The Runesmith

Chapter 672: First Apprentice Acquired.

A lone ray of light shone through the Red Dragon Inn window. In the distance, loud cries from lesser dragons echoed, as they always did at the break of dawn. Inside the inn, several people were already awake, or more accurately, they had never gone to sleep at all.

“Millie… did she fall asleep?”

The mother's concerned voice broke the silence, but no one answered. She moved toward her daughter, who had spent the entire night scribbling magical scrolls. Lysa slowed her steps as she approached the table, as though even the faint sound of her movement might disturb the fragile scene before her.

Millie had indeed fallen asleep. Her head rested gently on her folded arms, strands of hair clinging to her cheek. The quill remained loosely held between her fingers, stained with faint traces of magical ink. Around her, scattered across the table and spilling onto the floor, lay plenty of completed scrolls, some still shimmering with residual mana.

“She really… kept going all night…”

Her voice trembled, barely louder than a whisper. There was concern in her tone, but also something else. Joy. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her daughter. Her husband, Ermes, stood beside her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, though he, too, was close to tears. They both understood that in just a few hours, their daughter had made more progress than she had in years.

“Sir…I mean, M-master Wayland, how many did you say?”

“Three in total, but she could progress much faster if she learned more demanding spell structures.”

Roland replied while standing nearby, his gaze fixed on Millie’s status screen. When he had first met the girl, she had been only level four. Now that had changed.

There was nothing particularly unusual about this. When the right conditions were met, early levels could be gained quickly. The problem had never been her talent or her dedication. It had always been her lack of mana to sustain her craft.

She had likely passed out many times before ever managing to complete a single scroll. Even with Hasim’s help, the results had been meager, and the reason was clear. Dwarven craftsmen did not usually work with this kind of technology, and what they did use was forbidden to anyone who was not an apprentice.

Hasim was not the kind of dwarf to worry about such restrictions, but his associates certainly would. Then there was the cost of creating such devices, and the greatest issue of all. Using them on someone with a rare class with almost no mana to speak of.

From what Roland could tell, the dwarven devices had been crafted to inject mana directly into the user. While that approach worked, it placed a heavy strain on the body. If someone could not handle large amounts of mana, repeated use could turn deadly. His suspicions were confirmed by the next question Hasim posed.

“Ah, will the lass be fine? I don’t mean to complain, laddie… but we’ve tried somethin’ like this afore, an’ it didn’t end well.”

“I assume she collapsed after a few attempts and developed a fever?”

“Aye.”

Hasim nodded.

“Yer wee trinket there seems different this time. The lass didn't look bothered by it at all, an’ I didn’t spot any o’ them nasty side effects neither. How in the blazin’ forges did ye manage that?”

“A trade secret.”

Roland replied with a faint smile. It was no surprise that the dwarf had been unable to modify the devices to suit Millie. Every specialist had strengths and weaknesses, and this particular field favored rune mages. If Hasim had someone he trusted in that discipline, Millie’s problem might have been resolved much sooner. However, the dwarf clearly had his reasons for keeping his distance from them.

“Aye, figured as much. Ye rune-mage types always keep yer secrets clutched close to yer chests. Hmph.”

Hasim snorted, though there was no real irritation in his tone. If anything, there was a hint of approval in his eyes. Roland did not deny it. There was little point. Knowledge, especially in a world governed by the system, was often more valuable than gold. Giving it away freely would only invite trouble, and he had no intention of explaining anything without receiving something in return. ᚱἁɴÖʙƐṨ

“She will be fine.”

To shift the conversation, he glanced at Millie again. Her mother had placed a blanket over her and was now gathering the scattered scrolls from the ground.

“The bracelet does not force mana into her body. It resonates with her natural flow and supplements it only when necessary. There is no overflow and no strain on her body, but…”

Roland let the sentence hang, prompting Hasim to respond quickly.

“But?”

“But, as you can see, she still requires an external source of mana.”

He pointed to the bracelet. When activated, the runes had glowed with life. Now they were dim, on the verge of fading. It was clear to Hasim that its stored mana had been depleted. It also made the underlying issue obvious. Millie would continue to rely on an external source to replenish her mana.

“Making basic mana scrolls is simple enough, but once she reaches higher levels and Tier Two, the need for additional support will only increase.”

Roland finished calmly, his gaze lingering on the dim bracelet. Hasim scratched his beard again, more thoughtfully this time.

