The Runic Alchemist

"Not my problem," Damian replied simply.

"Hm, okay..." Lucian looked at him for a few seconds before letting it go.

It had been over eight years. Damian felt neither joy nor sadness at their fall. He did, however, understand why his younger sibling was trying so hard now. But then again, Damian was never supposed to be here. He was supposed to be dead at the age of five. Even this prolonged decline was a result of his survival—or rather, his body's survival. Otherwise, they would have long been homeless.

With able bodies and four young children of reasonable talent, they shouldn't have had any problems living like commoners. In fact, they could live better than commoners with so many Pathfinders in the family. Unless...

"What are my older siblings doing? Are they not employed or something?" Damian asked.

"The oldest boy is a knight in the Duke's service—he was part of the deal. Your sisters were married off and seem to have forgotten their old home. The younger boy is still there; he and your father hunt monsters and beasts, protecting the border with the few soldiers they have left. Your father's first wife left the villa after both her children departed. The second one, your mother, is still there."

Lucian's voice remained neutral, as always.

Damian nodded in thanks.

"Do not worry. We will be the ones securing your lands. The Duke has his eyes on them, but we're already aware of his schemes. Your family won't be harmed... And the lands, I will keep as they are, waiting." She looked directly into his eyes.

"Waiting for what?" Damian asked.

"For their rightful heir to return. For you to return."

"It's not my home, Lucian. It never was."

Damian broke eye contact and walked away from her. He knew they were broke, but to see them reduced to near-beggars... It was hard to believe this was the family that had once ruled all of Dawnstar. Maybe that was the reason. There had to be an explanation for why the Sunblades were so shunned by the noble houses despite being one of the oldest lineages in history.

After resting for a while, Damian pushed the thoughts aside and returned to his work on the traditional rune array. Hours passed as he meticulously perfected the last details. He didn't even glance outside the window as day turned into night.

Toph slept, played, and slept again. Eventually, the little creature tugged at Damian's pants and tackled him with its dash skill and smooth, thick head. Only then did Damian look up—not because of Toph, but because the array was complete.

Damian immediately copied the entire array onto another parchment and activated it. A runic circle of black and purple, lined with light-element, flared into existence.

It was a space-time spell, for sure. A small, palm-sized wormhole appeared, but unlike his usual wormholes, this one didn't swirl with dark purple energy. It was stable—or so Damian thought. A protective transparent layer of gold encased it.

When Damian touched it with his finger, a chime echoed in his head—the same chime that played when something significant was added to his status.

Damian hesitated opening his status in the room that he wasn't sure about. He carried the spell into the bathroom using mana threads, left his academy badge behind, and created a water shield to obscure any viewing angles. Only then did he activate his status tool.

Everything was the same, except for a new section added at the end:

—

PROTECTION KEY: NONE / YET TO BE ENTERED

—

"Huh? What's this now?" Damian muttered. He tried tapping the "None" part, but nothing happened. The section was clearly connected to the spell he had just activated—most likely the protective gold layer acting as some kind of restriction and the key to unlocking or gaining access was something to do with this..

'But how does one write in status..?'

Damian mused for a while. Then, instinctively, he focused on the PROTECTION KEY section and repeated a phrase in his mind.

'Protection Key: Sam is a clown... Pro…'

It worked. The status window instantly updated:

—

PROTECTION KEY: SAM IS A CLOWN

—

"Ha! I finally have it!"

Damian grinned. He had read about such protection mechanisms in runic tools before, particularly dungeon relics, but he'd never been able to get his hands on any. They were too valuable—priceless, really, requiring influence more than money to obtain.

Damian had studied the traditional rune array for this spell extensively and now he also had the true runic circle section for it as well.

This project had also helped him better understand the connection between traditional runes and the original runic language. Though the traditional system retained faint resemblances to the original, it deviated significantly—nearly 90% of the time. No one would even be able to tell the resemblance unless they used the original runes as much as Damian.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Damian wanted to go and fill the remaining elements of the rune array written on the primordial ruins right now, but it was dark outside and Toph seemed to be hungry, Damian realized he was starving too.

'Guess it could wait.'

Changing into casual clothes and throwing on a robe to ward off the cold, Damian scooped up Toph, who burrowed into his robe for warmth with an expression on his funny face saying 'Finally'.

As he opened the door, at the same time the one opposite him opened as well. They both stared at each other.

She had slightly darker skin, like that of the Empire's people, and her outfit was unusual: layered leather armor adorned with pouches, belts, a runic-looking hammer, tools, and trinkets. She was just as surprised to see his face as Damian was seeing her curved horns coming out of her dark hair, marking her as a beastman. Though he had sensed someone was staying in that room, this was the first time he'd seen her.

Remembering his hunger, Damian broke eye contact, offering a polite smile as he turned to leave.

"Wait," she said from behind him.

Damian turned. "Yes?"

"You're The Morph Vialist, right? The professor has been gushing about you non-stop for the past month."

Her voice carried a hint of jealousy—at least, that's what it sounded like through her Empire-accented speech.