The Runesmith

*WOOSH*

*BOOM*

“GraHgH!”

“I got another one!”

A young man with copper hair smiled as he watched a goblin burst into flames right before his eyes. However, just as he began celebrating, a sharp rock flew toward him and slammed into a nearby mana shield.

“Woah!”

“Stay in formation and do not rely on the barrier too much. If this were a real battle, you would be severely injured, Mr. Plomyk.”

Roland spoke in a steady voice while looking at the blushing Elian, who turned his head away in shame. Several of the other students grinned, and a few even laughed while pointing at him.

“And you, what are you laughing about? Get back to spell slinging.”

“Yes, Deputy Professor!”

Roland shook his head as he looked over the large group of students under his supervision. Although his voice carried across the formation, he was actually floating directly above them while wearing his standard rune armor. Below him were Lucienne's entire group along with many other first-tier students. All of them were here to gain levels by slaying monsters or improve their skills.

They were inside a dungeon filled with goblins and their various first-tier variants. The environment had been carefully chosen to match the strength of these young mages. Goblins were far from the most terrifying monsters in existence, but in large swarms they provided an endless supply of experience and targets.

‘The Headmistress is not sparing any expense for this either…’

This dungeon was nowhere near the academy. Even by flying ship, it took several days to reach. However, according to Roland's calculations, it was the best option for his sister Lucienne, who desperately needed more levels. To get here, they had used the teleportation gate once again, and their group of thirty students had eagerly signed up for the opportunity.

The day before, Roland had presented his proposal to the Headmistress, unsure whether she would dismiss it. Making it work required securing a temporary agreement with both the local lord and the regional Adventurers Guild. Even though this was only an E-rank dungeon populated by first-tier monsters, the local guild and nobility still relied on it for revenue and resource gathering.

Fortunately, the academy's influence and deep pockets had cleared those administrative hurdles in short order. By compensating the local guild for the temporary loss of monster bounty income, Roland had managed to reserve the dungeon's lower floors exclusively for his students.

As a result, they were free to hunt large waves of monsters without competing with local adventurers. The dungeon was quite vast and contained its own self-contained ecosystem that resembled a dense forest where goblin tribes roamed.

“More coming from the left flank!”

Lucienne's voice echoed through the forest. Her clairvoyance skills had steadily improved, and she could now detect approaching monsters from as far as a hundred meters away. The range was enhanced by various magical spells, but that hardly mattered. She had effectively become a human radar, warning her group of danger before it arrived. In an enclosed environment filled with obstacles such as towering trees, her abilities were invaluable.

“This is easy! Why don’t we always do it like this?”

Selphie Astarel was there as well, a large hat perched on her head and a small wand topped with a magic crystal in her hand. She conjured multiple mana bolts and sent them flying at the monsters that, as Lucienne had said, were approaching from their left flank. Before the creatures even realized they had been spotted, a barrage of spells rained down on them.

“Hey, don’t steal my kills!”

“I didn’t. You were just too slow!”

A volley of arrows flew out from between the trees, but they bounced off the large magical shield surrounding the entire group of young mages. They did not even have to worry about their defenses thanks to Roland, who hovered overhead while keeping track of everything.

Because of the way the world system worked, he could not directly help them kill the monsters, but as always, there were loopholes. Using mana-boosting devices was permitted, and shielding them from harm was also allowed. Thanks to this, they only needed to wait for the monsters to come to them. To speed things along, they were using lures that Rastix had crafted for them, just as he had done for the lesser dragons.

The goblins continued to swarm them from every direction, but even if they managed to get close, they were met by an impenetrable barrier that not even tier two monsters could break through. This was the special training method Roland had devised to help everyone level up quickly, and he wondered if it would eventually be added to the academy's curriculum like some of his previous methods.

The mindset of the people in this world was different from his own, who had learned to exploit loopholes in all kinds of systems. There were countless ways to train both levels and skills more efficiently, yet people rarely cooperated. Most kept the best methods for obtaining powerful classes or discovering other shortcuts to themselves. It was understandable, but in the end, it created a weaker society and a ruling class that rarely changed.

A high-pitched screech echoed through the dense forest of the dungeon as a larger, heavily armored goblin captain lunged forward. Its rusty cleaver swung in a wide arc, only to scrape harmlessly against the translucent blue wall of Roland's barrier in a shower of sparks. It struck again and again, but the barrier did not budge even a millimeter.

