Chapter 19. Runology
After Elan’s help allowed her to avoid spending several days in detention, Fulan returned to her dormitory and began thinking about something important.
She remembered that when she used Astrology, she had seen a future where she would kill Richter. What had happened today made her realize there were far more things she needed to consider.
For example, how would she deal with the aftermath after killing Richter?
A Senior Apprentice was not the same as an ordinary apprentice. Would she still be able to resolve the matter as easily as today by relying on connections?
There was also the issue of combat strength. Judging from the performance she saw in that future scene, Fulan felt that even twenty versions of her current self would not be able to win.
In that vision, she had used the Breathing Method and killed a Senior Apprentice in just a few seconds.
Her current self could not do that at all.
Moreover, Fulan felt that the day shown in that scene was drawing closer and closer. She suspected that Richter had already noticed her long ago.
The apprentice who had run away the moment he saw her was the best proof.
Something must have prevented Richter from coming after her immediately.
That matter was most likely the year-end assessment.
Richter was probably preparing for it now. It was too important for him to risk dealing with her at the moment.
Once the assessment ended, however, it would likely be the time for Richter to make his move.
Fulan looked over several of her skills. She was confident that most of them could reach the Proficient level within three months.
However, there was one she was not very confident about.
The Swift Wind Breathing Method.
This skill gave her tremendous improvement, but its growth had now become extremely slow. If she only practiced it every day, it would be impossible to reach the Proficient level within three months.
However, she had noticed something.
During battle, the Breathing Method gained a large amount of experience.
Therefore, she would have to frequently go and “spar” with Bella.
---
Fulan looked at the sign in front of her that read “Second Weaponsmith.” She knew that the club she was looking for was here.
The club specialized in enchanting weapons and equipment. She wanted to see whether she could obtain the Enchanter profession here.
Fulan pushed open the door and walked inside.
At the front desk was an apprentice wearing a long robe. He was leaning back in his chair and looked extremely sleepy, but when he saw someone enter, he forced himself to stay awake.
“Hello. Are you here to have a weapon enchanted? Do you have a specific enchanter you want?”
The receptionist quickly noticed the longsword on Fulan’s body and assumed she might be bringing business, so he asked directly.
“No. I came to learn enchanting.”
“Ah… in that case, please wait a moment. I will find someone…”
The receptionist knew he could not make that decision himself, so he went to call someone else.
After a while, the receptionist returned while dragging someone along with him.
The newcomer was a tall man who looked very much like a blacksmith.
“Hello. I am Hall, the vice president of the club. Are you the one who wants to learn Enchantment?”
Hall frowned slightly.
When he heard that someone wanted to learn Enchantment, he had initially been quite excited. After all, the club had not gained any new members for nearly half a year.
However, when he looked at Fulan—who was extremely small compared to him, with thin arms and legs—he could not help but wonder whether she could really learn Enchantment well.
Just like the name of the club suggested, enchanters were essentially “second weaponsmiths.”
In theory, an enchanter only needed to carve runes onto a weapon and ensure they functioned properly.
But reality was not that simple.
To begin with, every weapon had a different shape and structure, which meant the size of the runes that could be carved onto them varied greatly.
Additionally, not every weapon was forged from metal suitable for rune engraving.
As a result, enchanters had to possess excellent blacksmithing skills in order to adjust to various situations.
For example, in many cases they had to coat a weapon with a layer of adamantine or mithril and then draw runes on that layer.
Not to mention that many advanced enchanting techniques required specific spaces to be reserved during the forging process itself.
Therefore, it was absolutely impossible to become a good enchanter without knowing blacksmithing.
Hall tried to discourage Fulan tactfully.
“Well… you might not be very suitable for Enchantment…”
Fulan had no intention of giving up.
“I can pay to learn Enchantment.”
“That is not really the issue…”
Then Fulan took out fifty silver coins from her pocket and said,
“Is this enough?”
Right now she had plenty of money. As the saying went, money could solve most problems.
“No problem at all. I believe you will definitely break conventional expectations and master Enchantment!”
Hall happily scooped up the silver coins from the table. For them, this was a huge sum.
Because everyone in the City of Apprentices was an apprentice, most people used staffs. The effects of runes on such weapons were minimal, so business was naturally scarce.
The cities that truly generated business were other large cities. Not only did territorial nobles require enchanted weapons, but many mages also wanted decorative pieces, and swords decorated with runes were an excellent choice.
In addition, apprentices in the City of Apprentices were extremely eager to learn. Many people wanted to study Enchantment, which led to the creation of numerous related clubs. Cuilan Academy alone had six such clubs.
Usually, having three or four customers in a month was already considered good business.
Altogether they might earn a little more than ten silver coins, not even counting the cost of materials, maintenance of equipment, and wear and tear.
After everything was calculated, they might earn less than sixty silver coins in an entire year.
So these fifty silver coins were almost equivalent to a year of income for Hall. How could he not be excited?
When Fulan requested that the lessons begin immediately, Hall had absolutely no objection.
Hall handed Fulan a somewhat wrinkled and worn book. After taking it, Fulan carefully ran her fingers over the pages and realized that the paper felt very familiar.
The title on the cover read “Rune Applications in Weapons.”
Fulan flipped through a few pages.
It mainly explained how runes should be carved onto weapons and where they should be placed for greater effect. Because it described many different runes, the book was quite thick.
After seeing the familiar style of writing, Fulan looked toward Hall.
Hall smiled.
“Our president exchanged this book in the Exchange Hall using points. It has been here for about three years. Every newcomer begins learning Enchantment by reading this book.”
After roughly finishing the first rune, Fulan immediately asked Hall to let her try it.
If a newcomer who had just joined had shown such impatience, Hall would have slapped him several times.
Normally, Hall would require newcomers to read the book for a day first. Then for the next few days they would observe how others carved runic inscriptions.
Only after answering Hall’s questions correctly would they be allowed to attempt it themselves.
But when someone paid money, things were different.
Maintaining the spirit of the service industry, Hall laid out the materials and explained,
“The materials here are not completely free. I will give you ten sets of materials for free right now, but after that you will have to pay for each set yourself.”
Fulan nodded, signaling him to begin quickly.
With Hall’s practiced skill, he quickly drew a rune on a specially made rune practice board.
Then, under Hall’s guidance, Fulan used her mental power to trace the rune on the board. As her mental energy moved, the rune gradually appeared.
However, since it was her first attempt, she was still not very skilled. When she had completed about three-quarters of the rune, the attempt failed.
Yet Fulan smiled happily.
[Runology (Not Initiated) (Proficiency: 0/10): A discipline that studies the use of runes.]