Roulette
~Evolution dagger evolving~
Unlike last time, the dagger didn't start glowing. Instead, a hologram popped up with the same roulette as when Yasuo got to choose a rune.
'Will I be able to pick the evolution path of the dagger this time?'
Full of thrill Yasuo impatiently waited for the slots to stop spinning… And they finally did.
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~You may choose one of the three evolution options~
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1. Dagger upgrade
Description: The dagger will become stronger and sharper.
Rank: Common
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2. [Paralyze] upgrade
Description: The dagger will have a paralytic effect.
Rank: Rare
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3. [Mana Steal] upgrade
Description: When inflicting wounds on an enemy, a small amount of their mana will be taken. The stolen mana will replenish the user's mana.
Rank: Epic
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Seeing these three options, Yasuo was conflicted between two of them. The [Paralyze] upgrade would give a significant boost in his overall combat capability by being able to possibly immobilize monster, which Yasuo was very tempted by.
But on the other hand, [Mana steal] was also a very good option. This option wouldn't really increase his combat ability, but it would be the best upgrade looking at the future. When Yasuo will get more [skills] and [runes], a lot more mana will be needed, which this upgrade is perfect for.
Being swayed towards one side, Yasuo made his decision and clicked on the upgrade he wanted.
Immediately upon choosing it, the dagger began glowing like the last time it was evolving. Shining even brighter than last time, Yasuo was once again amazed, not being able to look away from the dagger.
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Item: [Dagger of Evolution]
Rank: unique
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Requirement: Defeat 10 D-rank bosses
Progress: 0 / 10
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Skills: [Passive: Mana Steal]
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Strength: 11 Sharpness: 10
Hardness: 17 Durability: 100/100
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Having finished evolving, Yasuo looks at the dagger. Both the outer appearance and stats changed, which amazed Yasuo once again. The Pure black dagger now had a faint purple iridescence tone to it and all the stats had gone into double digits.
Yasuo was happy about this change, but the thing he was most excited about was his dagger having a skill now: [Passive: Mana Steal].
'With this skill, I can now use other skills more often without having to buy mana potions!'
Overall, Yasuo was very content with the evolution of the dagger. However, there was one thing that looked caught Yasuo's attention.
The next evolution requirement for the dagger was to defeat 10 D-rank bosses. Having hardly defeated one F-rank boss, Yasuo knew that it was going to take some time before he could get his next evolution.
Even if this requirement looked like a wall right now, Yasuo didn't get discouraged. In fact, he even gained motivation from this. Setting this as a long term goal, Yasuo started planning once again, with accomplishing this long term goals as the objective.
This time it wasn't a grandiose month long plan or anything, but instead Yasuo set out multiple sub-goals. With no exact schedule on how to reach these sub-goals, Yasuo was free to accomplish them however it seemed fit.
The first sub-goal was a long awaited one, which he was already striving towards every day, but didn't seem to be able to accomplish. This goal was to upgrade a rune to 'excellent' grade.
Until now Yasuo had only been able to improve his [Mana Barrier rune] to a 'very good' grade and the [Mana Circulation rune] was still at the 'good' grade. Every day Yasuo had tried to improve upon these runes, but nothing seemed to work.
Yasuo had now reached a bottleneck in his proficiency of drawing runes. The runes looked near perfect in Yasuo's eyes, but the grade just didn't improve.
Knowing that aimlessly practicing wasn't going to take him far, Yasuo switched up his approach.
"Welcome class, I am Sang Cho and I will be giving a class on rune drawing today."
Yasuo's idea was that he could improve his rune drawing if he followed a class from a popular rune drawer.
"Seeing as there are a lot of people present, who all probably have a different level of proficiency, I will first start with a demonstration. Look carefully everyone."
Concentrating on the way the teacher drew the runes, Yasuo wasn't very impressed. The lines that the teacher drew were fast, precise and had a nice flow to it, but compared to how Yasuo drew his runes, there wasn't as much of a difference as he had expected.
