CH.62 New Effects (2)
Limit on the number of runes obtainable.
Such content wasn’t present in the settings of the <Next Rune Holder> that I know.
Perhaps it’s an obvious story.
Even if a Holder possesses a common rune of a specific lineage and sets up derived runes…
The basic Holder typically has around 10 runes.
Even Shin Yuna’s rune setup had only 7.
Park Jin-woo, who had consumed various Hidden Pieces and special rewards as the protagonist of the story, had around 15 to 20 runes.
In short, there is no Holder that can possess 30 runes in itself.
“But my case is different….”
[Rune Hunter] can copy the opponent’s rune as many times as they win in duels.
I had copied 21 runes this way, and 7 from Hidden Pieces.
Including the original [Dagger] and [Rune Hunter]…
A total of 30 runes.
Acquiring a number of runes that would be difficult for an ordinary Holder to even witness, I was once again breaking limits.
“Sigh….”
I took a deep breath and called up the rune information.
It was the updated information window for [Rune Hunter].
<Rune Information>
◎Name: Rune Hunter
◎Grade: Epic
◎Level: Max
◎Engraved Location: Heart
◎Special Effects:
: Upon victory in duels, one of the opponent’s runes can be duplicated. Only one rune can be duplicated for the same target, and the acquired rune is registered with decreased performance due to a level decrease.
: The area where runes can be engraved is expanded, increasing the acquisition limit to 50.
: If certain conditions are met, the combination of ‘higher-tier runes’ becomes possible. Once a higher-tier rune is combined, the level of the lower-tier rune does not increase, but proficiency continues to accumulate, and all derived skills of the lower-tier rune can be acquired.
◎Derived Skills: –
–
◎Detailed Information:
: A rune that can be acquired artificially by obtaining 7 runes through the Holder’s effort. It is a unique rune that can’t be obtained again once acquired by someone.
There were two new special effects added to [Rune Hunter].
First, relaxation of the rune acquisition limit.
The storage area for runes, which was a total of 30, has expanded to 50.
The area where the rune is engraved varies for each Holder.
Just because I have a rune on my leg doesn’t mean other Holders also have runes on their legs.
For instance, even though the [Dagger] rune is engraved on the back of my left hand, there is no rune engraved on the back of my right hand.
So even if a part of the body is lost, the rune would move to a different area and get engraved there.
The total filling limit was 30 runes.
The first special effect is probably that, in addition to the 30 areas given to me, there is a provision to create 20 additional areas.
“And the second effect is….”
This is a truly fresh effect and rather perplexing.
Higher-tier rune combination.
An effect where you can combine the runes you possess under special conditions.
The exact conditions aren’t known.
Though I can’t tell what runes will appear when combined, but…
Considering it’s called a ‘higher-tier rune,’ it’s clear it’s a more special rune than the existing ones.
“It’s a bit ambiguous that lower-tier rune levels can’t be raised….”
The downside is that the levels of the runes that have become lower-tier cannot be increased.
However, several mechanisms are in place to offset this.
The phrase ‘Proficiency accumulates even if the level doesn’t increase’ and ‘Acquiring derived skills is still possible’.
I would only miss out on the stat boosts from rune level increases.
The other effects remained the same.
“These days, it’s tough to increase stats.”
Lately, raising my core stats like strength, speed, and stamina over 30 has made it hard to gain stat boosts from rune level increases.
At least the random acquisition due to the effect of [Effort of the Seeker] has come in handy.
Furthermore, when you acquire a higher-tier rune through combination, you also gain stats when raising that higher-tier rune, so the effects were similar.
In essence, it was almost a risk-free chance.
It was a way to organize the randomly acquired runes and an opportunity to obtain new runes.
And it seemed like I met the conditions just in time.
Several runes on my body were shining.
[There are currently combinable runes. Using the Rune Hunter’s mysterious power, you can acquire higher-tier runes.]
[Higher-Tier Rune: Master of Martial Arts / Lower-Tier Runes: Sword, Dagger, Combat, Bow, Axe, Spear, Blunt, Shield]
“Master of Martial Arts….”
6 weapon runes including [Sword] and [Dagger].
And [Shield] and [Combat].
The [Master of Martial Arts] appeared to be a higher-tier rune judged as martial arts, combining a total of 8 runes.
What the effect of the higher-tier rune was and what new rune would come out.
I knew nothing.
Combining them might be a form of gambling.
However, the naming of ‘higher-tier rune’ as proof of being a high-level rune.
And if not combined, runes like [Axe] and [Blunt] would occupy the 50-rune acquisition limit without any use.
Considering all these points.
Combining higher-tier runes was not a choice but close to a necessity.
This function was another opportunity to upgrade my Holder information.
Without much hesitation, I chose to combine.
[You have combined the higher-tier rune ‘Master of Martial Arts.’ A total of 8 runes including Sword, Dagger, …, Shield have been chosen as lower-tier runes. The judged level of the combined higher-tier rune with the lower-tier rune is 4.]
[You have gained a new rune.]
[As per the rune’s affinity, you gain 2 strength and 3 speed.]
One after another, information about the new rune appeared.
