The Runesmith

Chapter 636: Gravity.

“Agni, stay still.”

“Wo…”

Just as the ruby wolf tried to open his mouth, his master grabbed his snout.

“No, keep it down.”

Agni was not happy, yet he understood why the order was given. Several people carrying torches were walking past them, all heading toward the lake that he and Roland had just cleared of monster parts.

‘Did they find out already? These tier threes cannot be underestimated.’

Roland had spent quite some time underwater, fishing and clearing out multiple lakes. He had even returned to the first one and confirmed that the ores reappeared after a week. It was exactly as he expected. The resource regenerated, which meant he could continue farming it forever. Each lake held only a small amount of the metal, but its value made the effort more than worthwhile.

The ore was at least ten times more expensive per kilogram than the elemental ores and mithril mined in the older dungeon. While the old method was still more profitable in terms of sheer quantity, harvesting abyssal star steel was not particularly difficult. The real problem was the adventurers who were beginning to notice that something was off.

A day earlier, they had started moving around at night, searching the area and studying every detail. They quickly noticed that a large number of monsters had vanished. Because of this they began watching the lakes in small groups. They seemed convinced the cause was a rare monster that had appeared and was feeding on everything, an apex predator created by some kind of dungeon error. Although such a phenomenon was even rarer than a dungeon break, it was still possible. In truth, there was no monster at all. Only Roland. And he wondered how long it would be before they caught him in the act.

‘I might not be able to continue like this… The Guild Master should have prepared what I asked him for by now. Perhaps it is time to try that plan.’

What Roland feared most was not being discovered at the lakes but being unable to explain why he was in the dungeon in the first place. If they found him, they would ask questions about his identity, and he could not allow that. If anyone learned that the High Knight Commander of Albrook was inside the Isgard dungeon without going through the proper channels, chaos would follow. He had to avoid recognition at all costs, and there was only one way to ensure that. He needed a new identity. One that no one would recognise.

‘I have enough ore for a new suit. It should be enough to keep others away from me.’

After many fishing trips, he had collected enough material for his next project, and he wanted to finish it before returning here again.

“Come, Agni. We move now.”

He whispered to his wolf, and the two of them began sneaking away once several adventurers had passed. With the help of his hidden golems and the map they maintained, he avoided every patrol with ease. Fortunately, the adventurers were not trained soldiers and did not seem very invested in their work, so reaching his hideout was not difficult.

“Woof?”

“Yes, you can speak now.”

“Worf!”

Once he was safely back underground, he turned his attention to the display panel. The range of his map had actually shrunk since his last visit, a result of several mages now living in the stronghold above. For the moment, he had created a system in which the golems entered a dormant state whenever a spellcaster left the adventurer base. This made further exploration tiresome, but he had already come up with a plan to solve that problem.

‘No one said the sensors had to remain on the ground, but getting them higher will not be easy.’

While the task would be troublesome, his new approach would let him observe everything from a safe distance with no chance of being discovered. The only real obstacle was the assembly process, yet after spending multiple weeks in this dungeon, he had managed to devise a safe method.

“Let’s head back, Agni.”

With the monster parts and ore secured in his spatial storage, he stepped through the gate. As always, Agni went straight to the elevator so he could head outside and sleep in his wolf house. Their adventures usually lasted through the entire night, and the wolf was far less tolerant of sleep deprivation than his master.

“Now then. Bernir has failed three times in a row, but he is making progress.”

Once he returned, he reviewed Bernir’s situation. His interest in the field of soul smithing was finally taking shape. It was a discipline few understood, and even the dwarves of the union held little information about it. For them, it was a rarity, far more uncommon than becoming an enchantsmith or a runesmith.

‘From the trial slides, it appeared that soul-enhanced weapons carried persistent effects and required no mana to use.’

Based on Bernir’s testimony and the images from within the trial, he deduced a few things. Most likely, all these soul effects acted as passive enhancements. They either strengthened something for the wielder or inflicted a debilitating effect on the target when struck. At first, he assumed the effects were limited to phantom-type enemies, but there was more to it than that.

He doubted he would discover the truth until Bernir passed the trial and they could examine his creations. There was one person who could clarify the matter, yet he refused to consult her. The last time he had visited her hut, she had treated him like a test subject, and he barely escaped with help. It was far safer to uncover the answers on their own, even if the progress would come slowly.

“I’ll take a nap later.”

