Chương 30: Eldarin Runes

"And done," I said with a smile as I finished copying the massive, stupid book, Transversal of the Dungeon by famed playwright, Aaron the Orator. It had been a struggle to focus on the entire thing, but that was what made it such a great tool for leveling. It forced a person to pay attention and copy that flowy Eldarin Script and writing that would put even an insomniac to sleep.

"Congratulations," Tutor Damian said from across the library table with a smile on his face.

"That should have pushed your skills up to mastery at level 100. Now come the tier 3 skills, Eldarin Runes and Empowered Writing."

"What exactly does Empowered Writing even mean?" I had some guesses, but Damian was here to answer these types of questions.

"Skills that the System doesn't recognize are called Tier 0. The system considers Eating and Talking to be Tier 0 skills, which don't use Mana and cannot be imprinted on your soul. The only confirmed Tier 0 is your starting class tier, but I digress. Tier 1 skills use the tiniest amount of Mana. Tier 2 skills use a bit of passive Mana, a tiny amount that doesn't register normally. Then you have tier 3 skills, which actively use a small bit of Mana. Tier 4 skills use a larger amount of Mana.

That is why resistances are tier 3 and spell skills are tier 4. The System probably bases the tier skill list on how much Mana is used and how complex the skills are. But the more complex skills use more Mana, with very few exceptions. It is an ongoing debate within the College of Advancement to better understand the tier aspect of a person's status."

"So, these are Mana skills then?"

"Yes, but they only use a small bit of your Mana reserves, rather than large chunks, unlike spells. Magic is your lowest stat, which isn't too concerning since that stat will improve much more later on in your life when you focus on spell skills." He then pulled out two thick books and a stack of paper.

"The first book is Eldarin Runes Compendium, 7 th Edition, the most up-to-date edition and quite well done after I looked through it myself. I learned from the 6th Edition, and I can say they improved how the information is presented. The second book is The Precise Details of Empowered Writing. It is incredibly technical. The stack of paper is for copying runes. One rune per piece of paper, no more. Otherwise, you might create an effect accidentally."

I looked at the two newest massive books with a touch of despair.

"Precision is key for runes. If you can copy all the runes precisely, you will advance to around level 60 in both skills. I do mean precisely. The subject becomes increasingly technical the further you delve into it, encompassing ambient Mana, environment, and other esoteric factors. Once you can do individual runes, then you will work on runic seals, or tags, as adventurers call them."

"Tags?" I asked, since I hadn't heard that term before.

"The paper used has a peelable side that then allows it to stick, often used as explosives. So explosive tag, or fire tag. Normally, if you can touch a monster, you want to use your own skills to kill it and improve your skills, but they can also act as an emergency resource in the dungeon." I nodded.

"Oh, one more thing. Your father had this commissioned for you. A Tier 3 runic writing set." Tutor Damian got up, pulling out a tray from under the table. On it were several fountain pens of various sizes. All ornate, made of gold and silver, with no decoration on them. No, it wasn't silver, but platinum! That was the most magically aligned metal.

"That's gold and platinum! How are equipment tiers determined, and how does my status know?" Tutor Damian smiled.

"Based on Mana usage. You can feel the Mana?" I nodded as I could sense a slightly different Mana flow around the equipment.

"Silver and gold make up tier 2 equipment. Gold and platinum make up tier 3 equipment. Then there are higher-tier alloys with better Mana flow after that." I was a bit surprised as I looked over the writing tools.

"Platinum only goes up to tier 3?"

"As pure metal. Alloys require much higher levels of craftsmanship. While the writing tools look amazing, that is their artistry, not the alloys used to make them. Getting crafting skills up to a high tier is far more difficult. While one can get experience from crafting and killing monsters, killing monsters is much faster. And if a crafter splits their focus to learn fighting skills, they will struggle with all those skills and splitting their time and focus."

"I'm surprised my father didn't get me a higher-tier set."

"As long as the tier matches your current skill level, it is more than enough. Having a higher tier doesn't speed up your skill growth. It simply means you won't have to purchase another set later. This set is high-end for just starting, but the metals let your mana move more easily. Without these, it would be challenging to improve Empowered Writing. As for the ink, it is a specially blended ink. The book on Empowered Writing details how to make it properly. You use monster cores blended in with the ink.

I will do it for now, so you don't get an Alchemy skill." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"That is Alchemy?"

"The most basic of basic Alchemy. But yes, it is. You are taking at least one ingredient with Mana inside of it and mixing it with other materials. It is a Tier 3 skill. You don't have any of the supporting skills below it, but after mixing the ink several times, you would probably get the skill."

"So, hold off on it for now. Got it." Tutor Damian nodded.

"Healer Castelle will be quite annoyed otherwise. Unfortunately, with more complicated processes like runes, there is an overlap with other skills." Just another minor setback, nothing major. I had a lot more reading to do.

