Arcane Apocalypse

20 – Runes, My Beloved

[Base Strength: 2 -> 3]

[Body: 5 -> 6]

[{Newcomer} Introductory (4)] is Complete!]

• Objective: Have all Base Body Sub-Attributes be above 2. 

Reward: 1 Lesser Elixir of Regeneration - Rank 0

Claim reward now? 

Yes / No

***

“Finally.” Mia huffed and puffed, flopping over to her back and breathing heavily. She’d been doing pushups and situps for the better part of two hours and she was sick of both. That didn’t go away even as the newly enhanced Body stat flooded her aching muscles with renewed energy. Nor did she feel like getting up from the carpet, she was feeling just fine down there.

She hit ‘Yes’, and out of nowhere a pinky-sized vial topped off with a cord fell on her stomach. Mia raised it to eye level with a shaky hand, then stared at it suspiciously.

‘Elixir of Regeneration’ was a pretentious name. Mia expected some crazy colours, maybe some glitters and perhaps even physics-defying self-moving liquid. 

“Why does it look like regular water?” Mia grumbled, squinting harder and she just maybe saw a glint of something more in the liquid for but a single moment. Then it was gone and Mia wondered whether her exhausted mind was just playing tricks on her.

***

[{Newcomer} Introductory (4)] is Complete!]

• Objective: Use a Skill to practical effect. COMPLETED

• Bonus Objective: Use a Skill to defeat a foe. COMPLETED

Reward: a System Generated Book of your choosing.

Bonus Reward: Rewards are doubled! User can choose one regular book and one Runic Lexicon from the list.

Claim reward now? 

Yes / No

***

Mia grinned through the exhaustion. Mark had mentioned Quests flip-flopped between being annoying and arbitrary at the start. Though based on his previous request for a monster core, Mia suspected actually completing the Questchain would require her to do some serious monster hunting.

The obvious conclusion would be that the last quest would be to clear out all Rifts nearby or something similar. 

Mia wasn’t sure how she was going to accomplish that. Or if she even wanted to, if that really became a quest objective at one point.

Don’t dwell on it. One thing at a time. Mia chastised herself, then hit the mental ‘Yes’ button.

***

[Compiling …

[Available books:

• Basic Bestiary
• Delver’s Handbook
• Of Rifts, and Dungeons
• On Mana and Magic
• Elements, Affinities and Attunement
• Advanced, Fused and Higher Elements
• Elements, the Foundations of our Reality
• The History of the Halvyr
• Genealogy: the most prominent Fae Bloodlines
• Constellations, the Mightiest of the Great Ones
• Great Ones: The Archon
• First Steps of Arcanism
• The Principle of Duality
• On the Arcane Element and its Applications
• Introduction to Water Magic
• Introduction to Earth Magic
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Abjuration
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Alchemy
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Kinetomancy
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Thermomancy
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Alteration
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Summoning
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Conjuration
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Illusion
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Warding
• Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Disruption

[Choose one regular book and one Runic Lexicon]

***

“That’s a long list,” Mia murmured, going glassy-eyed halfway through the list. A bunch of strangely named books got added in, things she assumed were some manner of history book perhaps?

Two new books on Elements, a delving handbook, a lexicon for Fae bloodlines, a bunch of useless history books — that she was nonetheless aching to read since they were tied to her new species — and even two new runic lexicons: disruption and warding.

Sadly, no matter how tempting most of the books looked, Mia already had her choice of a regular book chosen. She needed practical knowledge, like, yesterday. Or the day before that.

Selected: [First Steps of Arcanism] 

Now for the extra, a runic lexicon. She had no idea how useful one of those would be. Would it be as easy as somehow slurping up a rune from a page and having it appear in her runic model, or would she have to carefully shape the rune out of her own mana?

The latter of which would effectively make it useless to get, since the last time she checked, cubes were proving to be too much of a challenge for her Control.

Well, it was sort of free anyway, and she could just have it sitting on the side while she trained up her Control to make use of it later.

But which discipline to choose? If those were even disciplines, and not just some arbitrary groups the System made to separate a single runic alphabet into a dozen lexicons.

What do I need? Mia wondered. Arcane Blast was a stupidly powerful spell, and Mia was quite happy with its destructive power so that wouldn’t need improvement just yet.

Her Barrier also held up admirably against a Hobgoblin’s magically enhanced arrow shot, so defence was also … good enough. I could use some passive defences though. Maybe Warding would let me have a permanent reactive shield around me? I can’t always expect my enemy to wait for me to get my lazy runic model ready to cast a Shield before they attack.

Summoning also tickled her fancy for the same reason. While warding didn’t ensure the type of warding she wanted being made available, summoning should at the very least give her the ability to summon something to put between herself and the bad guys. Preferably said thing would also act as her meat shield in most situations.

Illusion was the third curious one. Even if invisibility was a tall ask for a novice-ranked rudimentary lexicon, it should at least help her hide. Which could be a godsend when she had to sneak through the city and make her way over to the suburbs where her mom’s house was.

