Chapter 11: Hidden Attribute! Runic Equipment...

"Wasn't I crazy?" 

"I might have been." I thought to myself.

Anything related to that town evokes a strong emotion of disgust and fear in me. It's likely tied to my past experiences or the dark reality of that place; I couldn't control my emotions.

"Are you all right, mate?" The scarred man gave me a bewildered look, surrounded by his party, seemingly ready to move out.

"Ahh... I'm sorry. I just remembered my past upon hearing about 'Lumia,'" I admitted truthfully.

The scarred man's expression softened. "No need to apologize," he said gently. "We all have our demons and memories we'd rather forget."

The mage with the wand chimed in, her voice filled with empathy. "It's understandable to feel that way. Places tied to painful memories can stir up strong emotions."

They each offered words of motivation before leaving the hall, carrying their own stories, worries, and pain in their hearts.

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Back at home....

"Weren't they somewhat good people for being adventurers?"

I pondered as I lay down on my bed, my head still buzzing from the news about the potential destruction of the town that haunted my nightmares.

As I reflected on various thoughts, I gradually felt my eyelids growing heavy before finally falling asleep. Having to concentrate the whole day had made me tired. 

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Yesterday was wild, and the news about Lumia, it was even wilder, I must say.

Only the potential destruction of 'Lumia' and the thrill I felt listening to the situation there had kept me awake yesterday.

So, I didn't even have any idea when I fell asleep.

New day, new me...

I woke up refreshed, did my household chores, and went to the guild. Finally, it was the day to inscribe the 'Rune of Tranquility' in my soul.

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Cheapest Enchanted training room…

I was seated with a stack of paper and a pair of rusty daggers, ready to start with the inscription process.

The first thing I did was draw the outlying of a simple outline, my strokes were refined with almost non-existent errors. My breathing was steady, my hands were calm, and my mind was tranquil. It might be because I was happy due to the news yesterday or something else.

I was able to complete scribbling the perfect outline of the Lotus in each and every paper within half an hour, a big progress from yesterday. 

After that, I looked at the pair of rusty daggers that had been with me for more than a decade, helping me eradicate culprits while I was in Lumia and saving my life on multiple occasions during dungeon raids after arriving here.

I was going to inscribe the Rune of Tranquility on this pair of daggers. It would be the first time I would be using mana as ink to scribble the outline of the lotus, rather than the normal pen I had been using until now.

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Crack...

The dagger in my hand shattered as I failed to maintain proper control over the mana I was using as ink. It couldn't withstand the pressure, breaking in the process.

"Dang... It was a draining process." I couldn't help but cry in frustration.

 The pitiful amount of soulpower I had wasn't even able to handle the inscription of simple lotus properly. 

I had to meditate for almost an hour before I was finally able to recover enough soul power to scribble the outline of The Lotus in the second one after shattering the first dagger.

Although the process of recovery was frustrating, I had to stomach it for now.

Undeterred, I attempted again with another dagger. This time, I managed to control the mana flow, completing the outline. However, it too shattered as I infused it with the meaning of 'tranquility,' according to my understanding. The material of the dagger wasn't sturdy enough to bear the strain of the meaning of the rune I was infusing into the outline.

The pair of daggers that had given me the greatest support for the last decade were destroyed just like that. 

I was able to get a general idea of the methodology required to use men for scribbling the outline using mana as ink after two tries. I also realized that the material for inscribing runes must be robust enough to handle the depth of understanding infused into the outline.

This time I meditated for almost two hours, calming my mind, and recovering the pitiful amount of mana I had drained from the previous process, with the second dagger. It might be because I was able to keep the dagger intact till the infusion of Rune's meaning, draining even more soul power than by the first one.

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"Soul power?? You say."

It is one of the attributes, except Strength, Agility, Defense, Vitality, and Mana (Mana purity), that reflects a person's control over their body and mind. It is the essence of a person shaped by their willpower, emotions, and who they are. It is also the most enigmatic and mysterious attribute of all, which isn't supposed to be utilized by any warrior until they are able to transcend their mortal bodies and enter the ranks of demigods and above. This was also the reason I didn't have 'Soul power' in my stats page because it wasn't something I, as an 'awakened' individual, was supposed to be utilizing or even knowing about.

This was the benefit of having someone to guide you on your journey to becoming stronger in the world I am living in. Anyone with a good background would have already started strengthening their souls, getting prepared for when they touch upon the realm of gods.

And for me, I had the legacy of runes, one of the ancient magics that could also let me strengthen my soul. The advantage I had over other warriors was the insight I had regarding the Soul Power. I could sense the pitiful amount of soul power within me while also slowly regenerating it through meditation.

The legacy I had also gave me an edge over others from powerful backgrounds by allowing me to utilize the soul power I possessed while scribbling the outline of my runes. The way I controlled the mana, using it as ink, was a basic utilization of Soul Power that others could only attain after reaching the realm of gods. Even those warriors with great backgrounds weren't exceptions to this rule, they could only blindly follow their seniors and strengthen their soul.

As for strengthening one's soul, the basic and most utilized method was to increase your rank, the soul Power increases with every increase in your rank.

Another method was learning a 'Soul nurturing skill', that would slowly strengthen your soul as you meditate. It killed two birds with a single shot as it would strengthen your soul while you are increasing the amount of mana present in your body. This method is mostly utilized by warriors with great backgrounds.

And the last method was, to become an exception to the rule of 'soul power'. As for me, I could slowly strengthen my soul by draining it while inscribing the rune. The soul would get strengthened every time I recovered it. Although the strengthening was minuscule, it was way faster than raking up and safer than using the 'Soul nurturing skill' that wasn't supposed to be used by low-ranked warriors in the first place.

"Enough about soul power for now."

Then, Going back to the business:

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I took out the enchanted dagger I had in me. After scrutinizing the dagger trying to find out its ability with the 'rune of Insight' I came up with the conclusion.

" It was useless."

The Dagger was made up of slightly enchanted material, without the ability to strengthen itself with the inducement of mana like other enchanted equipment did. The only edge it had over my previous pair of daggers was it was a bit sturdy and sharper than that pair.

So, I was going to inscribe the 'Rune of tranquility' on this dagger before finally trying to inscribe the rune in my soul.

I took time while inscribing the outline of Lotus, and rested for about an hour recovering the Soulpower before finally starting to infuse the meaning of Rune in the outline. Everything was going smoothly, I had nearly completed infusing the meaning of Rune when the dagger on my hand started to creak and make cracking noises.

I panicked, directly stopping the infusion of meaning in the outline. The dagger stopped creaking after some time, but I could see very minuscule cracks on its sharpened edge.

I stared at the dagger with slight nervousness, ready to have it shatter into pieces like the previous ones but, it didn't shatter much to my amazement.

Instead, it glowed with a hue of yellow, it was pale as if the dagger was poisoned.

After about five seconds the hue receded leaving a normal-looking dagger with an outline of Lotus inscribed on it.

" Did I succeed?" 

[Succesfully created the first 'runic equipment'.]

Listening to this message relieved my whole body and mind, I slumped on the ground with no intention to listen to other notifications I had been bombarded with.

[Being the first ever equipment made by the host. The authority to grant the name to this equipment has been provided. ( Note: The named equipment will be bound to the host)]

This was the last notification I read before falling asleep on the ground.