Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Chapter 20 : Experience
“Ughhh…!”
Sal glanced at the timer next to him and stretched.
Having worked for nearly five hours straight without a break, he knew he should get some sleep now if he wanted to endure the next day.
"Or should I just buy a premium coffee tomorrow?"
Sal muttered as he pushed the timer out of his view.
His eyes returned to the work in progress.
The dull grey uniform had already transformed into a completely new form, but the work was not finished yet.
Sal let out a sigh of resignation, opened his tablet, and pulled up the image of the rune he intended to engrave.
Since his eyes couldn't read information from a static image, Sal sketched it by hand, hoping his eyes would grasp the intent.
"Please..."
Sal looked at the most recently completed blueprint and spoke as if groaning, then focused his eyes again.
He flowed his ability into the rune, but there was no reaction.
It had been like this all night.
Sal was reaching his limit.
On the screen next to him, as if mocking him, ‘Intensive Basics of Runes’ was displayed.
Price: 50 Q-Credits.
This material created by a 3rd-year student was a compilation of class note summaries and tips, and Sal pondered as he read the description several times.
‘It’s content I’ll learn later anyway, am I desperate enough to spend credits on this now?’
Sal gritted his teeth and poured power into the rune once more.
There was no reaction.
His terrible engraving was not recognized even by his all-seeing eyes as a target capable of upgrade or refinement.
In Sal’s eyes, it was just a terrible scribble with nothing to improve.
"Damn it, I don't know."
Sal eventually rationalized it to himself and purchased the lecture.
Puzzled by the download time being longer than expected, Sal checked the file composition.
Surprisingly, that student had organized everything from daily journals, weekly summaries, assignment analysis, to tutorials.
It was much more substantial material than expected.
Sal let out a sigh of relief and opened a video that seemed to deal with the problem he was facing.
“…And whenever you draw a line, make sure Essence is always flowing through the needle.
Otherwise, the rune becomes incomplete.
Personally, I like keeping the entire line straight and consistent, but
some people reinject Essence intermittently to strengthen specific parts.
Strengthening runes is especially important when engraving multiple runes on a single piece of equipment.
Because each rune ends up competing for the same Essence resource.
In this case, the method of strengthening weak runes to balance with strong runes is effective.”
Sal paused the video and rummaged through the tool box, finding a tool similar to the needle seen in the video.
It looked like an old-fashioned fountain pen, but the tip was a triangular blade, tapering down to a sharp point like a needle.
Realizing he was skipping steps, Sal started searching separately for a video explaining how to inject Essence into the needle.
Soon, a video of a student using a less impressive version than the high-end tool in Sal’s hand played on the screen.
“…It contains a small fragment of a Core. The Common model needs charging after just a few days, and charging costs a certain fee. But Uncommon or Rare grade sets have self-recovery runes engraved so the creator can use them anytime! If you are serious about becoming an engraver, purchase an Uncommon grade engraving tool as soon as possible. It will completely change the game.
This engraving tool is currently fully charged, but it doesn't have a magical signature yet. This signature is unique to each user, so it is essential. There are two ways to imbue this. The first is a method for people with high Essence control skills, which is directly pouring out your own ability and infusing it into the engraving tool.
But even if you can't control energy that precisely yet, don't worry.
Because there is a second method. Just prick your finger with the needle tip to draw blood. It might hurt a little, but since Essence flows in blood, that alone creates your unique signature. Those clumsy with energy control can avoid falling behind in class with this little trick.”
For several hours, Sal watched at least twelve videos posted by graduates and learned a tremendous amount of information he hadn't known.
Before he knew it, dawn was breaking, and he realized he had no choice but to rely on premium coffee to get through the day.
His body was exhausted, but his head was still burning with enthusiasm, itching to apply the tips and tricks he just learned to crafting immediately.
“Let’s start with this first….”
Sal muttered, lifting the engraving tool he held in his hand.
Sal imagined drawing out one of his Essences and connecting it to the Core fragment inside the pen, flowing a little energy into it.
The tool started working immediately.
It even seemed like the needle tip was glowing faintly.
“Then now, shall we see if it works well?”
Sal straightened his back and looked at the numerous rune sketches scattered on the desk.
All were engraved on scrap pieces of cloth.
He didn't want to try directly on the grey uniform and ruin it.
Even if restoration was possible, wasting Essence was a foolish act.
“Please let it work this time…”
Sal started redrawing the rune with the engraving tool that was fully charged and connected to Essence.
Until now he had used a carving blade because he thought that made sense at the time.
But this time, a clear trace of pulsating energy was left from the needle tip of the engraving tool, and he was surprised to feel almost no Essence being consumed.
When he put runes into the gauntlet previously, it was at the level of pushing a crude stone with force to engrave.
Knowing he might make mistakes, Sal didn't want to solve everything relying only on his ability.
He wanted to do really well properly, with his own skill.
“Please… just a little more….”
Sal closed the pattern, completing the final line.
Surprisingly, even after the needle left the surface, power continued to flow along the line.
As if it were a race track, the power ran along the line.
Seeing parts where the speed slowed down or moved with difficulty in between, Sal unconsciously refined those lines.
Then the flow became faster again, picking up speed, and soon the entire rune began to emit light.
