The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 674  Dwarven Runes

Once the group had gathered outside the building where Karl could see them, he activated [Skill Master] on the students and their beasts, focused on the teachers that they would have for the day.

The young beasts and their Rangers were well behind the initial five now that the first group of Acolytes had taken Remiʼs special potions, but that didnʼt mean that they wouldnʼt try to catch up as fast as they could.

The goal for the day was to help the Rangers learn their shared skill, and to work with everyone else to improve their combat abilities. But only after Thorʼs gruelling physical stamina improvement training.

It was working wonderfully, and the students were adjusting rapidly, but Karl did notice that the students were not getting the initial boost in physical development that the ones who received the injection did.

Karl had grown significantly while he was on the train, which was only a few days, and then again after they had reached the Academy.

But these students, who had all been awakened by System linked items, were not changing in that sort of way. Instead, they were growing physically at a perfectly normal rate, but their power level was increasing steadily, as expected from the training that they were receiving.

Karl turned to the clerics, who were watching the students, in case there was some visible effect from Karlʼs abilities.

”Iʼve got a question for you. I awakened five of those students with system linked rings, and six of them, the ones with the beasts, with quest items. But theyʼre not getting the sudden burst of growth and physical improvement that the students normally get from the Divine Injection.

Itʼs been over a week, and they look the same. No signs of rapid maturation, even for Sybil, the Rogue, who is years younger than the others. Sheʼs younger than we had even expected to awaken, but she shows extreme compatibility with her class, and her progress rate matches the other students.

She even shows higher than usual growth rate for skill learning, but she still isnʼt gaining the physical boost.” Karl explained.

The Clerics nodded. ”The clergy has noted that among others who were awakened that way. The working hypothesis is that the injection actually does have side effects, and that the rapid growth is one of them. It is also possible that it is not so much a side effect as a desired outcome. The Divine Injection was created to give power to the humans who werenʼt innately talented with magic. But it is a divine item, imbued with immense amounts of holy power. So, there is a chance that the holy power interprets the Archbishopʼs desire for powerful defenders of the faith as a need for rapid growth.

Of course, the more we study, the more we will know. But the fact that it is so obvious with your group shows that it wonʼt go unnoticed by the students once theyʼre sent to the Academy next week.”

The clerics began discussing the various possible outcomes among themselves, then the oldest of them suddenly paused and began to laugh.

”Sisters, we have been sidetracked. There are too many things going on today, and we are losing sight of the reasons that we came here. The head Librarian was most insistent that we get some answers about the Runecrafting skill, and what it entails so that we could start building a larger picture of the possible outcomes for it.

I know that we already covered the theory, but we have brought texts on the various disciplines for you to try.

The most likely of them would probably be the free-form use of Runes, as a Runepriest would simply write them in the air, but the most practical would be the Runesmith, who uses them to enhance objects.

Which would you prefer to start with?”

Karl considered that for a few seconds, then tapped the table with his knuckles. ”I think that the ability to enhance items with Runecrafting is the most viable route for me.

If it does lock me into a specialty, I would prefer if it were one that allows me to enhance the items, armour and living spaces for my team.

I saw Runes everywhere in the old Dwarven Village, and some of them remained functional enough that we could light a forge fire with mana to use it as a cooking grill.

That sort of utility would be a huge boon to the Elites.

When youʼre travelling, the more versatile your items are, the better. I know that weʼre all getting Inventory spaces now, and we donʼt really need to carry massive backpacks and worry about weight, but there are still restrictions, and the stronger our Elites get, the more utility and progression items they are going to want to carry with them.”

The cleric nodded and swapped the books on the table, replacing it with one that read ”A summation of the lost art of Dwarven Runcerafting.”

Karl smiled. That choice of reading material felt right. The runes that Remi had recorded from over the forge in Graska looked just like the ones that were embossed on the cover, and slightly different from the standard runes, as they were stylized for a purpose.

Karl put on the offered white gloves, and gently ran his fingers over the tome. ”This is incredible craftsmanship for a book that isnʼt a skill book. The System makes all sorts of beautiful covers when youʼre making them with a skill, but this looks like it was hand carved out of alloy. I donʼt know what sort of alloy this is, but itʼs much lighter than expected.”

The clerics nodded. ”The book was actually made by Dwarves, before they left the continent after their battles with the Giants. There werenʼt enough of them to safely hold their homelands here, and at the time we werenʼt strong enough as an ally to do it for them. There are records in the Library if you are interested. It was a fascinating part of our history.”

Karl chuckled and the cleric sighed. ”Itʼs far too easy to get distracted when someone actually asks us about historical knowledge. Please, continue.”