The Runesmith

Roland looked at the morning sun's rays filtering through the sheer curtain covering the window. They cast a warm golden glow and a simple pattern across the wall that resembled geometric shapes. It was a curtain his wife had chosen after a new store had opened in the city.

Life in Albrook had become, some would say, predictable and boring. There were no monster attacks to speak of, and crime was at an all-time low. The only violence came from the red light district and the occasional brawl between drunken adventurers, something people even seemed to enjoy watching. The city he had helped create now resembled something from the modern world he had once come from, and the future looked bright.

“...”

“What’s wrong, dear? You’ve been staring out the window for almost a minute now. Is it because of that?”

“Yeah, but after this, it will be over.”

Elodia rose from the bed, her body exposed for him to see. She smiled at him, and his mood instantly began to improve.

“You really need to get used to large gatherings. You’re always like this at the beginning. It always reminds me of the first time we met. You were quite intimidating back then…”

She spoke with gentle amusement as she wrapped a light robe around her shoulders. Roland let out a quiet sigh and turned his gaze away from the window to look at her. The golden morning light caught the edges of her hair, soothing his nerves before the large event they had been preparing for over the past half year.

“Me? Intimidating? I think you’ve got the wrong runesmith.”

He smiled faintly before grabbing a shirt from the bedside to get ready for the day. For the past half year, he had been working tirelessly in preparation for the Quinquennial Arcane Institute Convocation. It was quite a mouthful of a name, and he wondered just how large the event would truly be once he arrived.

Multiple magical schools and academies would be taking part. The largest institutions would bring close to a hundred students each, while even the smaller ones would arrive with dozens. Although rare, smaller schools sometimes managed to come out on top in the events they specialised in. It was not unusual for a school renowned solely for potion brewing to outperform much larger academies that possessed superior facilities but lacked the same level of focus.

“Did you pack everything?”

Elodia asked as she stepped closer to adjust the collar of his shirt. Her hands were warm and gentle. He wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed, but duty was calling.

“Yes, I already triple-checked everything, so don’t worry about it.”

“Always the careful planner, but I meant your food.”

Elodia chuckled as Roland realised he had misunderstood her. The entire event would last a full week, perhaps even longer, since competitions were sometimes extended or repeated if participants finished with the same score.

“Ah, that. Yes, I’ve packed everything you made yesterday. Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

Elodia said as she leaned in to press a gentle kiss against his cheek.

“Just be sure to come back in one piece.”

“Ha, I’ll try.”

Roland laughed at the playful jab. It was true that whenever he left on some special trip, trouble usually found him. It was equally true, however, that his planning and paranoia had always helped him make it through with little more than a few scratches.

This time he was prepared for everything. Thanks to Rastix and Agni, he had an entire batch of tier three elixirs at his disposal. Mana emulation had reduced their production cost by sixty percent. Every suit of armor had been repaired, and their runes had been improved wherever possible.

“Don’t worry. If something gets out of hand, I’ll just run.”

“Hmm…”

As soon as he said it, Elodia narrowed her eyes, giving him a look that made it clear she did not believe a single word.

“What?”

“We both know that’s not true. Just don’t overdo it, all right?”

It seemed his wife was not buying it. Roland liked to think he would always do the logical thing and put his own safety first, but history had already proven otherwise. Perhaps that had been true when he first started out, back when there was no one he truly cared about. Now, however, he knew without a doubt that he would put himself in harm's way to protect the students he had trained, and Elodia knew it too.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. The only real threat there will be the other mages and how they react to losing.”

“So confident? Don’t you think the other schools have prepared just as much as you have?”

“As much as we have? I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

As the two finished getting dressed and made their way into the dining room, Roland thought back to everything his students had gone through. At first, they had not been particularly enthusiastic about the training chambers and rigorous practice regimen. However, once they started seeing rapid results, they became eager to learn. That was true not only for the five students who received most of his attention, but for everyone representing the academy.

Every participant had gone through a training regimen tailored to their specific event. Even now, Roland remembered all the sleepless nights he had spent trying to find ways to improve everyone's progress. It had not been easy, especially when he had to devise methods to help with something as unusual as a magical pie baking competition, a field well outside his area of expertise.

