The Runesmith Chapter 643 – Bernir Ascends

You have gained the Soulsmith Class

You have gained the Soulsmith Heart passive skill.

“Ugh… what’s that strange feeling…”

Bernir grasped his chest with his prosthetic arm as he felt sothing forming within him. His awareness fully returned to his body as the ascension trial concluded. Now, similarly to other tier three classes, a change was taking place, though it was sothing far less common among crafting professions.

Manufacturing and other non-combat class holders like him had no stat multipliers. Even upon reaching tier three, their power did not surge in any noticeable way. Their true strength ca from the skills and abilities they were granted. In terms of raw strength, they were comparable to a tier one class holder who had never obtained a powerful class or advanced to tier two.

“Are you feeling unwell, Master Bernir? Your blood pressure appears to be elevated.”

Sebastian was in the room with him, comnting on the changes occurring during his transformation.

“Aye, I’m fine… it doesn’t hurt… actually… this feels rather refreshing.”

It was the sa warmth he had felt when leaving the trial area. Sothing had been forming in his chest, sothing new and pure. For a mont, his eyes lingered on Sebastian’s golem shell, where he noticed strange coloring along its surface. His gaze then shifted to the white room, which contained little besides the mory recording machine. Even that, along with the monitors, carried a faint glow, though it was not very bright.

“I can truly see it, the souls within items, just like in the trial!”

No longer hesitating, he brought up his status screen and glanced at his classes. There, he finally saw it.

Na:

Bernir L 151

Classes:

T3 Soulsmith L1

T2 Weaponsmith L50

T2 Armorsmith L50

T1 Carpenter L25

T1 Blacksmith L25

“Hah, I did it!”

Bernir was so overjoyed that he jumped out of the retractable chair he had been sitting in.

Soulsmith

Class

This class gives a 40% bonus to SP and increases SP regeneration speed by 40%. The SE cost of using soul equipnt and soul-related skills is lowered by 40%.

“What’s this SE?”

He looked over the text describing his new class, the Soulsmith. He had never heard of it before, and even the research his boss had done never truly explained it. SP was related to stamina, aning he would not get as tired as before. This was similar to his old crafting classes, which typically focused on minimizing stamina usage, as it was the primary resource for crafting. All of his skills relied on stamina, so this was a significant boost, but it still did not explain what SE was.

“Oh… was that always there?”

After glancing back and forth a few tis, he finally noticed sothing new. Besides the MP and SP bars, there was another one, the SE bar. Compared to his stamina, it was quite low, holding only a hundred points. When he focused on it, the world system responded and provided an explanation.

Soul Energy

Class Resource

This is the main resource used by the Soulsmith class. Once drained, the user’s HP and SP will start declining if any additional soul-related skills are used.

“I see…”

Bernir tried to recall his trial, as he had not clearly noticed this resource bar back then. However, he did rember feeling unusually tired and weakened after crossing a certain threshold while making soul equipnt. Now he understood the reason. Soul Energy was responsible for that exhaustion, and it was now a class resource that belonged to him, sothing most other craftsn could probably only dream of.

Soul Sense

Passive Skill

Allows the user to sense soul energy.

Soul Infusion

Active Skill

Allows the user to channel fragnts of soul energy into material objects, granting them special effects. Overuse may result in soul strain and temporary loss of vitality.

Soul Sense and Soul Infusion were both still there, no longer temporary skills but permanent parts of him. There were others as well, though one in particular caught his attention.

Soulsmith Heart

Passive Skill

A unique soul organ ford through repeated interaction with soul energy. Allows the user to refine, store, and circulate Soul Energy internally. Greatly reduces the risk of soul backlash when working with soul-infused materials. Enables long-term growth of soul-related skills and unlocks advanced Soulsmith techniques.

Bernir stared at the description for a long while, his hand still pressed against his chest.

“So… it is not just a skill. It is a part of now.”

The warmth he had felt finally made sense. The Soulsmith Heart was not a taphor or so abstract system construct. It was a true transformation, an additional spiritual organ layered over his physical heart.

“Boss will have a good ti analyzing it.”

He chuckled, knowing Roland would likely uncover the secrets of this new soul organ far faster than he ever could.

“Aye, now then… the next one is… my old partner!”

The final skill felt both new and familiar at the sa ti as it included the white hamr that he had used throughout the ascension trial.

Soulsmith Hamr

Active Skill

The primary tool of a Soulsmith, required for the creation of all soul equipnt. As long as soul energy remains within the Soulsmith Heart, it can be summoned at will.