<Rune Information>
◎Name: Master of Martial Arts
◎Grade: Epic / Superior
◎Possessed Lower-Tier Runes:
◎ [Sword]
◎ [Dagger]
◎ [Combat]
◎ [Bow]
◎ [Axe]
◎ [Blunt]
◎ [Spear]
◎ [Shield]
◎Level: 4
◎Engraved Location: Right Arm
◎Special Effects:
: With the special power of the higher-tier rune, proficiency adjustments can be applied to lower-tier runes. Each lower-tier rune can be raised in proficiency as a single rune and can also be raised in proficiency through the adjustments of the higher-tier rune.
: The rune Holder can freely replace the ‘weapon’ in the storage within their body. As the rune’s level increases, the time it takes to replace decreases.
◎Derived Skills:
◎ [War Declaration of a Hundred Soldiers]
*Sub-Skills:
◎ [Combo]
◎ [Combo Strike]
◎ [Quarter Knives]
◎ [Iron Wall Defense]
◎Detailed Informations:
: A higher-tier rune created by combining numerous lower-tier runes. It allows easy manipulation of all weapons, including bare fists. Furthermore, whenever a rune suitable for the higher-tier rune is acquired, it can be incorporated as a lower-tier rune of this rune.
“Is this for real?”
The immense amount of information before me leaves me speechless without me realizing it. Suddenly, I felt like a fool for hesitating to combine the [Sword] and [Dagger] runes, as the special power granted to the [Rune Hunter], the ‘higher-tier rune combination,’ was a remarkable function that surpassed my imagination.
“Wait, what grade is this…”
Firstly, it’s at the Epic grade.
Did combining 8 Normal runes lead to an Epic rune?
Even the wise never had such a clever combination.
Until now, I had a total of 5 Epic runes, and each of them boasted astonishing performance.
Naturally, this rune also demonstrated a performance fitting of its Epic grade.
First, the special effect.
Proficiency adjustment of lower-tier runes through higher-tier runes.
Although the words are a bit convoluted, the conclusion is that as the level of [Master of Martial Arts] increases, the proficiency of runes I haven’t used before, like [Axe] or [Blunt], would also increase, much like [Dagger].
“It’s good.”
Since the other lower-tier runes are far from my main runes, I didn’t have time to focus on them individually, but with the proficiency naturally increasing… The growth potential seems quite abundant.
Moreover, they can be raised individually as well.
Just like how I’ve been improving [Sword] and [Dagger], I can increase their proficiency by training their abilities.
In reality, the only thing that disappeared was the rune’s level.
There was hardly any difference from before. In fact, it became even better.
Proficiency adjustment of higher-tier runes.
Through this, the range of growth has become much broader, and the limit on the number of obtainable runes has increased by 7.
Secondly…
“The Art of Weapon Exchange. This is seriously absurd.”
The Art of Weapon Exchange.
I named this special effect that for convenience.
It’s an effect that allows me to freely replace certain storage spaces that are in contact with my body…
In other words, if ‘weapons’ are stored in a storage space like a magic bag, I can replace them as I please.
This effect was something I’ve needed for a long time.
My current main weapons are the Sword and Dagger.
I mainly use the Sword for close combat and the Dagger mostly for throwing… essentially as a sort of secondary weapon.
Hence, the Daggers are fixed to my waist, making it easy to carry four of them, and there’s rarely any inconvenience when using both weapons.
“But using a Shield is the problem.”
When using the Sword focused on attacks with two hands, there’s a drawback that it’s inconvenient to retrieve a Shield from the magic bag when I need to use it.
Especially when I’m conquering solo dungeons, utilizing both a Bow and Shield, and even switching to a long Spear…
There’s been significant inconvenience in changing them out until now.
In that regard, the special effect of [Master of Martial Arts] is attractive.
Even as a dealer wielding two-handed Swords, I can easily switch to being a tank by wielding a Shield, or I can switch to using a long Spear when I need ranged attacks.
For someone like me who uses various weapons in combat…
This Art of Weapon Exchange was a necessary effect.
Since Shields are included in the weapons, and with Knuckles included, it’s highly versatile.
“War Declaration of a Hundred Soldiers skill is quite decent.”
[War Declaration of a Hundred Soldiers] is a skill that allows you to ignore all physical attacks from long-range for 10 minutes.
There’s a drawback that it doesn’t ignore magic attacks, but there are many merits to being able to defend against long-range physical attacks for a certain amount of time during combat.
Especially, another Epic rune I possess, [Ruthless Charge], ignores all physical attacks during a charge.
Ignoring physical attacks with [Ruthless Charge] during a charge, and ignoring long-range physical attacks with [War Declaration of a Hundred Soldiers] during combat.
It seemed to have a lot of usefulness when used in combination.
“…I’ve read it all.”
After reading all the information, including the details of [Combat Healing] obtained from sparring with Shin Yu-na, the long matrix of the information window has come to an end.
The time spent in the bathroom was quite long, but it was a thoroughly rewarding time.
Above all…
“I want to try it out quickly.”
Having confirmed all the new information.
My body feels itchy.
I want to quickly test the new rune and abilities I acquired.
Should I head to a dungeon?
It’s getting dark outside, and it’s too late to hunt field monsters.
And at that moment.
Bwoooong-!
As if understanding my feelings.
Just like a lie, my phone rang.
And there was a message from a familiar name.
[Park Jin-woo]
What are you doing? I’m bored. Let’s have a match.
“He’s here. My sandbag.”
The appearance of the agile frog that would serve as my test subject had arrived.