He could still picture the bewildered expression on the instructor's face when he presented an automated runic oven along with a variety of enchanted cooking tools. There was a golem designed to shape perfectly round dough and an automatic batter mixer that handled the repetitive work while the baker focused on the more delicate parts of the recipe.

To Roland, magical cooking and alchemy were remarkably similar. Both relied on combining ingredients in the proper order while carefully controlling the process. Mana-infused cuisine was even considered something of a side profession among alchemists, although it was far less effective than brewing proper potions. The food was more difficult to preserve, spoiled much sooner, and often developed an unpleasant smell if left uneaten for too long.

“Well, I think we should be fine.”

“Glad to hear it. Oh, and will your sister be coming back with you? You have to let me know when she does.”

“I’m not sure about that…”

As he ate his breakfast, they continued talking about the Quinquennial Arcane Institute Convocation. His sister Lucienne and his brother Robert would be able to meet there, but bringing them to Albrook for a short visit would probably still be impossible. Once things had settled down, however, he would likely be able to find a way to bring her here.

“It should be possible to bring her here, just not now.”

Although he would no longer have any teaching responsibilities at the academy, his position would remain his. Every year, students from the magical academy went on educational trips to study and experience the world firsthand. Bringing his sister and her class to Albrook to showcase its runic infrastructure would be a perfectly reasonable excuse.

“I guess this is it. Robert just arrived by train, so I should get going. I should get my armor.”

At last, the time for his departure had come, and Elodia simply nodded as he stood from his seat. It was the weekend, and she had no schoolwork to attend to, so she followed him down into the workshop to help him get dressed.

“How do I look?”

“Like an eccentric mage who likes armor a little too much and tries too hard to look mysterious.”

She replied, and Roland nodded.

“It’s perfect then.”

He wore his old runic armor, the very first tier three set he had crafted, though it had gone through yet another round of upgrades. To make his appearance more extravagant, he wore an expensive enchanted mage robe over it. The armor beneath was still obvious, however, as it made his frame look much broader than that of an average mage.

“Now then, I’ll be off. If anything happens…”

“I know, I know. I’ll press the panic button and go into the panic room. You don’t need to worry. Nothing will happen here.”

Even though he was the one leaving, Roland worried more about Albrook and his wife than himself. If anyone was planning to target him, whether the mysterious assassination guild or the cultists, his absence would be the perfect opportunity to act. Fortunately, Agni was still here, and his level had increased tremendously. On top of that, the paladins and an entire team of hidden maid assassins were watching over his territory.

Unless a tier four class holder appeared, breaching his defenses would be nearly impossible. Multiple battle golems stood ready to be deployed, the barrier held enough energy to last for a month, and several other formations had been prepared to protect his wife and everyone within the compound while he was away.

*****

“Mhm.”

With that, he was gone, and Elodia watched Roland walk toward Robert, who had finally arrived. She nodded to him in greeting, and a moment later the two disappeared through a door leading to the elevator and their next destination in the deeper levels of the workshop.

“There they go.”

Elodia stretched slightly as she wondered what to do next.

“I still have some papers to grade, so I might as well start with that.”

Even though it was her day off, there was always plenty to do as both the headmistress and a teacher. Elodia made her way up the quiet staircase to her private office. It was her own little space, lined with bookshelves filled with books and neatly organized notes surrounding her desk. A large potted plant stood in one corner, and she always enjoyed working there whenever the sunlight streamed through the windows, giving the room a calm and relaxing atmosphere.

After sitting down behind her wooden desk, she pulled out a thick stack of papers containing the midterm evaluations and practical exam scores of the local school's young students.

She picked up the fountain pen her husband had given her as a present. It came with cartridges filled with different colored inks, making it perfect for grading papers like these. With its help, she circled mistakes and wrote the correct answers in the margins so the children would know what they had done wrong.

As she reached the middle of the pile, the handwritten lines on the parchment began to blur. Elodia blinked and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision, but the letters only dissolved into squiggles. A strange sensation settled in her chest and stomach, causing her to cover her mouth with one hand as nausea washed over her.

"Oh my..."

She leaned back and took a slow breath as an unexpected wave of lightheadedness overtook her. One hand rested on her lower stomach for a moment, but just as suddenly as the sensation had come, it disappeared.

"Hmmm... Was it something I ate?"

She frowned in confusion after the strange, unfamiliar feeling vanished as quickly as it had appeared…

*****

"Mr. William, do you remember what we practiced?"