Roland stretched his shoulders, feeling the dull stiffness settle in after hours spent fishing. The dungeon smell still clung to his clothes, and he wanted nothing more than a bath followed by rest. However, there was no point in going to bed now because his mind was already fixed on the task ahead.

“Very well then, let us get to it.”

He walked deeper into his workshop. The soundproof doors slid open and revealed the chamber reserved for precision forging. It was a kind of sanctum where he could focus on his craft and forget about outside troubles, at least, for a short while. With multiple minds at work, he often overanalyzed things. Even while speaking with others, part of his thoughts always drifted back toward projects or countermeasures.

“I wonder if I will ever be able to relax.”

There were few places where he could cool his head and silence his thoughts. At least while crafting, he did not need to. His attention shifted naturally toward handling metal and striking with his hammer at the correct spots in a perfect rhythm. On one of the reinforced workbenches lay the new ingots. There were three in total. They were made from abyssal star steel infused with powdered umbrium until the alloy darkened to a deep black.

“One should be enough to complete the rest of the gauntlet and then test it.”

This was not the first time he had worked with this metal, since he had already shaped parts of his new armor. The material was difficult to handle, and few blacksmiths in the world could work it alone. Even so, the techniques remained much the same. After heating the metal sufficiently, he only needed to hammer it into the correct shape. With a proper schematic in mind, the process felt no more complicated than assembling furniture once all the pieces were prepared.

These ingots were refined, stable, and ready to be shaped. The Umbrium had blended perfectly into the alloy and gave it a faint dark glow whenever mana flowed through it. He picked one up, and the moment its weight settled into his palm, the runes on his smithing gauntlet flickered. A spell was activated and poured intense heat into the ingot until it turned bright orange. Normally, an ingot would be heated up in a forge, but for this particular alloy, it needed a constant source of heat.

“Heavier than mithril, but that should not be a problem.”

He set it on the anvil, which had been made with orichalcum to dampen the mana released during forging. A normal anvil would have shattered after only a few swings, but this one was built to withstand his increased strength and mana. He activated the forging circle carved into the ground. Brilliant arcs of silver-blue mana snapped to life and converged on the anvil.

The orichalcum repelled the flow as intended, and the mana focused directly on the alloy. Abyssal star steel could not be shaped with fire alone. It required rhythmic mana pressure, manawave resonance, and constant guidance.

“Sebastian, record the process as always. Adjust the magic circle to fit the mana resonance.”

He reached for the forging hammer he had assembled recently. It had been created for this sole purpose and was made from the same basic ore with additives that encouraged crafting rather than combat. It was a thick-headed tool designed to endure strikes that bordered on mana explosions. He channeled energy into it and began to work.

*Clang.*

The metal didn’t budge.

*Clang.*

The room trembled slightly as the force-limiting runic enchantments absorbed the shock.

*Clang.*

The ingot finally responded, though only faintly. The alloy’s internal structure began to loosen and it flattened under his strikes. This time, he needed to shape the gauntlet cuff, more specifically, the articulated overlapping plates that connected the main cuff to the wrist and allowed the wrist to bend.

He rotated the piece and struck it again. Sparks burst outward in a strange blend of silver and dark violet, neither orange nor blue. They hissed against the mana-protected walls and vanished on contact.

Slowly, the ingot began to take form. Piece by piece and line by line, the alloy answered his will. Each hammer strike left a ripple instead of a dent, and the mana-infused metal shifted into its intended curvature. The forging circle beneath him pulsed in time with his hammer blows and flashed brighter whenever the resonance aligned.

“For a gauntlet, you are being stubborn.”

Roland exhaled and shifted his grip as he muttered, though the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Difficult metals made for worthwhile creations and helped keep him safe from harm. The glowing slab gradually thinned and stretched, its color shifting from molten orange to a shimmering dark purple as it cooled and reheated under repeated spell activations. The umbrium revealed itself as thin shadows drifted around his work and bathed it in darkness.

The clanging continued, and the rhythm changed as he settled into the familiar pattern refined through countless hours of practice. Each overlapping plate began as a curved crescent before he trimmed and folded the edges inward to form a seamless connection to the cuff.

“Good. Let us maintain this speed.”

Sebastian adjusted the output of the runes beneath the anvil, optimizing them whenever new information appeared. A faint draconic silhouette emerged within the patternwork. Soon, the correct shape had been achieved, and all that remained was the runic creation. Thin runic traces appeared, perfectly symmetrical and forming interlocking patterns that would channel mana with minimal resistance.

“Almost.”