“So the problem isn't gone at all. Ye’ve just shifted it somewhere else.”

“In a way, yes.”

Roland did not deny it. There was no reason to paint a false picture now, not after proving what Millie could achieve.

“She can now progress, but she will require a steady supply of mana. Either through items or external support, something I can provide.”

““Aye, ye will, eh? I’ll be frank wi’ ye, lad. I’m no’ sure I can trust ye”

“I don’t expect you to. I understand your position.”

Roland did not take offense, as he knew what Hasim was alluding to. In this world, nothing came for free. The old dwarf was clearly worried about his motives. Taking in an apprentice who required so many mana related resources sounded more like a burden than an opportunity, especially when that apprentice came from a modest background and had little to offer in return, at least at first glance.

“You think I have ulterior motives, don’t you?”

“Aye. What do ye truly want the lass for?”

He had expected this. If he were in their place, it would all seem too good to be true. He had arrived out of nowhere and was helping them for no apparent reason. Millie had an interesting class, but there was no guarantee that once her levels increased, she could repay the favor.

“What do I want her for? Truthfully, you could call it the curiosity of a craftsman.”

“Curiosity?”

He nodded, as he did not have any grand reason for doing this. He was curious about the path she might take. There was also a trace of sympathy, as he had struggled with his own class in the beginning and had only managed to fix it through years of hardship. Now he was thriving, and he wondered if he could help Millie do the same.

“Curiosity? You want me to trust you with my daughter because you’re curious?”

This time, it was Ermes who spoke up. He had been listening to the exchange between Hasim and Roland, but in the end, the decision rested with the parents. There were many stories of strange, crazed magicians taking children away, never to be seen again. Some used others for terrible experiments, and to them, that possibility could not be ignored.

“It’s fine if you don’t trust me. I never expected you to. But I assure you, I have no intention of harming your daughter, and this is not some kind of charity.”

Ermes was not wrong to assume that Roland had his own motives. He was not acting out of pure altruism.

“If you want to know, then let me explain.”

Roland stepped closer to the father and stopped in front of him. The man nodded, and Roland began to reveal the real reason behind his interest.

“Your daughter has a unique class, something I have never seen before. The reason is simple. I want to study her progress and see what she can achieve.”

The father fell silent, deep in thought. To Roland, it did not seem like a bad arrangement. His curiosity would not harm the child. Even if she failed to meet his expectations, she would still gain a new class and a better chance of surviving in this world. Still, she was not the only subject of his interest.

There was another reason he chose not to share, one that felt too grand and might even be considered blasphemous in a world like this. He wanted to discover whether he could create equipment that allowed ordinary people to accomplish greater things.

Even blacksmiths like Ermes were different from hybrid classes such as a runesmith. They lacked combat classes, their stat growth remained unchanged, and they struggled to handle rare materials as effectively as their magically inclined counterparts.

Their skills allowed them to shape metal and briefly endure extreme heat. However, they could not match the results of a runesmith or an enchantsmith. Because of this, Roland wondered if he could help Millie thrive. What if he could create devices that bridged the gap between a hybrid crafter and a regular one? What if he could go even further?

He had already created powered suits of armor that greatly enhanced combat ability. What if he could level the playing field for everyone? Before any of that, however, he needed to bring Ermes to his side.

“Of course, I will not harm your daughter in any way, and she will be free to choose her own path. If she later decides she wants an ordinary life, I will not stop her.”

“This sounds too good to be true… I… what should I do?”

Ermes looked toward Lysa, who had just finished gathering the scrolls and stacking them neatly. She met his gaze with concern. It was clear she did not know what the right path forward was either.

“I just want our daughter to be happy… but I don’t know. I think I’ll die from worry if we just send her off…”

The mother was clearly concerned about her daughter’s safety, but it seemed the parents were misunderstanding something.

“Send her off? I think you’ve got it wrong. You won’t be sending her off. You’ll be coming with her.”

“We will be coming with her?”

Ermes repeated the words, confused by what Roland had just said. It seemed the parents thought he would simply take their daughter to Albrook, and they would never see her again, but that was far from the truth.

“Hm, perhaps we should move somewhere else, and I’ll explain everything to you. Who I really am and what I can offer.”

Roland looked at the sleeping Millie and then back at her parents, who had misunderstood his intentions. They both nodded, and so did Hasim. Soon, Roland, Ermes, and Hasim moved to another room while Lysa returned to the inn to deal with some angry adventurers.