Mia considered the other options too, but they all had an offensive vibe to them that she wasn’t interested in. Well, aside from Abjuration and Alchemy, but she had a feeling neither would have what she wanted.

Abjuration gave her the sense it was for making active barriers, it’d probably give her other spells like Shield.

Alchemy, on the other hand, was just for making stuff like potions, poisons and whatnot. But Mia just knew knowing the runes would just be a part of doing alchemy, she’d need much more knowledge to make use of that lexicon. Along with ingredients and specialised tools.

No, Mark had like, six books just by rushing through things like an idiot. I only need to choose what would be the most useful right now, not in the future.

That was the Summoning Lexicon, it was the one most certain to give her an arcane meatshield that would be on standby even as she cast other sorts of magic. Plus, if she was being honest with herself, handing over the getting up close and personal part of fighting to some arcane golem appealed to her. Of course it did, who wanted to get up close and personal with a goblin? Freaks, and idiots, that’s who. 

Selected: [Novice Grade Runic Lexicon: Arcane / Rudimentary Summoning]

{Newcomer}’s Bonus: [Runic Lexicon Appendum / User Manual] has been generated.

Mia felt another book, this one much smaller than the previous flop onto her stomach, followed by a hard-paper brochure that lazily swam through the air before landing on her face.

Raising the thing off her face, she read it.

***

‘How to make use of a Runic Lexicon! A step-by-step guide!

• Open the Lexicon.

• Find a Rune you want to assimilate into your runic-model.

• Optional: If you don’t have a runic-model: 1. What are you doing selecting a runic lexicon? 2. You just wasted a system reward. Congratulations.

• Now, since this is a real Runic Lexicon, all you have to do is place an appendage with open-ended energy channels atop the selected rune, then suck.

• Sucking: Imagine inhaling the rune from the parchment through your appendage.

• Since the Lexicon is made of extremely mana-active parchment and the runes are written in mana-infused ink by the equivalent of a Master Enchanter just for this purpose, inhaling the rune should be nearly effortless.

• Try keeping your energy channels barren for the process, as some mana types can negatively affect the rune while it is not yet protected by your elemental runic-model. Such are: Light mana, Chaos mana, Fire mana, potent Arcane mana and Darkness mana.

• When the rune reaches your mana pool, will your runic-model to ‘open up’. As in, become receptive to assimilating a new rune. It should handle the rest from there on its own.

• Never attempt to incorporate a rune into your runic model that is of a different element to your runic-model. Doing so may cause the implosion of the runic-model and the fracturing of your mana pool. 

• Alternatively, It could also cause it to be unable to be upgraded to the next Grade. Which kills your career as a mage just as much. Though it is fixable, unlike the loss of your mana pool.)

• Mana pool fracturing is lethal in 99.999% of recorded cases across 98 billion recorded cases. Be careful with what you put in your runic-model.

• Don’t rush to assimilate as many runes as possible in one sitting.

• Your runic-model needs rest to fully assimilate the rune and incorporate it into its construct.

• Don’t use any spells using the new rune — or, preferably, any spells at all — while your runic-model is in the process of incorporating a new rune.

• You will feel your runic-model working in your mana pool if you have your Sensitivity above 5 points. Meaning, you will also feel it when it finishes up and returns to its regular resting state. Only then, is a rune fully incorporated.

• Repeat. If you have a Spelltome Skill, new spells should appear in it once all needed runes have been fully incorporated.

And that, folks, is how you use a Runic Lexicon and why you must make sure you never use one bought from uncertified vendors. A single wrong rune, a single mistake, and your entire future as a mage could become compromised. Take care!’

***

Before doing any of that though, Mia decided to get assigning her six stat points over with. She planned to dump at the very least three of those into Cognity, to get a better handle on her Sensitivity and see afterwards whether it needed further points in it. 

The ratio of Cognity:Sensitivity hadn’t been a perfect 1:1 before, and she could manage it just fine, so she hoped she wouldn’t need to waste so many points on it.

The constant wrongness pressing down from all around was getting old, and fucking tiring. So, without hesitation, Mia threw two points at Cognity as a first test.

[Cognity: 7 -> 9]

[Free Attribute Points: 6 -> 4]

[Mind: 6 - > 7]

The wrongness remained, clear as day and still wrapping around her like a possessive sentient cloak, but Mia still sighed in relief. Her headache was already starting to lessen and the constant bombardment of sensations from her Sensitivity went from nails poking at her brain for attention to faint nudges.

That Mind tipping over the boundary might have had a lot to do with it too. It’s still annoying, but far from impossible to manage. Though … I think I’ll have to put another stat into Cognity for me to be able to entirely disregard it and go on with my day as I had before.

With a sad sigh, Mia placed another point into Cognity.

[Cognity: 9 -> 10]

[Free Attribute Points: 4 -> 3]

The nudges disappeared, leaving behind only faint echoes and a whisper in the back of her mind that something was wrong with things around her. Mia decided that was good enough for her. It was like with her hearing before, she could still focus on it and pull that sensory overload into the foreground, but she could just as easily send it into the background with merely a thought. 

She was in control again. It was relieving.