“This one is mine!”

“No, I’m taking the boss!”

To the young students, this felt more like a picnic than a battle. Their spells passed freely through the one-way barrier while every attack from outside was instantly repelled. The monsters never stood a chance, but as creatures born from the dungeon, they continued to throw themselves at the group, serving as little more than a source of experience.

‘Hm, it's going to take a few more visits, but they should all reach a high enough level if this keeps up.’

Normally, mages and even nobles did not care much about reaching the highest possible level. His brother Robert had still been tier two when he arrived in Albrook, even though he was close to graduating from the knight academy. These students were much younger than Robert had been, and if this continued, they would reach the upper levels of tier one before finishing their training here.

This world was deeply unbalanced, as he already knew. Yet because of that imbalance, he had managed to come this far by using every hidden shortcut he could find. His knowledge from his old world also gave him an unfair advantage. To Roland, what mattered most was freedom and the safety of the small circle of family and friends he had built. With his sister Lucienne here, everyone around her received a boost to their growth.

‘Everything is progressing smoothly... but…’

Roland took no chances. His floating golems were spread throughout the area, and he had buried several of his spider golems beneath the earth before the students had even arrived.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

This was still the perfect opportunity for one of his enemies to strike. He never fooled himself into believing that no one was watching. There were the assassins, the cult, and perhaps even rivals from the magical academies. Ever since teleportation gates had become more widely available, incidents between the schools had become less common but never truly went away.

Although the competition was meant to bring prestige, there was far more at stake. By demonstrating their strength, the academies could secure greater funding. The more powerful mages they produced, the more influence they gained at the royal court, and the easier it became to attract wealthy patrons. High stakes inevitably brought out the worst in people, and an isolated dungeon floor, even an E-rank one, was the perfect setting for an unfortunate accident.

*BZZT*

"Hm, what is it?"

Roland turned his head in another direction while the students continued slaughtering goblins below.

"Leader, we captured some people trying to enter the second layer of the dungeon."

"Good. Any casualties?"

"No, sir. We took no casualties and captured everyone. No one managed to escape."

"Good. Keep them restrained and continue the operation. After I'm done here, I'll rendezvous with your team at the location we discussed."

"Yes, sir!"

*BZZT*

The call ended, and Roland looked back down at the students. They had no idea that someone who might have intended to harm them had been stopped before even reaching this dungeon level.

The intrusion had been handled with cold, mechanical efficiency. Roland adjusted his altitude slightly, his armored visor sweeping across the forest floor below. The air was thick with the scent of monster blood, and the corpses littering the ground would later be collected by hired workers. Even though the students were here to gain levels rather than earn money, there was no reason to leave valuable monster materials behind.

‘I wonder who it will be this time…’

He had a good idea of who his enemies were and understood the dangers they posed. As things stood, there was no reason to withdraw. The students spent the rest of the day grinding skills and levels. Only after exhaustion finally caught up with them did they begin making their way back to the nearby hotel where they were staying.

"Professor Wayland, aren't you coming?"

"Not yet. I have something to take care of first. I've also transferred command authority to you, Professor Arion. Use it well."

"Indeed! These runic drones, as you call them, are quite fascinating. They're so compact, yet they have so many uses."

Arion had joined them on this small expedition. The feline professor normally remained at the Institute, absorbed in his research, but when Roland asked for his assistance, he had eagerly agreed to help.

While the students and teachers accompanying them returned, he headed back to the first floor of the dungeon, which was also filled with trees but was far more sparsely populated. Instead of walking, he floated forward using an improved flight system this time. It was not nearly as fast as a flying platform, but it was much better than traveling on foot.

The device was called a runic jetpack module. It attached itself to his back through a magnetizing rune and featured three thrusters. At first, it resembled a blocky backpack, but once it unfolded, it transformed into a sleek metallic flight harness. The two secondary thrusters were mounted on either side, while the main thruster in the center produced a silent blue flame that propelled him forward. Even though the sensation of flying through the air was pleasant, he could not truly enjoy it.

Within ten minutes, the lush forest gave way to a rocky outcrop near the edge of the first floor and the entrance to the second level. This dungeon consisted of expansive floors divided into three main zones, with the fourth serving only as the goblin leader's boss room.

"Leader!"

As he landed, several people greeted him. They all wore the same uniform, one that closely resembled the outfits of fictional ninjas. Their bodies were well concealed, and their faces were hidden behind masks. It was impossible to tell whether they were men or women. Roland knew, however, that every person here belonged to the special unit under Mary's command. Although the group had originally consisted only of maids, some members now also posed as butlers.

