter 166: Reunion (1/2)

The sky was bright yet Arthur's mood was bleak. He had spent the whole night debating which rune to buy, but he finally made a choice that was worth 20 legacy points.

”Welcome to the last day of the Runes Apprentices Cup!” Jumana coughed once before throwing her hands grandly. ”Let's laugh, cry, and bleed today!”

”Let's not bleed please,” Arthur muttered to himself at Jumana's ominous words. He was sitting in his room watching the announcement with Yurirl munching on his side.

”You've eaten three bags already.” Arthur glanced to Yurirl that was still eating the raisins.

”I have a high metabolism.”

”That's not the point.”

”The first challenger has appeared today! It's Lily Green and she had already chosen her opponent. The first duel shall be between Lily Green and Abraham Galan!”

The lucky participant has chosen the son of the grandmaster, so everyone cheered for her confidence. The duel started right away as each partner took their sides. Lily's partner was a woman of tall stature that had dark skin.

She took a single card and Arthur's sense perked up at the peculiarity. It was the same rune that she has used in the ranking round, a purely magical spirit attack. However, her score wasn't that satisfactory.

A radiant aura descended the stage as mana gathered and turned into a completely ethereal form around the rune. Then a bow appeared with an arrow and it was launched at the opponent.

The partner of Abraham seemed to know what awaited him and constructed a barrier as soon as the rune was activated. However, the ethereal attacked passed the barrier and struck the partner who fell to his knees.

The mana of the partner ran wild as his screams echoed through the arena. After the barrier rune was gone, Lily's partner walked over and struck the defenseless opponent, eliminating him.

”Soul Attack.” Arthur frowned. He had read about this type of runes in the library. It had the same concept of the undead parasites, as it used the ethereal form of mana to interfere with the consciousness and the user's soul.

Usually, these runes were prohibited in competitions as they had more than physical damage. However, basic runes could only result in unconsciousness for a few hours.

The crowd looked warily at the dark-skinned girl that held the runic cards. The unknown was feared and such runes were among the most feared among the public. Nonetheless, there was cheering.

”That's troublesome.” Yurirl frowned.

”It is, but I think my protection can work against it.” Arthur shrugged. He didn't think his protection would allow this attack to pass by. After all, it was a magical attack.

”What's the difference between your rune and Abraham's rune?”

”Well, many. Abraham's rune seems to be focused on elemental attacks more than magical attacks. Elemental attacks consist of both physical and magical aspects. For example, fire and the mana that fuels it. That's why the purely magical attacks were able to break through the barrier. Furthermore, it was mostly mana.”

”What about your rune?”

”It can protect you from it.” Arthur didn't explain his rune in detail. His protection rune was one of the most powerful ones he had. After all, it protected him from 'attacks.' There was nothing specified so Arthur was worries-free.

”How can you know so much about Abraham's rune without studying it?” Yurirl looked at Arthur for answers but Arthur was helpless.

”Divine sense allows you to connect to the world and feel it, right?” Arthur asked and Yurirl nodded. ”I can feel the same toward runes.”

Arthur chose not to lie, but he didn't say the full truth. As he looks at Runes, his eyes recognize every one of them. However, he didn't recognize the runes themselves but the alphabet the made them.

Every rune was a word. That's why you can see different runes with the same function. Why would there be different protection runes? It was simple. Their runic lines were different. The runic lines were the alphabet that only Arthur could read.

Lily's second challenge was issued, it was Leonard. However, as the spirits attack struck the hooded person, there was no effect. In the end, the dark-skinned woman lost the challenge.

Then came Lily's last challenge and it was Arthur, as a matter of course. As Arthur expected, her attack couldn't break the barrier. In the end, she lost as well. She now placed fifth, pushing Carlos and Abraham down.

Carlos's turn came and he challenged Arthur first. It was expected since he believed he could win this time.

”Same plan.” Arthur handed over the runic cards to the shocked Yurirl. ”Trust me.”