Chapter 102 - CHAPTER 102: Back to Work

Lian did not sleep a wink all night. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of his room, with the mana lamp casting a flickering blue light, he immersed himself in his Meditation. Thanks to the fact that he had a daily limit for absorbing blue orbs through meditation, Lian could dedicate himself to other activities during the day—not just meditation—like going to the Rune Forge in the morning. "Good," Lian stood up, stretching slightly. "I am steadily improving. I also need to figure out how to use the pills the Dean gave me. There are no instruction leaflets, and I would not want to make a mistake." He muttered thoughtfully. After all, the pills to speed up meditation were not too necessary for him, quite the contrary. "Tonight, I will start absorbing all the Bronze 4 Mana Cores and begin with Geometric Meditation. It is pointless to wait too long." The loss of the flaming sword still stung, but there was nothing he could do about it. Taking off the previous night's clothes, Lian went to take a shower and change. It was six in the morning, and the sun had risen over the academy. After washing and dressing, Lian left his dormitory. It was about six-thirty, and the fresh morning air tickled his face, making the campus atmosphere very pleasant. He began walking toward the Rune Forge, as usual. "The morning is always so quiet… people like to sleep, huh?" He muttered, looking around. There were very few people about, and those Lian could see seemed older than him and the boys living in the dormitory. Arriving at the Rune Forge, he found Torin already at work. He was not in his private room but in the large hall where the Core Extractor was located. Torin was hunched over a workbench, intent on engraving a matrix on a spear. The room was filled with the usual smell of sweat and dirt. Occasional sparks of mana flew here and there as Torin channeled his mana through a Runic Stylus. "You are late, kid," he grunted without stopping his work. "We have work to do, come on." "Good morning…" Lian's expression was one of slight annoyance. He had not even entered, and he was already being accused. It was frustrating. "I am not late. I simply do not have a set work schedule. Besides, nobody is paying me." At that moment, Torin completed the matrix on the spear. Unlike his sword from yesterday, the matrix on the spear was slightly different, but Lian was equally amazed. They were not concentric circles but concentric squares. This means the spear will have an earth element enchantment with greater power… moreover— Lian's thoughts were interrupted by Torin's growl. "Hurry up, come over here." Torin turned to stare at the boy. He held a spatial ring between his fingers, which he tossed toward Lian with a simple gesture. "This is today's work. You need to create as many rune sets as possible. And do not talk about payments. Everything you are using is not free. However, you are using it all without paying a single bronze coin." Ignoring the boy, Torin took the spear in his hands while studying the matrix. "This should be fine…" he muttered, grabbing a Runic Seal containing the standard earth element enchantment. Mana began to flow from his body, grasping the enchantment within the seal. The energy started to leak immediately, but before it could continue, Torin pushed it with force, speed, and precision into the matrix. The spear began to glow yellow, but this time it was not just for a moment. The intermittent glow of the spear indicated that something entirely different was about to happen compared to Lian's flaming sword from the previous day. "Damn—" Boom— Lian only heard Torin's curse before a small explosion resounded in the large hall. Unlike when Lian had failed to create the enchantment, resulting in a small, non-lethal energy explosion, this time the story was different. Pieces of metal were scattered everywhere as the dust and various materials on the workbench suffered the same fate. Fortunately, Lian was far enough from the explosion, or he would have been caught in it, just like… "Torin!?" he muttered. The cloud of dust cleared, but there was no trace of Torin. "He did not explode with the spear, did he?!" At that moment, a hand firmly grabbed the boy's shoulder, sending a shiver down his spine— "Kid," Torin's voice sounded in his ear. "What are you still doing here? Move and get to work." A sigh left Lian's mouth as he watched Torin walk away. Unlike what he had seen, Torin had not entirely avoided the explosion. His face was dirtier than before, and his tattered robe became even more ragged. "It is not the same one as yesterday, is it?" A slight expression of disgust crossed Lian's face as he thought about the fact that his hand had touched his clean robe. Moreover, washing clothes was a simple matter. Just water and soap… Not to mention that the academy's robes had a self-cleaning function. "Damn, I forgot to ask him about that chubby guy from yesterday, Plammer—" Lian thought angrily as he headed toward the Core Extractor. The spatial ring Torin gave him seemed heavier than usual, not because of the material itself, but because of its contents. Inside it, Lian could see hundreds and hundreds of Mana Cores, all Bronze 5. Apparently, the war against the monsters was bearing fruit, allowing these materials, once much rarer, to circulate easily. "The war continues relentlessly… it has already been several days since registering for the monster assault event. And we still have not found a third member… Was Rick not good at spotting talents with his 'magic eye'? I guess he was spouting another one of his nonsense—" Without wasting more time on useless chatter, Lian grabbed a Mana Core and inserted it into the designated slot. The screen lit up instantly, indicating that the Mana Core had been analyzed. Inside the glass, a blue light shone brightly. "Now that I think about it, yesterday I created two Bronze 5 rune sets. One I gave to Torin, which means I have another one available. Considering that an average Rune Master manages to create about two sets per hour… I should stay here for at least five hours to deliver ten sets without raising suspicion." Lian smiled, thinking about the Mana Cores he could keep for himself. After all, his average was six rune sets per hour. He could not wait for the future. He already imagined someone commissioning an artifact with a rare enchantment. At that point, they would have to give him at least three or four Mana Cores of that element to ensure the primary rune was created successfully. And considering Lian's 100% success rate… this meant only one thing. "I will be rich!" But that was for the future. Returning to the present, Lian selected the primary rune on the screen while placing his hands on the glass. The mana began to flow quickly, or at least, that was Lian's impression. A few minutes later, the rune took shape, glowing brightly as it was hurriedly placed on the appropriate Runic Tablet.