"Where are they?"

"Over here, Leader."

Mary was not present, but another tier three class holder from their faction stepped forward to greet him. Though not a member of the Runic Cyborg Knight unit, this person also had a prosthetic arm that remained hidden beneath their concealing clothing, invisible to anyone without a runic class.

The guard led Roland past a cluster of boulders where five figures sat bound in heavy mana-suppressing chains. Their equipment had already been stripped away and piled neatly to one side. There were short swords, light crossbows, and even mana-canceling powder, something he had not seen in quite a while.

"Equipment meant to be used against mages. Even mana suppressing restraints. They came prepared."

Roland examined the items while the squad of ten masked operatives stood around the captives. One thing was immediately obvious. They were not members of the Red Quills, as none of them had taken their own lives, nor did they bear any identifying marks.

‘Not abyssal cultists either, so they are probably…’

He stopped in front of the five prisoners, who looked back at him with fear in their eyes. They did not seem particularly capable. Their leader was only a level one hundred twenty tier two class holder.

"Which academy hired you to do this?"

It was obvious to Roland that they had most likely been hired by someone connected to the convocation. They also did not seem like seasoned fighters. They looked more like a scouting party sent to gather information rather than directly harm the students.

The lead captive, a lean man with a fresh bruise darkening his jawline, glared at him. He pressed his lips together and refused to answer. Roland did not bother repeating the question. Instead, he turned to the leader of the ninja unit and spoke.

"Interrogate them and use the usual protocols..."

“Yes, sir!”

The person with the prosthesis bowed slightly before glancing at the other members of the group. Without needing any instructions, they moved in, seized the five captives, and led them away to the temporary camp that had been set up inside a cave where weak goblins usually spawned.

With that, Roland took his leave. From what he had seen, the perpetrators were most likely connected to one of the other magical schools rather than the more dangerous adversaries lurking in the shadows. Once he returned to the hotel, he received a detailed report through the runic network.

'As expected, they were hired by one of those schools.'

It remained unclear which school had hired them, as the five belonged to a separate intelligence-gathering guild and didn’t know the identity of their client. They were merely middle-rank members rather than part of the guild's leadership, which likely possessed information about the client. Their orders had been simple: monitor the magical students and report their findings afterward.

'At least they weren't after Lucienne.'

He had grown so accustomed to the people around him becoming targets that his first thought had been that his sister was in danger. Fortunately, there were plenty of other students from prominent families who were far more likely to attract attention. Several well-known names were part of this group, making it far more likely that the spies had been gathering information about team compositions and the competitors' capabilities.

'If the other schools have started making their move, then I don't have much time left.'

A little over a month remained before the convocation would begin. Nearly half a year had passed since he agreed to help the institute. Time had simply flown by, and the culling event he had endured already felt like distant history.

'The golem is almost ready. The kids don't need much more training either.'

As had happened so many times before, it felt as though everything was building toward another major event. Normally, once it was over, he could at least enjoy a brief period of peace. He had promised his wife that he would spend more time with her once all of this was behind him, and his duties as a professor at the institute had come to an end.

'Until then, I just need to make sure nothing goes wrong.'

Even though he had caught the first group of spies, he knew more would arrive before long. The local lord and the Adventurers Guild had granted them three more days of access to the dungeon. During that time, he intended to push everyone several more levels higher, as they were unlikely to get another opportunity like this.

The next morning, the students returned to the dungeon with renewed lust for battle. The fear they had felt during the horde had faded, replaced by the intoxicating thrill of rapid advancement. Protected by Roland's impenetrable shield, the tier one mages unleashed spell after spell, systematically wiping out wave after wave of goblins that continued to emerge from the depths of the forest.

Lucienne was the heart of her five-man group and was clearly enjoying herself. He remembered the first time he had met her. Back then, that smile had been absent. Only after she escaped the suffocating bullying of her peers and reclaimed her freedom had her genuine laughter returned. As he watched her now, he silently swore that he would protect that smile with all his strength.

'More rats, I see...'

Just as he watched, another group of spies appeared inside the dungeon. His work had only just begun, but once everything was over, he hoped to bring Lucienne to Albrook, perhaps even with her mother. He wanted her to meet the other people he cherished, because he now understood that bonds with others were not a burden.

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