Back in the trial, he did not have his prosthetic arm, yet he could wield a hamr even then. Now that he was back in the real world, his runic prosthesis had returned, and he was curious about how this would work exactly. To test it, he activated the skill whose knowledge had been imprinted into him after his success in the trial.

“Hmm… this is strange.”

He summoned his Soulsmith Hamr, and it answered his call. It appeared around his right arm, glowing brightly. The sensation was unusual. It felt as though the prosthesis had beco a tal gauntlet, with a real hand beneath it. He could hold the hamr and even touch it with his other hand, yet there was no weight to it.

The first thing he noticed was that the hamr could interact with physical objects. When he struck the nearby chair he was sitting on, there was a clear response. Even so, it caused no real damage, and no matter how hard he hit it, there were no dents.

“It’s different from the one inside that space. That one felt more like a normal hamr…”

This would be the tool he used for his soul crafts. One thing he quickly realized was that summoning it cost only one SE, and no additional resources were consud while he held it. The skill implied that as long as he had even a single point left, the hamr could be used. That ant he only needed to worry about energy expenditure during infusion.

“I wonder… could I hold this hamr even if this rune prosthesis was not there?”

The prosthesis he wore could be removed and replaced with others. Only the parts connected directly to his forearm were permanently attached. Beneath the tal, he could see a faint white glow, the outline of a forearm that had once been there. The chanism for replacing his arm was not particularly tedious. After pressing a switch on the side and rotating the prosthesis in a specific sequence, it slid off smoothly.

“Hah, it does work…”

When the hamr vanished after he relaxed his fist, he summoned it again without using the prosthesis. Even without it, he could hold the hamr. There was a faint outline resembling his old arm, but the hamr appeared to float in front of his forearm with nothing truly gripping it. When he glanced at one of the screens recording his movents, the golemic eyes could not detect even that faint outline.

‘It does feel more natural this way, but I do not think I can craft normal things with just this white hamr. I still need my prosthetic.’

It was an interesting discovery, but it did not restore his lost arm. He reattached the prosthesis and felt a surge of energy. He had now beco a proper tier three class holder, and the final passive skill he received confird it.

Expert Forging

Passive Skill

Unlocks the expert forging techniques of the blacksmith class. Aids in managing the forge, crafting, and spotting imperfections in created items.

It was a skill even his boss possessed, one that many master craftsn received upon entering tier three. It proved that he was now one of them and that he would no longer be a liability. Thoughts flooded his mind. He wanted to craft sothing. He wanted to infuse items with his soul energy and discover the true extent of his limits.

“Ahh, Sebastian, did the boss say when he will be back?”

“Master Wayland should return in two or three days.”

“Two or three? That should be enough to figure things out…”

Bernir looked down at the prosthetic arm attached to him once more and stord out. Before Roland returned, he wanted to prepare sothing big. Sothing that would demonstrate the skills he had gained and perhaps even manage to surprise Roland himself.

*****

‘I wonder how it went. This should be about the ti Bernir takes the trial.’

Roland thought as he moved into the dungeon. He knew his assistant would be taking the trial around the ti he delved inside, but he could not confirm it. Only after reaching the third ring and returning through his teleport gate would he be able to check on anything.

At tis like this, he wished the internet existed within this world. Most of these problems would be resolved once the runic radio towers or cables were installed through the underground tunnels, but it would likely take quite so ti before the entire system was operational.

The air inside the dungeon reminded him of Albrook and the lower levels of its depths. Like back ho, this area was volcanic in nature, but instead of a vast expanse with few corridors, it was the opposite. A multitude of caverns led into larger chambers that the group needed to pass through, and as the one in front, he would be the first to respond to any monster attack.

Luckily, for the ti being, no monsters had approached them. They were moving through an area regularly cleared by adventurers, which kept the danger low.

“What are you thinking about, sugar?”

A woman’s voice called out from his side. In response, he simply shook his head. The barbarian woman seed eager to talk, while he remained focused on keeping an eye on the blacksmith within the group. A few people were watching him with animosity, but no one had made a move against him yet.

“Siegfried is the strong and silent type?”

She asked with a grin. Before she could continue, he raised his hand.

“There are enemies in front of us.”

Sure enough, a large group of monsters was rushing toward them. Thanks to his armor and the wide coverage of the mapping device, he reacted faster than the tracker, who seed more interested in chatting with the other adventurers than watching the path ahead.

‘Most of these people would not care until they reached the second ring. Tier two monsters were nothing more than trash to them.’

He was aware that the team leader was assigning him and the new arrivals all of the busy work. There was no real danger for anyone at this stage of the dungeon, but soone still needed to deal with the monsters when they attacked.

