The Runesmith Chapter 419: Boring Lecture

Now, can soone point out what the problem is? Anyone? I see a whole forest of hands

...

Silence enveloped the entire lecture hall as the black floating cat asked for the answer to the question on the blackboard. It depicted a sowhat simplified runic structure of a lesser rune and wasnt anything all that difficult. However, it didnt seem that anyone from the students gathered here was willing to answer. Instead, they turned towards each other to resu their whispers that were sotis masked by their own magic.

... Is it always like this?

Actually, its not that bad today.

Not that bad huh?

Roland had finished his visit to the fla mage tower and followed Arion back to the academy. They were inside a large lecture hall that was magically expanded. Due to this fact, the lack of people here was quite noticeable. The students occupied the seats all the way in the back while trying not to stand out. It was clear that they werent here to learn but just to gather rit points.

This academy had a system it followed; every student had a certain quota of classes to fill. There were two types of lessons, ones that were compulsory and others that werent as essential but were required to fill up that quota. If a student did badly in the mandatory classes, they needed to bolster their rits by attending other seminars like this one.

Runic theory that Professor Arion taught was one of these point-gathering spots. Due to the lack of funding, he had to lower the requirents for a passing grade. First, he was teaching just a simple theory that Roland had been able to figure out as a Runic Blacksmith. Second, he couldnt throw out people who werent paying attention, as he needed a set amount of students to keep coming to not have his budget slashed even more. Thus, this turned into sothing that could be passed by just attending, a perfect way of gaining so easy rit points.

I was worried for nothing, if its like this then I wont have to actually assist with anything during these lectures. I should probably bring so research material from the library next ti.

Roland thought to himself as he observed the disinterested students. The lack of engagent was apparent, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was a widespread issue in magical academia. Arion continued to ask questions, receiving minimal responses, and Roland started feeling bad for his feline friend. His passion for runes was real but it didnt seem that anyone was that interested or even had any rune-related skills.

Now it makes sense that he praised Lucille so much, she was smart enough to grasp so of the runic theory even without being a runic mage.

Even though only rune mages were able to truly understand how runes operated, there were ways of gaining so rune-related skills. If a person studied the right skill books and with so help from a rune mage, it was possible to be better at using runic artifacts. At first, skill books seed like a cheat-like item, but most of them had stringent hidden requirents. Not everything could be learned, and people in this world usually didnt push for skills that werent directly related to their own specific class.

For instance, a swordsman could learn beginner lance-related skills as they were locked behind the warrior class and not the higher-tier lancer class. They would not get much help from this world's system post tier 1, and most people considered it a waste of ti to focus on a skill that would level up slowly. People called these auxiliary skills as they were only ant as a little bonus to augnt their main skills.

I limited myself to only skills I knew that would work, but I bet this academy has a list of auxiliary skills that might be compatible with my classes unless my elental affinity stops from gaining sothing again

In the past, Roland had tried to gain a few useful skills through books he procured. One of such skills was Mana Reinforcent, which had by now been upgraded all the way up to tier 3 and turned into Master Mana Reinforcent. At first, he assud that a person could stack similar skills to gain a better effect, but that wasnt true. There werent really that many lesser skills that offered the sa, and lesser skills would be overwritten instead of added. Tier 3 Master Swordsn couldnt learn both Expert Swordsmanship and Master Swordsmanship skills, as the forr was a lesser version that would be overwritten.

Roland was also a special case, as he was limited by his body, which couldnt produce elental spells like normal mages. Even the worst talent at least had a one percent affinity to so kind of elent, sothing that unlocked a hidden requirent for many skills. He did not know why he was like this or if there was any type of redy. Thus, he decided to lessen his focus on other skills and place it on runes and craftsmanship.

Very well then, since it seems none of you are in the mood to participate today, lets move on to the next topic as you might have noticed, we have a new guest today. This is Assistant Professor Wayland.

