Chapter 37: Emberlight

At night, the stars twinkled. Ace presented the scholar’s badge issued by the city-state, and with the aid of the charm spell, he gained the trust of the village chief.

He rented a room in an abandoned courtyard for the price of one Silver Thales and had been living in this courtyard for over half a month. The village was called Thirty Miles, named because it was 30 Miles from the Cimali Fishing Port.

Ace tried to research the burning short sword but found that the short sword would burn any intrusive mental power, blocking mental perception. Thus, he couldn’t understand the Soul Rune structure that might exist within it.

He put the short sword away and began to sense Sharp’s heart.

The rune in Sharp’s heart was very unique. It was a complex rune structure composed of Lesser Runes, with a Soul Rune overlapping in the very core.

He initially thought this was an entirely new structure, that Soul Runes and Lesser Runes could be combined. But after careful sensing, he found that the Soul Rune was simply superimposed in the same location.

This was still very unique. Considering Sharp’s strength, which was close to a Pseudo-Hero, it could be hypothesized that to become a Pseudo-Hero, a Soul Rune structure needed to form in the heart, and Sharp was in the process of forming it.

This provided a crucial reference for Ace, perhaps even more significant than discovering the rune itself. He vaguely touched upon the possibility of advancing to the next stage.

The Soul Rune in the heart was quite ordinary and could be recorded as Soul Mana #3. However, the Lesser Rune structure was very novel. Ace analyzed several new runes from it.

The Fire Element Rune. The expression of this rune is to change the Mana sorting, presenting an active fire attribute. It is an entirely new rune type, not belonging to the Tool or Foundation Runes. The related auxiliary runes are also ineffective on it. Ace named it an Attribute Rune.

Through experimentation, the Fire Element Rune could be added to the meditation method to change the Mana attribute of the spirit and soul. Ace worried that while this would strengthen fire-attribute Magic, it would greatly restrict the scope of spellcasting, so he continued to use his original meditation method.

In addition to the Element Rune, he discovered three new Tool Runes: the Scorching Rune, the Luminous Rune, and the Explosion Rune.

The Scorching Rune takes effect when the Mana attribute is fire-attributed. It causes the Mana to carry a strong scorching and high-heat effect. According to experiments, it can melt an iron sword.

The Luminous Rune, when the Mana attribute is fire-attributed, can emit light of different brightness based on the Spellcaster’s design expression. It is a variable rune, similar to the Sound Rune.

The Explosion Rune, when the Mana attribute is fire-attributed, produces an explosion effect.

Ace researched and deconstructed the rune structure of the heart, creating four Lesser Tool Spells. They were Lesser Fire Missile, Lesser Light, Lesser Flash, and Enchantment.

The Lesser Fire Missile requires no Casting Materials and releases a burning Mana missile. The effective attack range is 300 meters. When it hits an object, it scorches and penetrates, and then explodes after half a second.

Each casting requires 1.5 units of mental power, and the damage far exceeds that of the Magic Missile and Acid Splash.

Lesser Light creates a hovering point of light that moves according to the Spellcaster’s will. The movement range does not exceed 10 meters from the Spellcaster, and the illumination radius is 5 meters.

Lesser Flash emits a burst of strong light directly in front of a target, causing them to be momentarily blinded for one minute.

Enchantment can “contaminate” an item into a Magic Item and imbue it with abilities like scorching, luminescence, and explosion. This is an entirely new spell that Ace called Alchemy.

Ace felt that intentionally creating Wonders was an inappropriate term, so he referred to the resulting items as Magic Items. If they were weapons, he called them Magic Weapons.

Obsessed with research for over half a month, he finally succeeded in creating a Magic Short Sword. Alchemy is not achieved overnight; it requires four processes.

The first step is “Forging the Blank.” Ace charmed the village blacksmith and borrowed the smithy to forge the blank. He ground Sharp’s heart, dried it, and fused most of the powder with molten iron to forge a Magic Sword Blank.