'I paid a lot of money for this, so this better be worth it…'
Looking around, everyone looked amazed by how the teacher was drawing runes. He even got an applause when he finished his rune, which Yasuo was a little displeased about.
Having shown the demonstration, the teacher looked satisfied.
"Next, I will tell everyone some basics about rune drawing before I get into more advanced theory and my own experiences."
As the teacher began talking, Yasuo became even more disheartened. What the teacher was telling was literally the most basic theory about rune drawing, which Yasuo had already read so many times.
"A rune can only be drawn on an object, item or equipment."
Yasuo let out a sigh. 'That doesn't even apply to me.'
"The two basic requirements for drawing a rune successfully are having a mana infused mediums such as 'mana ink' and proficiently drawing the rune."
'That is just common knowledge…'
"The better a rune is drawn, the higher the grade will be."
'Now he is just saying the most obvious things.'
"The next thing is very important, which is the placement of the rune. For example if you have the [Sharpening edge] rune, you will get better results if you draw the rune on the blade of the rune than if you draw the rune on the hilt of the sword."
'Boring….WAIT!'
Yasuo abruptly stood up as a thought suddenly pooped up in his head, making the whole class look at him.
'How could I overlook something so basic. The placement of a rune on a piece of equipment matters a lot in determining the grade of the rune, so wouldn't that also apply to the placement of the runes on my body…'
"Student, can you please sit down, you ar-"
Before the teacher could even finish his sentence, Yasuo ran out from the classroom and returned home.
Yasuo ran the whole way back to his home, which was more than two kilometres away. On his way back Yasuo was continuously thinking about what placement would be best for the two runes, and he found his answer.
'It was theorized and proven that most of the mana from an awakener is stored in their hearts, just like a mana crystal from a monster. If I am correct, placing the [Mana Circulation rune] on my heart will give me the best possible outcome.
Not having the patience to wait any longer Yasuo storms inside, takes his shirt off, grabs his brush and mana ink and goes into the bathroom, where he sat down in front of the mirror.
From having practiced drawing the rune numerous times, Yasuo didn't have much of a problem drawing the rune, even if it was placed inconveniently on his chest.
Every stroke was perfect as Yasuo was drawing with confidence, quickly completing the outline of the symmetrical swirl. As he moved on to the more intricate detail, Yasuo slowed down, gently and precisely drawing the details, making the rune complete.
Having completed the rune, it started glowing like normal. Not even having the patience to wait for it to stop glowing, Yasuo poked his finger and let a drop of blood make contact with the rune.
The rune started glowing incomparably brighter than the last time, blinding Yasuo.
[Rune successful]
As the light disappeared, Yasuo slowly gained his sight back. Once he could fully see again, he couldn't believe his eyes.
In the mirror he could see the rune that he just drew on his chest, which was the best he had ever drawn, leaving him in awe. But there was another thing in front of him, which he was more interested in.
Two holograms were in front of him. The status window of the rune and the much desired achievement.
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Rune: [Mana circulation rune]
Rank: Unique
Grade: Excellent
Effect: +100 mana & +10% mana recovery
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Achievement [Excellent rune]
Description: Achievement for successfully creating your first 'excellent' grade rune.
Reward: New rune selection. ~ Press [Yes] to receive reward ~
With so much having happened in one day, Yasuo was left speechless. Not only having evolved his dagger, but also successfully drawing an 'excellent' grade rune and getting a new rune selection from it, Yasuo was overwhelmed.
Unlike last time, Yasuo didn't immediately press [Yes] to receive his reward. Rather, he took a good few minutes to calm himself down and organize his thoughts.
Yasuo knew that if he got a new rune right now that he would immediately want to draw and test it, which would not be a good thing as it had already become night-time. His logical thinking won from his excitement and Yasuo decided to go to bed instead.
Not having been able to suppress his excitement entirely, Yasuo compromised with himself and had set his alarm at five o'clock in the morning.