Chapter 32: Mana Rune-Crystals

After taking a hot bath in his room and wrapping the Larr Bat corpses, Ace went to bed wearing loose clothes. Feeling utterly exhausted after the fierce fight, he didn’t dare to fall into a deep sleep, holding his Spell Book as he drifted off.

Early the next morning, Ace hired a coachman and carriage from the public office and headed to his estate. Upon arrival, Ace immediately summoned Carson, ordering him to organize people immediately to rush the wheat harvest. The heads that were full of grain and heavy were to be stored separately for next year’s seeds.

Ace, meanwhile, spent his days patrolling the estate’s perimeter with the newly charmed Larr Bat. Using the bat’s long-distance ultrasound, he detected migrating bat swarms early. If the number was small, Ace stunned and killed them directly. If the number was large, he quickly led his people back into the estate to hide.

For 10 consecutive days, the rush harvest was finally completed. Afterward, Ace built a new brewing workshop and a wheat processing workshop on the estate. He fermented a portion of the wheat to brew a rice-wine-like wheat beer, which Ace called Jiuniang. He then used distillation to create a clearer, more fragrant, colorless wheat beer, which he called Shaojiu.

Veteran drinkers like Marun, smelling the aroma, begged for a few cups and were instantly captivated by the fiery, colorless Shaojiu.

“Us old soldiers, most of us have old injuries that hurt whenever the weather is cloudy or rainy. Boss, your Shaojiu is truly excellent. After drinking it, I feel smooth all over, and I don’t feel any pain when it’s cloudy or rainy anymore,” Marun said to Ace with emotion, clutching a bottle.

“If you like it, as long as you work for the estate’s guard team, you can claim two ceramic bottles for free every month. If you want more, you can buy it at cost price,” Ace replied with a slight smile and generosity.

“We were just waiting for you to say that. It’s a deal,” Marun and the other veterans happily replied.

It seems the charm of clear liquor is the same in the other world, although Ace personally preferred the lower-alcohol Jiuniang.

Since Larr Bats were rampant, it was unsuitable for travel. Ace sealed the brewed alcohol in ceramic jars and aged it in the newly dug underground cellar. Most of the estate residents were building granaries these days, storing the harvested wheat.

“Master, our estate has had a super harvest! According to the Estate Affairs Office statistics, we cultivated 1,000 mu of land for wheat. The yield per mu reached 300 jin, which is nearly three times higher than the ordinary yield!” Carson excitedly told Ace, almost spitting on his face.

“Not bad. You have worked hard during this time. Store this grain properly. In early spring next year, when grain prices rise, we will take both the alcohol and the flour to the city-state to sell. You will be responsible for coordinating and assisting my father. If the job is done well, I will reward you with a villa on the estate and arrange a few slaves to serve you.”

“Thank you, generous Master.”

Where there is comparison, there is a difference in happiness, and there is ambition. Ace only needed to utilize Carson’s ambition to make him work diligently. In the following days, Ace had Carson direct the slaves to build many public latrines and designated five people specifically to dig pits and compost all human waste and kitchen garbage daily.

Ace believed that through continuous selection of high-quality seeds and composting over several years, along with the proficiency of intensive farming techniques, the yield would definitely increase further.

The grapes, olive trees, and other crops outside the city were slowly maturing. The scale of the livestock—cattle, horses, and sheep—was also expanding. The estate’s sale of alcohol and flour next spring would provide the money to purchase more slaves and supplies, forming a virtuous cycle that would lay the material foundation for establishing his private laboratory and academic organization in the future.

A month later, it was nearing early winter, and the weather was getting colder. Ace successfully analyzed the Lesser Runes on the Larr Bat’s vocal cords and degraded the Soul Runes on the bracelet, gaining a total of five new runes.

The Flank Rune and the Sound Rune came from the bat. The bat itself has ultrasound. The Sound Rune can not only strengthen its ultrasound but also emit normal and infrasound.

Through experimentation, the Sound Rune was found to be variable. By slightly altering the rune guidance structure, different sounds could be emitted. The range of Spell Models that could be developed was extensive, but the manipulation difficulty was also relatively high.

Ace combined it with his mental perception ability and first developed the Lesser Ultrasound Perception spell. The entire person essentially becomes an ultrasonic radar, with a perception radius of over 500 meters. One casting allows for perception for nearly five minutes.