The second step is “Mana Infusion.” Through continuously cycling Mana accumulation, the sword blank is slowly saturated with Mana, converting it into a high-Mana accumulation item. This takes about one week, requiring six hours of infusion daily.

The third step is “Elementalization.” This converts the Mana within the iron sword into Elemental Mana, such as fire-attributed Mana. This also takes about one week, requiring four hours of conversion daily.

The fourth step is “Enchantment.” This involves drawing a Spell Model onto the iron sword, primarily using the Foundation Runes Automatic Siphon, Mana, and Mana-Crystal Rune, supplemented by the Attribute Rune Fire Element Rune to convert Mana. This forms a Spell Model that automatically siphons Mana and converts it into fire-attributed Mana.

Then, using this Spell Model as the core, he attached the Scorching Spell Model, the Explosion Spell Model, the Light Spell Model, and the Flash Spell Model to form a complex Rune Array.

The Rune Array can operate independently. When the wielder correctly guides it with their will, it can release different effects during the swing. A single-function Rune Array is easier to create successfully than a complex Rune Array.

Ace’s superb rune-drawing skills allowed him to succeed on the first attempt. If he had failed, the short sword used as material would have been ruined.

Ace wielded his first self-created magic artifact, feeling immensely pleased. He recalled the words he had spoken:

“Heroes are powerful because of their bloodline, but a Spellcaster will be powerful because of knowledge. I will use the spirit of objective and neutral research to ignite the torch of Magic. The long night is dark, and I am the only light.”

Ace solemnly carved a word on the handle of the Magic Short Sword: “Emberlight.”

After analyzing the runes, Ace bid farewell to the village chief and left the village in his carriage, facing the sunrise.

After fully understanding the new runes, Ace could pose as a descendant of the God of Flame. Relying on his proficient martial arts and Emberlight’s flexible abilities, he could even appear more like a Divine Awakened than an ordinary descendant of the God of Flame.

This is the advantage of Magic. By researching and mimicking supernatural creatures, a Spellcaster gains supernatural knowledge. By applying this knowledge to modify and innovate, the Spellcaster will possess greater power than naturally born supernaturals.

Ace leisurely drove the carriage, arriving at Cimali Fishing Port around 4:00 PM. The people of Cimali were pulling carts full of fish, and everyone’s face was beaming with happy smiles.

“Thank you, great Pontos!”

“Thank you for the blessing of the Son of the Sea!”

Ace rubbed his nose uncomfortably. Cimali Fishing Port was indeed as prosperous as the legend said, but the whole port smelled of fish, which was a bit unbearable.

He drove his carriage into Cimali Fishing Port’s settlement, found the largest inn, and comfortably took a nap.

In the evening, a noisy commotion woke him up. He opened the window and looked down to see people holding torches, wearing local traditional clothing, and making music as they paraded down the street.

It was only early spring, but the climate in Cimali Fishing Port was mild. Even though it was evening, it was still warm.

Ace walked down from his room. The inn attendant saw him and enthusiastically approached him.

“Greetings, guest. My name is Perry. I see you are wearing a scholar’s badge. Are you a great scholar from Medimus City? I have always greatly admired knowledgeable people. Would I be so lucky as to show you around our Cimali Fishing Port?”

“It’s already evening. What is there to see?” Ace looked at the attendant, who was quite young, with obvious acne on his face. He looked both eager and nervous.

Ace was only 13 years old, but since his mental power broke the limits of a mortal, his body had rapidly developed. Judging only by his physique, he was over 1.6 meters tall and very strong, looking more like a 15-year-old boy.

“You have no idea! The most interesting thing about our Cimali Fishing Port is the night bonfire festival. It happens once a month, to thank His Excellency Pontos for His gifts and the abundant fishing harvest each month. There are many juggling acts and hot Cimali girls at the bonfire festival. At 10:00 PM, everyone will gather around the idol in the great square to dance and freely share a roasted fish feast.”

As Perry spoke, he lowered his voice mysteriously. “This month’s bonfire festival is the most special. His Excellency Pontos grants blessings to a few lucky people at the festival every year at this time. The blessed people will receive unimaginable benefits.”