At last, it was time to combine the gauntlet pieces. He reached to the side, retrieved the previous piece he had forged, and began pressing everything into alignment. Before long, the full articulated wrist assembly clicked into place and moved smoothly as he tested its range of motion. It bent, rotated, and flexed without stiffness, yet still carried the weight and solidity expected of high-level armor.

“That is it for this part.”

With the forging complete, the magic circle dimmed, and the mana within the chamber began to fade. The heated sections of metal cooled almost instantly, revealing the remarkable fire resistance of the alloy.

He lifted the finished piece and noted that its motif differed from his usual style. In the past, he preferred a more reserved appearance, something practical and similar to ordinary plate armor. This time, he had chosen something more eye-catching and more fitting for an expedition into a place known for lesser dragons.

“Should I test the spell before I go with the rest?”

Roland slipped the new gauntlet onto his hand and studied it. The color was pitch black and as deep as a black hole, yet even in the dim chamber, it reflected the light making it gleam.

What stood out most was the patterning. The overlapping plates did not resemble simple metal segments. Each layer carried a sharply defined dragon scale motif. The scales interlocked along the knuckles and tapered into narrower, sharper forms near the wrist. A raised ridge curved across the back of the hand like the spine of some abyssal drake.

“Hm. It does look a bit too pronounced and menacing.”

At the tips of the fingers, short claw-shaped ornaments extended outward. They were decorative rather than functional, short enough to let him grip anything without difficulty but long enough to suggest danger. Most people believed that adventurers at higher tier three levels tended to be eccentric, so this style of armor attracted less suspicion than something more knightly.

“I will have to make a second set later. I cannot let anyone in Albrook see me wearing this or it might break my cover. I should test it before I make any more parts.”

The gauntlet was complete, but there was still much to do. One task was to test a few new spell runes he had created, runes he had little experience with. He had included umbrium in the alloy for a reason. The darkness-aligned material was not only for curses. It offered other benefits when blended with different materials.

“Oh, boss, do you need any help with anything?”

As he stepped out, he ran into Bernir. His assistant looked exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes making it obvious. He had been forced to read countless notes and sift through archaic knowledge about souls and crafting, a subject he did not enjoy in the slightest.

“I was just about to test this gauntlet. I do not really…”

Before he could finish, Bernir straightened at the mention of testing.

“Let me help you with that, Boss. Are you going to check its resistance? I can strike it with a sledgehammer if you want!”

“I…”

For a moment, Roland considered refusing, but Bernir seemed almost frantic. It was clear he needed a break from all the reading.

“Fine. I was planning to test a spell, and I do need some targets. I suppose you can help me set them up.”

“Aye, leave it to me, Boss.”

Bernir hurried ahead of him toward the testing chamber they used for spells, explosives, and weaponry. Soon, his assistant disappeared down the corridor with the desperate enthusiasm of a man escaping an avalanche of homework. Roland followed at a calmer pace and reached the testing area shortly after.

“So what target do you want to use, Boss?”

“It does not matter. An empty box or crate will do for the first one. After that, we can move on to something sturdier.”

“Sure thing!”

Bernir began working right away, placing a selection of items on the floor. The first was a simple wooden crate that had been emptied of everything. The next was an old wooden training dummy. The third was a breastplate made of deepsteel, a tier 2 material that they had often used in the past.

“That is perfect. Now stand back.”

“Aye, Boss.”

Bernir obeyed and Roland stepped forward. He looked at the gauntlet and pushed some of his mana into it. The metal began to glow as the trace patterns responded and the runes lit with a faint shimmer. He raised his arm toward the wooden crate, and the magic soon activated.

A deep, bass vibration rippled through the air as mana condensed around his hand. The particles of light around the empty crate suddenly dropped as if their weight had been increased.

The effect did not take long to show. The wood snapped, and the box was pressed into the ground as though an unseen force had flattened it. Bernir watched from the side with a raised eyebrow. For someone who had witnessed far more dramatic spells, this one did not look impressive, yet Roland continued.

He moved his hand to the next target, and the wooden dummy collapsed onto the ground along with part of the reinforced floor that had been caught in the spell. The deepsteel breastplate fared no better. It began to groan under the pressure of the magic and soon started to sink and flatten into the floor around it.

“Boss, what is that magic? It looks strange.”

“Oh, it is just gravity.”

He answered while examining the dark gauntlet and the runes across it. The test was a success, and all the runes were stable. Now he only needed to finish the rest before making his return to the dungeon…