The Runic Alchemist

If she had not chosen to fight wars for years instead of preparing to rule, she could have easily become the queen. To Damian, she was Eldoris. He had never met her mother—she was still alive, living somewhere in eastern Eldoris in a quiet village, or so he had heard. Was she like Vidalia? Or was she like the current queen?

Well, he couldn’t wait for Reize or his other friends to grow up, become powerful, and collect as many words as she had. He could accelerate their growth, but that was still far off. Right now, she was the perfect partner to create spells with.

His dream of making big runic devices and machinery in a small spatial space—a big room separated from this world in another dimension or whatever it was, which he could access with a small accessory—would take decades to realize. But he needed it now to truly miniaturize and secure the artificial mana core.

Damian looked at Vidalia and finally made his decision. He would give her a chance. She already knew more about him than anyone else in this world—and had kept it to herself. She even knew more than Reize did. That needed to change in the future, but for now, one more secret wouldn’t make a difference.

He stretched out his hand and traced a runic circle in the air before her. Of course, she couldn’t see the runes forming in the empty space—only his hand moving up and down. When the spell was complete, Damian activated it.

Instantly, over fifty light orbs appeared, illuminating their surroundings as if they were in a fully lit modern room.

She gazed at the beautiful sight in wonder, but after a second, realization dawned. Her eyes snapped to his face, wide with genuine surprise.

“You… you didn’t chant,” she whispered.

Damian nodded.

“How is that possible?”

“I draw my runic circles in the air,” he said simply.

Her eyes widened further. “You were never a Spellsword or a mage… You’re just a very weird runesmith!”

Damian squinted at her. “Was the very weird part really necessary?”

“Says the guy who draws runes in midair?” she replied, exasperated. Then, shifting back to her usual composure, she asked, “Why did you show this to me?” Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

“The way I learn spells is basically copy and paste,” Damian explained. “I taught myself how to modify them a little—mixing them together to create spells that suited my needs. But if I wanted to fully understand runic circles enough to create entirely new spells, it would take decades. Maybe even half a century.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you told me this.”

“Wait a second! I’m getting there.” He took a breath. “I won’t be able to create original spells on my own for years… but I can help you create them. And then, I can just copy them.”

Understanding dawned in her eyes.

“With the number of words you’ve already figured out, it’ll be much easier to decipher the rest—especially when I can confirm instantly whether something works or not.”

“If you can truly do that… I could master everything. Create anything!” she said, her voice filled with excitement.

Damian just nodded along, but her smile suddenly faded, replaced by a serious expression.

“But… for that, we’d have to stay together. We’d have to do this regularly. And with the war going on…”

“I’m diving into the Highsword Dungeon right now too, so obviously, we won’t be doing this immediately,” Damian said. “But once I come out, I’ll take control of the region near Dawnstar and the Ashenvale border. I’m going to build a city there.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem shocked at all, as if she had already expected him to do this.

“You don’t seem surprised,” he noted.

She simply smiled. “My ancestors built Eldoris to protect the last of the elves and those humans who followed them. It was just a small village back then. I knew you’d end up doing something similar.” Her gaze sharpened. “A city in the region currently controlled by Dawnstar… Let me guess. You don’t want to take sides in the war between the kingdoms and the empire, but you do want to intervene in some way. That’s why the city will be near Dawnstar’s border, isn’t it?”

Damian sighed and nodded. His big reveal had turned out to be no revelation to her at all. Maybe she knew him too well for his liking.

“It will be a sanctuary,” he said. “I’ll protect those who choose peace.”

She nodded, but then her expression turned solemn again. “You can’t live without interfering… They’ll come for you.”

Damian just smiled. “Oh, please. It’ll be a city built by me. Even if all five kingdoms united against it, my walls would remain unscathed.”

She smirked. “You’ve grown cocky.” Then, in a quieter voice, she added, “I would love to be part of such a place… But I can’t.”

“I know,” Damian said, nodding in understanding. “But you can stay there when you can, and we can continue creating spells. With my waygates, it’ll never be too far.”

“You’d share your waygates with others?” she asked, surprised.

“In time. Everything good I learn, I’ll share—with the right people. That’s the way forward. If your ancestors had never left their chanting behind, where would we be right now?”

She studied him for a moment. “Don’t you fear that people will use it for nefarious purposes? Power can corrupt any mind.”

“They will,” Damian admitted. “Out of a hundred good people, there will always be ten bad. But all we can do is trust in our descendants. Our job is to give them tools—the lessons they learn from them will be their own. I just hope that when the time comes… whoever remains will be ready.”

“Ready for what?” she asked curiously.

“To survive,” Damian said, glancing up at the sky. “To leave this world behind… and venture into the countless others beyond.” He pointed at the stars. “To find them as equals—before they find us as weaklings.”

The way she looked at him then was mesmerizing, her eyes full of hidden thoughts and understanding.

Damian just smiled, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.

“Of course, that’s just my silly thinking,” he added, rubbing the back of his neck. “And centuries in the future… We’ll be long dead by then. Or maybe things will turn out completely differently. Maybe some mad scientist or an evil mage will doom the whole world before that ever happens.”