Ah

As he was thinking about other things and not really paying attention to the boring lecture, everyone turned their heads in his direction. Arion had a silly little grin on his face, as if he was playing a joke on him. The students seed to be interested in the new individual as he was still a large armored man in a runic suit of armor. The faculty robe that he put over it hid most of it, but his gauntlets along with his helt were still sticking out. The bulky nature of his armor was also eye-catching, making him look more like a battle mage ready to fight monsters than a scholar.

Do you wish to say sothing to the students, Assistant Professor?

...

Behave yourselves and listen to the lecture

A short silence fell on the area as the students flinched at his words. He wasnt sure what it was about as he just blurted out a few random words.

Hey, do you think that was a threat?

That person looks a bit scary

Didnt one of the other students get burned by a fireball when they were sleeping during a lecture? Do you think he would do that?

I dont know but he is looking at us Do you think he can hear us through the silence barrier?...

Hey, did his eyes just light up? Does he really hear us?

...

Roland could understand them quite well, and the mont his visor flashed red, the students started to panic. They straightened up; so of them who were ready to doze off were not paying attention. He wasnt sure what it was about, but perhaps they werent strangers to getting punished. Considering they were mostly here to gather rit points, they were probably not the greatest students.

I dont know what you did, but keep it up!

What did I do?

Arion whispered in his direction before continuing the lesson about runes. Roland remained silent for most of it, but he noticed that the students were paying more attention to him than the blackboard the runes were on. For soone like him who didnt like to stand out, it was quite a stressful hour. Eventually, a bell rang to indicate that everything was over, and he could finally take a breather.

Damn, that was so intense pressure.

Yeah, do you think he can fire a molten ray spell from that helt?

Shut up, do you want to get blasted by magic flas or sothing? Youre going to get us all in trouble.

Ha, let him try, my father wouldnt stand for it!The teenage students continued to chat between each other while quickly running out through the door. It was as if a monster was chasing after them and he was that monster. Arion wiggled his tail to produce a spell to clean the blackboard before turning to him for a little chat.

Thats about it for the lesson, I think it went well all things considered.

It was certainly an interesting experience

Well, you made quite an impression. I didnt expect the students to be that attentive for once. They just lack enthusiasm for runic theory. Most are here just to fulfill their quotas. But who knows, maybe your presence will ignite so interest in the subject. If its like this, then I dont have to worry about you holding

Arion stopped himself before he continued the sentence which made Roland raise an eyebrow.

Worry about what?

Hmm how to say this my friend, do you rember the man from your examination?

Master Rathos?

No, the other one.

Professor Delauder?

Yes, I tried to convince him but the rascal insisted on attending one of the lectures. As you might know, Assistant Professors are required to hold so classes by themselves

What? I have to teach those kids?

Regrettably so If you dont, Im not sure what that cretin will do But dont worry, Ill be there too! It doesnt have to be about runic theory, how about you present one of your inventions, the students always reacted better to magical artifacts than theory!

Roland knew the academy rules well and they stated that a person in his position had to hold classes but he assud that Arion would take care of it. He was here for only a few days but Arions image that he previously had was already crumbling apart. It was clear that he had no power to do almost anything here and at most, he could stall it out.

Magical artifacts? I guess that could work

Dont worry, we will figure sothing out, you have a full week until then!

Luckily, the runic classes werent very popular so they were only held one day a week. He did have so runic items that he could present, like his runic golems or so other weapons. Perhaps he could even present so applied magic as the institute had various facilities to accommodate magical combat.

You did a fine job, now I think you have an appointnt with that Disciplinary Departnt. Ill be returning to my study unless you wish to discuss sothing else?

Mmm there was one thing.

Oh? Do tell.

Arion was surprised that Roland ntioned sothing and watched him take out a strange-looking cracked object. With the help of his own identification skill the cat professor was quickly able to analyze the object.

A damaged Lich core?

Yes, I would like a second opinion on this, let explain

After producing a barrier around the two, he dived into the specifics. This was the damaged core of the Lich that had attacked Albrook. He wasnt sure about how his mana pattern had gotten absorbed by the monster, but perhaps Arion could shed so light on it. He wanted to study it himself, but having others with more knowledge have a go at it was the smart thing to do. As it stood, he trusted Arion in being a professional researcher; he would likely not leak any confidential data outside.