I still have three stat points. Mia narrowed her eyes as she worked over what she wanted. She just got a runic lexicon, and using it would probably be made easier with some extra Control based on the brochure’s description.

But I’ll be getting new spells once I’m done assimilating all the new runes into my runic model. Probably complex, head-ache-inducing spells that I’m going to need every bit of Manifestation and Will to cast. 

Her Manifestation was at nine (5 Base and 4 Gained) while her Will stood at a measly four (3 Base and 1 Gained). It’s time I upped that sorry-looking Will stat a bit. I already have three Base points in it, so it won’t be as much of a waste. Plus, it’s an investment for the future. Plus, plus, more willpower can’t ever hurt with the world going to shit.

Feeling satisfied with her decision, Mia threw all three of her remaining points into Will.

[Will: 4 -> 7]

[Free Attribute Points: 3 -> 0]

[Mind: 7 -> 8]

Mia shuddered as a tingly sensation rushed over the inside of her skull. Her entire head felt all tingly, as if her brain was having goosebumps and they spread over its surroundings. How had she missed this when the stat went from six to seven just a minute earlier? Was she so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice?

Probably. I can get lost in thought and walk into walls and trees, why not miss some tingling in my brain? Mia reasoned, though it was dubious at best. Maybe it was just the aftereffect of a Main Attribute jumping two entire points in quick succession. 

I’ll have to be more careful with dumping so many points into a single Main Stat. What if a third point into Mind would have melted my brain?

The shudder that followed that thought had nothing to do with the creepy sensation still buzzing about in her skull. Mia got far too close to killing herself far too many times in just two days for her liking, and she didn’t even know how many times random chance might have saved her. Like the time when the barricaded wall held out against an iron-feathered bird, or something of the like.

Mia took a deep breath, held it in and counted to four before she let it out in a huff. Well, what was done, was done. She was alive, and she had to work to keep it that way for as long as possible. Especially if she was going to head outside the building at one point.

I have to stop lazing about. Time to learn some new runes and get myself a nice little meat shield … is it still called a meat shield if it’s made out of mana? Mana shield … nope, that sounds like a spell. Meat shield it is.

Hugging her new books to her chest, Mia swung her legs back over her head, then back down. The momentum carried her torso off the ground and a moment later, she was up on her feet, having done a kick-up so perfect even her grumpy PE teacher from high school couldn’t have found a single mistake in it.

I’ll have to get back into athletics. My body is so much lighter and agile, I could be doing flips and stuff so damned easily and get hurt much less with my reduced weight. If I somehow managed to get some kinetic ward in the future that bailed me out whenever I landed badly, I wouldn’t even have to care about getting hurt.

Filing away that idea, Mia hopped over to her bed with a grin. She settled in the middle, pulling her legs into a lotus pose and feeling even more giddy as she felt how easy it was to settle into the straining position.

Mia could do it before, as a human, stretching every day was part of her routine and she was quite flexible, but her knees just didn’t like bending that way. Now though, with her Flexibility almost doubled, it wouldn’t have been a stretch to say she felt comfortable sitting like that. It was great, and once again drove home just how much potential there was in going balls-to-the-walls with advancing in this System that seemingly took over their world and turned human civilization on its head.

She was just Rank 0 after all, a measly Level 6 User. Ranks went up to 5, as far as she knew, but maybe they went much further. All her knowledge came from little nuggets of ‘common sense’ information referenced in the books she’s read and in System notifications.

Runes. Lexicon. Stop daydreaming, stupid. Mia slapped herself on the cheeks, maybe a bit harder than she was supposed to as they now stung like a bitch. Nonetheless, the smile never left her lips as she flipped open the small Runic Lexicon.

The Lexicon itself looked like a palm-sized notebook with a hardcover, its front only had some runic script on it that Mia was not familiar with on a purplish pink background. The pages though, oh those were just beautiful.

The parchment looked as if it was made of liquid silver and the runes written on them glowed with an unmistakably magical light, glittering with the pink energy Mia came to know as arcane mana. It flowed, at parts of the rune quickly and chaotically, while other segments of it were crystalline and seemed entirely solid. 

The runes had a depth to them, if that was even impossible, since they fit on a two-dimensional parchment. Still, Mia almost reached out to touch the pretty rune taking up the first page of the Lexicon before she caught herself.

Her fingers had open-ended energy channels in them, what if she accidentally sucked up the rune before she was ready? 

Tearing her eyes away from the rune itself, Mia finally noticed a flowing script at the bottom of the page, written in English explaining the properties of the rune above.

***

‘Name: Phomnel

Grade: Novice / Grade 0

Runic Language: Imperial Standard

Element: Arcane

Function: Most commonly used as a part of simple mana batteries for corporeal arcane constructs.’

***

“Yesss.” Mia clutched the notebook strongly, holding onto it as if her life depended on it even as the excitement sent shivers down her hands and sent her fingers into a trembling craze. This is exactly what I needed. If the first rune is used in making mana batteries for corporeal arcane constructs, that means I’m just about sure to get a magical meat shield by the time I have all those glittery runes in me.