Chương 27: The City Above the Labyrinth

Sieghart rested both hands against a heavy metal gauntlet while Mana Transfusion guided energy into the runes carved around its knuckles. The weapon absorbed mana in short pulses, each one causing the engraved lines to glow with a pale golden light. Master Thorne had brought the gauntlet during his weekly visit to the farm. According to him, the weapon stored physical force and released it when the wearer struck something, making an ordinary punch powerful enough to damage armor.

The enchantment reminded Sieghart of Protection. Both effects reinforced close-range combat, although one defended the user while the other concentrated energy into an impact. That similarity made him wonder whether magical equipment was simply another way of preserving spells. He adjusted the flow of mana. The gauntlet required six hundred points to become fully charged, but Mana Transfusion had reached Level Fifteen, allowing him to complete the work without wasting more than a tiny portion of the energy.

The final rune brightened. Sieghart stopped the transfer and examined the engraved patterns while Master Thorne recorded something inside a worn ledger.

"How do you make weapons work like this?" Sieghart asked. Master Thorne looked up.

"You put them in front of me and ask annoying questions until they become magical."

"That doesn't sound efficient."

"It has worked for you so far." Sieghart waited. The old man sighed, closed his ledger, and picked up the gauntlet. He ran one scarred finger along the glowing runes before answering properly.

"My Aura is called Runesmith," Master Thorne explained.

"It allows me to forge weapons and tools, carve stable runes into them, and add magical effects." Sieghart's attention sharpened. Runesmith wasn't merely a profession that Master Thorne had learned through ordinary study. It was the nature of his Aura, giving him abilities specifically suited for enchantment and magical craftsmanship.

"What kind of effects can you add?"

"That depends on the materials, the item, and my skills. I can make a sword burn, a spear release wind, or a hammer strike with more force than the person swinging it could normally produce." The old man lifted the gauntlet and inspected the reinforced joints. Its enchantment wouldn't transform an untrained person into a master fighter, but it could multiply the result of a properly delivered blow.

"Can you put any spell inside a weapon?" Sieghart asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because the world dislikes making my work easy." Master Thorne set the gauntlet on the table. Several tools, jars, and wrapped bundles rested inside the wagon behind him, but he hadn't allowed Sieghart to examine most of them closely.

"My Aura provides the skills needed to shape the enchantment," the old man continued.

"That doesn't mean I can carve random lines into a sword and expect it to breathe fire." He explained that every effect required compatible materials. Fire enchantments might need powder taken from heat-attuned monsters, treated metals, or ink created with ashes that retained mana. Wind effects required lighter conductive materials, while earth enchantments needed substances capable of holding force without cracking.

Even simple storage arrays depended on powdered crystals and metals mixed into the rune-carving compound.

"Aside from my skills, I need the proper ingredients to carve runes and bind enchantments to an item," Master Thorne said.

"It isn't something you can learn or imitate just because you possess a great deal of mana." Sieghart nodded.

"I understand." That answer was disappointing but unsurprising. If enchanting magical weapons only required mana, every wealthy family would employ people with large reserves to manufacture them in enormous quantities. Master Thorne's Runesmith Aura performed work that ordinary control couldn't easily reproduce. It shaped the effect, stabilized the runes, and helped incompatible materials function together without exploding. The ingredients probably acted as channels, containers, and converters.

Mana supplied the energy, but the enchantment needed a structure capable of turning that energy into fire, wind, impact, or another predetermined result. Sieghart resumed charging the remaining equipment. As expected, he wouldn't be able to imitate Master Thorne's craft after observing it a few times. Infinite mana provided fuel, not instant knowledge. Still, creating his own enchantments shouldn't be impossible. Protection allowed Sieghart to reinforce his body with White Magic.

When the spell was active, he could punch walls with all his strength without injuring himself as badly as before. His blows also caused more damage. The spell didn't increase Strength directly, but protecting his bones, joints, and muscles allowed him to strike without his body absorbing as much of the impact. Several months earlier, punching a stone wall would have left his hand swollen and painful. Now he could produce cracks in weaker materials while suffering little more than temporary discomfort.

If Sieghart could reinforce his body, he might eventually learn to reinforce an object. Mana Transfusion already allowed him to place raw energy inside compatible tools. The missing step involved teaching that energy to remain stable and produce a chosen effect. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Runes were one solution, but they might not be the only one. Master Thorne's Aura gave him a direct and reliable path toward enchantment.

Sieghart would have to create a longer path through experimentation. The difference between difficult and impossible mattered. Sieghart had infinite mana, an increasing Mentality parameter, and enough stubbornness to spend years failing at the same experiment. He charged a short sword designed to release a burst of light when drawn. The weapon's runes accepted his mana smoothly, but Sieghart studied the flow instead of completing the transfer immediately.

Mana entered through the grip, divided into several narrow channels, and traveled toward the blade. Some energy remained inside a storage array, while the rest settled around the runes responsible for converting it into light. Mana Transfusion allowed him to feel the basic direction of the process. He couldn't understand the individual symbols yet, but the weapon no longer seemed like a single mysterious object. It was a collection of connected functions. Master Thorne watched him for several moments.