Once inside, Roland began laying out the truth of his identity. He did not hide the fact that he worked for Arthur and was part of the Valerian noble house. He also did not hide that he oversaw an entire city as its second in command.

“Y-you want us to open an inn in… Albrook, was it?”

“Indeed. Wouldn’t it be better if your whole family moved? It won’t be a problem. The city is constantly expanding. We could use more innkeepers and craftsmen. A few smithies are looking for help, and if you prefer, you could even open your own shop.”

“M-my own shop!?”

Roland nodded as Ermes panicked in front of Hasim. The old dwarf did not seem particularly impressed, though he appeared to be slowly believing some of what Roland was saying.

“A whole city under yer watch, eh? Bah! ’Tis still nothin’ compared to bein’ a master craftsman in this here dungeon, laddie!

“Sure…”

For some reason, after Roland explained his position in detail and backed it up with the paperwork he had brought, Hasim grew a bit competitive. Either way, from Roland’s perspective, there was no reason for the family to refuse. Moving away from the dungeon would be the best thing for them. They could finally live a normal life, free from lesser dragons and the strange adventurers who had even tried to kill them.

“Then, what will it be? You and your family will move to Albrook. Millie will continue her training, and you will all live together. The city is safe, the work is plentiful, and the opportunities for her growth are almost limitless.”

Ermes rubbed his forehead, clearly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the proposal.

“I… I suppose it makes sense. She will be safer, and she will finally be able to craft without collapsing from exhaustion. But this is not something I can decide for her.”

“I understand.”

Roland nodded. These parents seemed to care only about their daughter’s happiness. They did not care whether she spent her life inside an inn or made a living crafting magical scrolls and other inventions. If she declined his offer, even if they believed it was the wrong choice, they likely would not push her too hard.

“Why don’t we ask her, then?”

They had been discussing things for about an hour. During the last part of the conversation, Millie had woken up and moved closer to the door to listen. With the help of the mage hand spell, Roland pulled the door open, causing Millie to stumble inside, as she had been leaning against it for several minutes.

“Ooh!”

Millie tumbled forward with a small yelp, barely managing to catch herself before hitting the floor. Her cheeks flushed red as three pairs of eyes turned toward her.

“I… I wasn’t listening!”

She babbled out quickly, and Hasim let out a rough chuckle, crossing his arms.

“Aye, and I’m the bloody king o’ dragons.”

Ermes sighed, though there was no real anger in it, only secondhand embarrassment.

“How much did you hear?”

Millie hesitated. That hesitation was answer enough. Roland, however, did not seem bothered. If anything, it saved him time.

“Then you already know what is being discussed.”

She slowly pushed herself up, brushing imaginary dust from her clothes. Her fingers tightened slightly at her sides as she avoided looking directly at anyone.

“You want me to leave. To go to Albrook.”

“Not just you. Your family as well. I know this is sudden, and it might be better if you spoke with your parents before you make a decision.”

Before Roland could finish, Millie rushed forward and grabbed his arm.

“Please let me come with you!”

To his surprise, the child did not hesitate at all. Her grip tightened around his armored sleeve, her fingers trembling not from fear this time but from something far stronger, hope and perhaps excitement.

“I want to learn… I want to keep going.”

Her voice cracked slightly, yet she did not let go.

“I don’t want to stop anymore. I don’t want to have any more regrets.”

The room fell silent. Ermes stared at his daughter, caught between pride and worry. Lysa, who had quietly returned and now stood by the doorway, pressed a hand against her lips once more.

“I know that look… I haven’t seen it in a while.”

Ermes smiled as he noticed a faint sparkle in Millie’s eyes. She looked genuinely excited, whether at the prospect of leveling or the chance to experience something new. As he looked at his family, he realized they would accept the proposal.

Roland glanced down at the small hand clutching his sleeve, then back at the girl. There was no hesitation in her eyes now. Ever since she had begun scribing scrolls without worrying about mana, something within her had awakened again. The drive was there, along with a clear determination to give it her all.

Now he needed to answer her. He would become her teacher, something he had never truly been before. Bernir had been with him, but only as an assistant who could not really learn runes. Millie, on the other hand, had the potential to absorb his knowledge, perhaps even gain a rune-focused class in her next ascension trial. Now it was up to him to guide her, a responsibility that would shape not only her future, but likely her entire family’s as well.