"Did the System create the skills like Eldarin History when the Empire formed, or was it always there?" The question had been bothering me, but not enough to ask until right now. Tutor Damian was great at answering questions like this.

"If a group is large enough and is cohesive enough, then the System will recognize them. There are Elven and Dwarven Runes. We also have the precursor to the Eldarin Empire, High Vostner, and Demonic Runes as well. I know the College of Advancement is seeking to create a unified base runic language, but despite their efforts, there have been no results. The new sets either aren't unique enough, widespread enough, or some other missing factor for the System to take into account."

"What is going to happen with my completed book?" I never found out what happened to the dictionary I had copied.

"I will put them away with the dictionary you copied. They are yours, and you can sell them for a couple of gold coins each." While it was a significant amount of money, the materials weren't inexpensive, and it involved a substantial amount of content to transfer to a new book. I opened the runic book and began reading. There was only so much I could put off studying. Runes are symbols that interface with Mana beyond one's body and direct control.

While there are only so many runes in each runic set, the variations are nearly endless. We will initially focus on Eldarin Runes with the assumption you understand Eldarin Script. Runic symbols are not words, but compressed ideas. Eldarin Script has broken out sub-components of runic symbols into its own writing form without interfacing with Mana. Each idea has nuanced aspects, and it encompasses several of the most common definitions.

This book only considers Eldarin Runes interacting with other Eldarin Runes as an introductory book and does not go into depth on cross-rune interaction. Only write runes by themselves in the presence of someone experienced in runes to avoid any accidental activations. The introduction did a good job of explaining what runes were. The symbols and overall symbology of linked runes came together to create a cohesive effect. This was where precision was essential.

If someone made an explosive, they needed to be sure how long it took to activate. If it went off too quickly or too late, that could be disastrous in combat. As for individual runes, they tended not to do anything unless there was a lot of Mana. I need the skill Mana Manipulation to activate them. Specific runes, when combined or drawn improperly, caused an accident. I concentrated on the book in front of me and began reading it. I would read through both books first to get an idea of Runes before drawing any.

While it was tempting to get right into copying runes, the number of warnings from my Tutor and the book were enough to make me want to rush through the reading part first. Then, after I had a decent understanding of runes, I would attempt to write some out.

"Are runes part of enchanting?" I asked after reading a section that was confusing.

"Yes, and no. Enchanting is about creating a permanent Mana structure within an item. This can be done with just a skill spell, or it can be done with both a skill spell and runes if one has the skills and levels. The higher you go, the more interwoven things become, and the more complicated they become. That is why many skills starting at tier 4 are unique. Finding structured skills that go higher is a challenge because people assume that structure creates the most stable skill for advancement."

I got the first part, but I was confused about the second part.

"Can you explain the second part of that again?"

"Take your rune skill. It is Tier 3. It is a very stable skill in terms of development and study. There is very little unknown about the skill. Same with many lesser skills. But once you get to Tier 4, you get more unique skills. People speculate, but have not confirmed, that these skills are more unstable, meaning it is harder to level and advance them into the next tier. It is harder to maximize their levels. By the time you get to Tier 6, they are all unique skills.

That is why there is a push to develop a systematic approach to developing skill chains or skill trees past Tier 4 and into Tier 5 and 6."

"I am guessing it isn't going well?"

"Some skills don't progress well after a certain point, even if they provide a broad foundation to work from. Weapons Mastery and Runes Mastery are two perfect examples of this. They are excellent Tier 4 skills, meaning people are familiar with them. Still, once an individual reaches level 100 mastery, they transition into a unique skill, not another standard skill in a chain."

"And that makes it harder to keep the skills going up in tier."

"Exactly, or at least that is what the College of Advancement believes. There have been numerous studies conducted regarding this issue. While the status is straightforward, there are a lot of hidden processes occurring within the System behind it that they are trying to understand."

"That doesn't get them in trouble with the System Church?" I knew it was a separate organization and trained System Priests.

"The System Church's opinion is that the professors at the College of Advancement are wasting their time worrying over numbers and not actually improving their skills and looking for answers that will always be unknowable. Um, they regularly mock the professors at the College of Advancement. They aren't enemies, but both sides consider the other hopeless."

"Even with how well they are regarded?"

"I am from the College of Advancement, so I have a bit of bias. One uses numbers; the other uses feelings to advise people. Many prefer numbers, but there is merit in using feelings. Your mother is a perfect example. No one held her hand to reach the pinnacle of power that she currently holds. She fought her way there through sheer grit and determination, doing what she felt was best." I loved my mother, but I was realizing I would never escape her legacy or shadow easily. But that was okay.

She had cleared a path for me, which I would take, but would make my own.