The monster got attuned to your mana and started acting strange? Fascinating.

As expected, Arion found himself intrigued by the idea that a monster could beco attuned to a mage's mana and subsequently generate a core with specific properties. Nurous runic products relied on such cores, and the sa applied to various other items. An attunent of this nature had the potential to provide the user with a power boost or reduce mana requirents, making it a topic well worth exploring.

I will give it a look.

You have my thanks.

The two parted ways, and he was now alone. He had visited the mage tower, spent so ti in the academy library, but now it was ti to work for it. His next stop was the Disciplinary Departnt, which was responsible for the safety of students on this magical campus. Magic was a volatile thing and was given to young kids, many of whom didnt realize the consequences before it was too late. It wasnt strange for people to get injured; strange experints and monsters ran rampant during botched summoning rituals.

Why does this place need to be so confusing Maybe I should get a sub-skill in pathfinding

With his mapping device unable to show him the way he was forced to wander around with his own intuition. The place reminded him of his old high school which was mixed with a middle school and had a wide range of ages within. He could see young children running around on one side and ones close to being young adults on the other.

His mories were taken back to the incident with his brother who had attended the nearby Knight Academy. It was a place that was connected to Xandars Institute of Wizardry, as where there were mages, Knights werent far behind. They would form parties with each other just like they did with the two mages back during the Albrook incident in the mine.

The books did say sothing about mock battles for people wanting to beco involved with the military. Mages are like artillery support during wartis; they are a rare resource, but training them is probably difficult

He continued to wander around while deliberating on how hard it would be to train nobleman mages for war tis. They usually had a sense of entitlent for possessing a rare class, and this was just worsened whenever they were nobles.

Hm I might be lost I should probably ask soone for help

It was clear that he wasnt getting anywhere. He found himself in an unknown departnt with opened doors that had beds in them. There he could see so occupied by bandaged people or ones sleeping.

Did I arrive at the dical Departnt instead?

Roland stopped and started looking around; he needed to ask soone about the way towards the Enforcent Departnt. However, before he could ask anyone, he heard a strange sound coming from behind him. It sounded like a strange clicking noise, and when he turned, he saw a peculiar person sprinting his way.

E-excuse !

It was a young lady going at full speed while wearing one of those bulbous gowns that went below a womans ankle. She had pulled it up slightly, but it was clear that it wasnt sothing ant for running. There were so other students in the hallway who had to quickly duck towards the wall to not get bulldozed by her. Just like all the rest, he moved to the side to let her through. The girl quickly ran past to then stop, circle, and duck into a room that she had previously passed by.

Are you all right? I heard that sothing terrible had happened! Why did you go to such a place, Lucienne!?

Her voice was loud enough for everyone there to hear her. Roland was about to ignore her to move towards what he identified as another faculty office, but then he heard a na being ntioned. His legs stopped moving, and instead, he slowly shuffled towards the open room. He didnt want to seem nosy, but if he slowly passed through the corridor, it would probably allow him to take a few glances without being noticed. The na was familiar, as it belonged to a person from the past.

It couldnt be, how old would she be now? Fourteen? No Fifteen?

Lucienne was a na that echoed through Roland's mories. It was a na from his previous life, from the ti he spent in the Arden estate. His brows furrowed as he tried to reconcile the image of the young girl from his mories with the person being ntioned in the corridor. She was only three years old when he left that place and he would probably be unable to identify her without reading her status screen. He continued to shuffle discreetly towards the open door, curiosity overriding any intention to remain inconspicuous. As he approached, he caught snippets of the conversation inside the room.

Lucienne, you should know better than to wander into dangerous areas! What were you thinking? It was those people again, right? We need to report this to the Professors!

No, it was nothing like that

The other girl sounded like she was trying to hide sothing; it was possible that there was more to the story that caused her injuries. As he was passing by, he noticed that she was wearing so special bandages over her forearms, and quickly he used his identification skill. Imdiately, he stopped in his tracks as he read the full na of the person in his mind.

Lucienne Arden