The Flank Rune is a new type of guided attack rune, belonging to the same category as Projection. However, its attack is a continuous, fan-shaped assault.

Ace combined it with the Acid Conversion Rune and distilled and purified the sulfur to create a super-corrosive spell, Strong Acid Cascade. The attack distance is 3-5 meters, with a duration of 3 seconds. The coverage area and corrosiveness greatly increased, making it Ace’s only finishing move currently.

Degrading the Soul Runes on the bracelet yielded three runes: the Guard Rune, the Damage Reduction Rune, and the Mana-Crystal Rune. If only the Guard Rune is used as the core, the resulting Spell Model must have Casting Materials. The spell converts any flexible object into an arc-shaped shield.

The Damage Reduction Rune can slightly reduce the damage taken, and the Mana-Crystal Rune was the most significant discovery. This rune’s expression is to solidify the attracted Mana into minute crystals invisible to the naked eye, which Ace called Mana Particles.

The Mana Protection Membrane = Mana-Crystal Rune + Damage Reduction Rune + Guard Rune + Mana #2 Rune and a series of auxiliary runes. This Spell Model can deploy an arc-shaped, transparent protective film composed of Mana Crystals. Testing showed it could block Ace’s Acid Splash three times and could only withstand the Strong Acid Cascade for two seconds. It is a good defensive spell.

Foundation Auxiliary Runes were effective on the Mana-Crystal Rune, but Tool Auxiliary Runes were not, so it is also a Foundation Rune.

Using the Mana-Crystal Rune and Mana #2 Rune as the core, and guided by the Auxiliary Rune Mana Order, Ace created the Lesser Mana Hand spell.

Casting the Mana Hand requires mental power as a Casting Material. Extra mental power must be input to form a Mana Hand that can be commanded like an arm.

The hand is composed of Mana. Its size depends on the input Mana and mental power. It can operate within a range of no more than 10 meters from the Spellcaster and lasts for 10 minutes.

It can fly, but the duration is halved. As a hand, it is very flexible but does not possess strong offensive power.

The Mana-Crystal Rune has broad applicability and can be combined with many runes. Ace combined it with the Projection Rune and developed the Lesser Magic Missile, which fires high-speed Mana Crystals. Ace refined them into a bullet shape. The longest attack distance is 400 meters, and the damage is much stronger.

Adding the Mana-Crystal Rune and the Sound Rune to the Illusion Gaze spell allows for the creation of Physical Illusions. These illusions can move, emit sound, and be touched, but they possess no offensive power. Regardless of whether the target directly looks into the Spellcaster’s eyes, the Physical Illusion will persist. The Physical Illusion has an illusionary effect; looking at it also subjects one to a mental strength test, and failure results in falling into an illusion.

As for the foundational Meditation Spell, Ace found a suitable Rune Formula through multiple experiments, combining the Mana-Crystal Rune and the Automatic Siphon Rune into the rune structure. The natural Mana attracted during meditation is converted into Mana Particles. The spirit and body are nourished and transformed by the Mana Particles. The meditation effect is greatly enhanced.

A small number of Mana Particles also adhere to the mental power. Ace felt that this would accelerate the “contamination” of his body and spirit by Mana. Perhaps after a while longer, he would undergo an unforeseeable change.

He experimented with his own blood and found that it could now be used as an effective material for writing runes. To some extent, he was already similar to a low-level Monster, and far more powerful than an ordinary low-level Monster.

Ace felt no fear. He was somewhat expectant. Whatever the change was, it was the path to the supernatural that he had chosen, and it would finally yield its first fruit.

Ace summarized his work in his Magic Diary:

As a Wizard Apprentice, I have discovered a total of 24 Lesser Runes: 3 Foundation Runes, 6 Auxiliary Runes, and 15 Tool Runes. This will be the starting point of my path to Magic. I will discover more runes and combine them into more powerful spells.

My Rune Book records 24 Lesser Runes, and every one of them is very useful. I would be nothing without runes. It is thanks to runes that I can meditate more efficiently, absorb Mana to grow both physically and mentally, and create powerful spell cards in my Spell Book.

However, I must still ask a few “whys.”

What is the essence of Magic? What is the essence of Mana? Why do runes exist? What is the essence of a rune?

I believe that one day in the future, I will eventually discover their truth and understand the mysteries of this world.