‘That’s a lot of responses. Is this so kind of stampede?’

A cluster of dots appeared on his screen as the party ca to a halt. Even the tracker, who had been speaking calmly until now, responded with a shout that enemies were incoming. Without saying a word, Roland stepped forward, eager to test so of his new magic and to demonstrate a bit of skill so he could gauge how the others would react.

“That guy was right. There’s a large group of monsters incoming. Salamanders!”

“Salamanders?”

One of the other adventurers let out a sigh of disappointnt. Many of them turned away, barely paying attention, clearly thinking the threat was beneath them.

“Let the vanguards take care of it.”

They all saw this as a perfect chance to see what the two new vanguards could do, but to their surprise, only one person stepped forward. It was the man in black armor, Siegfried.

‘I have quite an audience.’

Roland thought as he moved up and pulled the massive sword from his back. The bandages wrapped around it fell away, revealing an obsidian blade etched with dark runes that glowed faintly.

Everyone watched as Siegfried took another step forward, boots grinding against the volcanic floor as the heat ahead intensified. From the shadows of the cavern, dozens of salamanders poured out, low-tier but nurous, their molten scales glowing like cracked lava, claws scraping against stone as they hissed in unison.

“So he’s doing it alone?”

Brakka clicked her tongue but didn’t move. She folded her arms as she decided to leave it up to her new party mber

“Let’s see what that big sword does.”

His current class appeared as Magic Warmaster, sothing akin to a magical swordmaster but with the ability to wield more weapons and cast a wider range of magic rather than focusing solely on swords. It allowed him to use attack, defense, and utility spells, making it perfect for this short expedition.

Roland’s hand closed around the hilt of his massive sword. The weapon reacted faintly, runes along its length responding to his mana. His gaze swept over the rushing monsters as he calculated distance, mass, resistance to magic, and likely movent patterns, ensuring they were all within range.

‘Perfect test case.’

Instead of charging forward, he planted his feet and exhaled slowly. Gravity mana surged, and the runes on the sword burst to life. At first, nothing seed to happen. Then the salamanders closest to him stumbled, their movents slowing as if they were pushing against an imnse unseen force. A mont later, they ca to a complete halt, leaving everyone behind him wondering how he had done it.

The ground beneath the monsters cracked as they were held in place. To most observers, it looked as though an invisible force was pressing them downward, pinning them to the earth. Those with sharper senses, like the gno mage, could see the dense strands of gravitational magic at work, bending space as it dragged everything inward.

“Gravity magic?”

As the first stage of the spell ended and the salamanders were fully immobilized, the pull shifted toward the center. So were lifted off the ground, while others dug their claws into the volcanic rock, only to be torn free by the unnatural suction. Within monts, they were dragged together into a single mass, helpless and unable to move.

Dozens of salamanders were crushed into a writhing sphere of scaled bodies. Molten blood splattered as bones snapped under the imnse pressure. So tried to claw their way out, but every struggle only drew them deeper into the gravitational well, and the spell was not finished yet.

Once they were all together, he lifted the giant sword over his head, gripping the hilt with both hands. More runes began to shine as he poured additional force into the weapon. While he could always hide the runes that revealed themselves, he wanted observers to believe the sword was the focal point of his power, not the armor and his hidden true class, which were doing most of the heavy lifting and calculations.

With one heavy downward swing, a massive surge of energy burst forward. A black crescent moon erupted from the blade and raced toward the ball of compressed, writhing monsters.

The crescent of condensed gravity tore through the air in complete silence. For a split second, the world seed to fold inward as the black arc struck the sphere of trapped salamanders. Then reality snapped back, and the mass imploded.

There was no fiery explosion, no dramatic burst of fla. Instead, the gravitational pressure inverted with violent force, crushing everything it touched and flattening the monsters into the ground. A massive gash split the molten rock as the salamanders were driven downward, their bodies compressed beyond recognition and rupturing into a grotesque mixture of scales, blood, and guts.

“Well, I’ll be damned…”

Brakka whistled as she took in the aftermath of the battle. There had been more than thirty of the monsters, yet there was no sign of them now, nothing left but a ripped, cratered trench carved into the cavern floor.

The air trembled for a mont longer before settling. Heat rippled as the small crater began to fill itself from one of the nearby lava pools. The compressed flesh within it sizzled briefly, and soon all signs of the monsters were gone. Silence followed, and many eyes turned toward the man responsible.

‘...Did I put too much power into it?’

Roland thought to himself as everyone stared at him with varying degrees of interest and suspicion. Still, he had hoped the display would make others wary of crossing him, and at least that seed to have worked. Even the party leader looked taken aback by his performance.