“Wow…”
Sal’s eyes went wide.
“I did it!”
Sal’s eyes informed him that the rune was a Small Protection Rune, and already upgrade methods to evolve the rune and new patterns began to appear in his eyes.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Sal carefully moved the completed rune to the side and brought his grey uniform to the center of the desk.
Now he knew what he had to do.
Sal quickly turned the timer to reset it, then looked at the sun rising outside the window.
"Ah, rise a bit slower. I just started."
Laughing, he pulled up the list of runes to engrave on the uniform.
All were basic runes, but they were perfect to use as a foundation for upgrades.
This idea had come up while organizing the various materials he received.
Sal felt it was wasteful to use those materials on items to sell to others, and rather wanted to find a way to utilize his ability efficiently and cheaply.
In Sal's opinion, there was no method cheaper than engraving runes on the existing uniform and reinforcing it with his ability.
Of course, some materials or Essence would cost, but compared to crafting a completely new item from scratch, it was an incomparably cheap choice.
Sal concentrated on engraving the runes, biting his lip and frowning.
His eyes gradually began to resonate with the blueprint, sending suggestions on how each rune could harmonize.
To be precise, rather than suggestions, they were closer to patterns Sal could understand.
He took a step back from the workbench and smiled with satisfaction.
Small streams of light finally began to flow along the patterns, but it seemed it would take some time to circulate through the entire circuit.
The first rune Sal made was the size of his palm, but this time five different runes were connected by complex lines tangled like a spiderweb.
Each rune was arranged to transfer its magical energy most efficiently, and Sal instinctively understood how it worked.
He realized at once which rune should be placed where and how they should be connected to maximize each other's performance.
"What the…."
Sal blinked at the sound of the timer ringing.
He turned off the alarm and looked out the window again.
The sun had risen much higher.
"Do I have to shower and go to class already?"
He let out a groan and headed to the bathroom.
And only after throwing one more proud glance at the uniform did he enter the bathroom.
He wondered if he would have time to finish even the upgrade before class.
After finishing his shower, he decided he had to upgrade the uniform.
Otherwise, it was obvious he would be distracted all day.
So upgrading the uniform now… could be called an investment for learning, couldn't it? His excuse was somewhat lame, but since his mind was already set, it didn't matter.
He took out a few silver ingots from the pile of materials, pondering if they would suit the grey-toned uniform well.
Soon Sal started the upgrade, slowly flowing Essence into the uniform.
It was a completely different feeling from the gauntlet he made in the past.
Back then, Essence drained out like pouring rain driving him to the brink of exhaustion, but this time it felt like slowly pouring water into a delicate mold.
Following his ability and intent, Essence was permeating into every minute groove of the runes.
He could have forcibly poured Essence or rushed the process, but Sal didn't hurry and adjusted the speed to match the flow suggested by the runes.
Then opportunities to refine naturally began to surface, and he proceeded with refinement in ways he couldn't imagine before.
When the soft light gradually subsided, Sal stood there as if frozen in place.
Sal’s power was hardly depleted, and he had used only one silver ingot.
Yet he had succeeded in creating a Rare grade piece of equipment.
Name: Protection Shirt
Origin: Crafted
Condition: Brand New
Grade: Rare (Low)
Size: Chest 42 inches | Neck 17.5 inches
Material: Cotton | Refined Mythos Crafter’s Essence | Reinforced Wool
Attributes:
-Defiance: Nullifies piercing and blunt damage, and reflects damage with a certain probability.
-Untouchable: If another tries to forcibly remove the shirt, a counterattack effect automatically triggers.
-Adrenaline: All abilities of the shirt remain constantly active.
Abilities: Defiance | Untouchable | Adrenaline
Power Source: External Essence
Evolution Potential: None
Quality: Excellent
Durability: 100%
Estimated Value: $12,000.00 ~ $16,000.00
The clothes that used to be a dull grey shirt were now shining completely silver, and rune patterns intricately engraved in metal wrapped around the entire garment.
While the flexibility unique to fabric remained, it was a shirt boasting armor-level defense.
Sal carefully tried on the shirt, surprised by the feeling of it tightening to fit his body perfectly and even correcting his posture.
He quickly put on the rest of his clothes, cast one apologetic look at the bed, and left the room.
He had a full schedule all day, but only one thought was in Sal's head.
“Coffee… Caffeine… Coffee….”
Premium coffee.
Perhaps because he was so tired, Sal didn't notice the reactions of people around him at all until he drank a few sips of premium coffee.
“Uh, Sal! Hi… uh?”
With his eyes almost closed, he walked like a zombie to the lobby without talking to anyone.
Not knowing the class schedule or location.
As the magic of coffee began to work, he felt his mind waking up, and only then could he feel people's gazes.
“What is that?”
“His chest… is glowing?”
He lowered his head to look down at his chest, confirming the silver rune engraved on the shirt was glowing faintly.
His gaze continued downward, and he realized how much his top contrasted with his ordinary grey pants. Like wearing a suit jacket with sweatpants.
“Well, let’s say it’s close enough.”
Thinking at least the colors were similar, Sal moved his steps toward the lecture room where today’s class would be held.
Without even knowing the fact that Hannah, seeing Sal with his glowing chest, hadn't even offered a greeting.