"Ah... Yes, Sir... I mean, Deputy Professor Wayland."

"Good. Remember, never mention your real name or let yourself get stopped for too long."

"I know. Any of them might be capable of using the High Analyze skill."

"Your suit should be able to prevent that, but do not rely on it too much. We never know if a true master of the arts might be there."

Robert, whose name had been changed to William, nodded. He was wearing a full Silvergrace suit beneath a set of ordinary commoner's clothes. His head was covered by a helmet attached to the skintight suit underneath. His face was concealed behind a large visor with only a few ventilation holes along the lower sides, along with a voice-altering module to keep his identity hidden.

"The suit will alter your mana pattern too, so even if any of them meet you again later, they should not be able to recognize you."

Robert nodded once more without asking whether all of this was excessive. He knew that if his identity were exposed, his entire world would come crashing down.

"Now then, are you ready? Once we are on the other side, you must follow the instructions. I know it might be difficult, but you must not approach Lucienne on your own. When the time is right, you will be able to speak with her. I promise."

The two were about to enter the teleportation chamber that would take them to their destination, but Robert stopped before the door one last time to thank his brother.

"I know... and thank you, brother. I know this could not have been easy."

"Well, that is what brothers are for, right?"

Roland replied without giving it much thought.

"Hah, tell that to our other brothers, or the ones related to Lord Arthur."

"...You got me there. But do not worry about it. You can repay that gratitude by working even harder from now on, Knight Commander Durendal."

Roland chuckled softly and finally opened the door to the chamber where the teleportation gate was already active. There was no need to use the city's public gate after transporting the golem through it, and it was better not to let anyone see Robert dressed like this. There were eyes everywhere, and it was best to leave everyone wondering where the golem pilot had truly come from.

The blue light of the active spatial gate filled the underground chamber, casting rippling patterns across the walls. This was everything he had been working toward for the past half year, and now that the moment had finally arrived, he hesitated.

Even though he had done everything he could with the time he had been given, he could not help wondering if there was something more he should have done or something he had failed to account for. Only after Robert tapped him on the shoulder and offered a few words of encouragement did he finally move.

"It's going to be fine, brother. You need to learn to give that big head of yours a rest sometimes."

"A rest? This big head of mine has helped me survive this long... but I know what you mean. Thank you."

Roland smiled beneath his helmet and stepped through the gate. As always, he emerged in the familiar chamber and was greeted by the same mage. This time, however, the moment he and Robert tried to leave the tower that housed the gate chamber, they were met by a crowd.

"It's the Deputy Professor!"

"Show those other schools that Xandar's Institute of Wizardry is the best!"

"You can do it! We believe in you!"

A large crowd had gathered, all dressed in the institute's colors. Some were even holding a banner bearing the institute's name and emblem.

‘This... so even in a world like this, sports fans are all the same…’

It was funny to him how similarly these people behaved to the people in his original world. Even though the competitions were different, the spirit behind them was the same. Everyone here was eager to see their team win because the event was the equivalent of the Olympics.

‘It does make sense, I suppose. Now that they have made the runic monitors more accessible, it is going to be easier than ever.’

Not everyone could travel to the competition in person, but there was a solution for that. In the past, people would gather in a giant arena where a massive crystal ball displayed the main events, allowing them to watch and cheer together.

The broadcasts would also be transmitted to other magical schools, much like in the modern world. With the runic monitors now widely available, the process would become even easier. Once people returned home, they would also be able to watch the smaller competitions that they had missed, as everything would be recorded using runic golemic cameras prepared by the Runic Department.

‘I wonder if this will catch on…’

Roland knew that this world had no televisions and that no one was trying to profit from this kind of entertainment. However, the technology to record events already existed. Someone simply needed to realize its potential and start recording theatre plays, battles, and even interesting magical events like this before selling the recordings to the highest bidder.

"Show everyone that Xandar is the best!"

The students kept shouting as Roland made his way through the corridors and out into the open grounds. No classes were being held because everyone had gathered to cheer for the team as it departed. Banners fluttered in the gentle breeze, each displaying the crest of Xandar's Institute of Wizardry in brilliant gold and silver. A great deal rested on his shoulders, but he had done everything he could. Now it was up to the young men and women of the school to show everyone what they were made of.

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