"You're slowing down."

"I'm studying the mana."

"I noticed." Sieghart finished charging the sword and placed it beside the gauntlet. Master Thorne didn't immediately hand him another item. The old man instead folded his arms and continued examining him with a thoughtful expression.

"If you truly want to learn more about magic, you should go to the capital," Master Thorne said. Sieghart didn't respond immediately. He had read enough about the capital to understand why the old man suggested it. The city had been constructed above one of the largest known dungeons in the kingdom. Its original settlement began as a military outpost responsible for controlling the entrance and preventing monsters from reaching the surface.

Everything changed when explorers discovered enormous quantities of mana stones inside the deeper sections. Miners, merchants, soldiers, craftsmen, and adventurers gathered around the entrance until the outpost expanded into a city. The royal family eventually moved its court there, transforming the settlement into the kingdom's capital. Its position above the labyrinth provided wealth, military strength, and direct control over the nation's greatest supply of mana stones.

Dungeoneers entered the labyrinth every day to harvest those stones. They also collected monster materials, rare metals, medicinal plants, and artifacts recovered from ruined structures beneath the surface. The capital's entire society had developed around those resources. Vehicles traveled through the streets using mana-powered engines. Weapons and tools consumed standardized stones, while larger crystals powered workshops, defensive barriers, and public facilities.

Even some houses and shops relied on mana stones for lighting, heating, water circulation, and preservation. The city probably resembled a magical version of the technology-driven societies Sieghart remembered from Earth. It also possessed one of the greatest concentrations of Aura users in the kingdom. Warriors traveled there to enter the labyrinth, join noble forces, receive training, or sell the materials they recovered. However, the capital didn't belong entirely to Aura users.

Researchers studied the spells used by labyrinth monsters and attempted to reproduce those effects through weapons, tools, potions, and enchantments. A creature capable of producing lightning might possess organs or a core that retained electrical mana. Craftsmen examined those materials, identified how they transformed energy, and used their findings to create new magical equipment. It was exactly the kind of place Sieghart needed.

The capital contained teachers, laboratories, libraries, magical industries, monster materials, and a labyrinth filled with enemies capable of granting experience. It also contained nobles, military officers, influential Aura families, and countless people trained to recognize unusual power. Revealing his infinite mana inside such a city would be much more dangerous than impressing one elderly shopkeeper.

"You would find better books there," Master Thorne continued.

"There are schools for enchanters and artificers. Some accept students without crafting Auras, although they usually become assistants rather than true masters."

"Could someone without a Runesmith Aura create enchanted weapons?"

"With enough study, talent, and expensive materials. Aura skills make the work easier, but they don't own the knowledge." That answer encouraged Sieghart. Master Thorne had said the art couldn't be imitated merely through abundant mana. He hadn't said that learning it was impossible.

"How old do students have to be?" Sieghart asked.

"Older than five."

"I assumed that."

"Most schools begin accepting students around twelve. Wealthy families sometimes hire private teachers earlier." Sieghart possessed a wealthy family in theory. Unfortunately, asking House Emberhart to pay for magical education would reveal his progress and invite his parents back into his life. His grandparents couldn't afford a private instructor from the capital, even with Sieghart's income from charging equipment. He would need to wait, increase his savings, or find another method.

"I might go when I'm older," Sieghart said. Master Thorne grunted.

"Try not to become an old man before deciding. It sneaks up on you." Sieghart looked at the shopkeeper's gray hair.

"I'll keep that in mind." The idea of visiting the capital remained in his thoughts long after Master Thorne returned to town. Sieghart wanted access to its libraries and magical industries, but the labyrinth interested him even more. Killing the pig-men had granted experience to Black Magic. If Sieghart wanted to level the foundational branch, unlock new spells, or increase his own strength, hunting monsters appeared to be the most reliable method. The labyrinth provided a nearly endless population of them.

It was also dangerous enough to kill trained adults wearing enchanted armor and working in organized groups. Becoming a dungeoneer at five years old wasn't bold, ambitious, or heroic. It was simply insanity. Sieghart could defeat weak monsters through ambushes, but a labyrinth wouldn't provide open fields, familiar terrain, or a farmhouse where he could retreat. The darkness alone could conceal countless threats. More importantly, entering the capital's labyrinth would require registration.

Someone would ask his name, age, family, and reason for believing a child belonged underground with armed adventurers. The correct answer— I need to kill monsters so my magic can gain experience —would probably earn him a medical examination rather than an entry permit. Sieghart would have to wait. He needed stronger spells, faster casting, better Protection, reliable movement, and enough knowledge to survive without depending on warriors. Waiting didn't mean remaining idle.

Every day on the farm could prepare him for the moment he finally entered a labyrinth. He could improve his archery, develop his elemental combinations, study monster anatomy, strengthen Protection, and search for a way to project raw mana. Master Thorne's equipment could also teach him how magical effects were stored and activated. The capital remained far away, but it was no longer an abstract location inside a book.

It had become a destination, and beneath it waited the monsters capable of pushing his magic forward. Five years old was too young to become a dungeoneer. It wasn't too young to start preparing for the dungeon.