The Runesmith

Roland glanced at his pouch that contained multiple golden coins. He even started looking over his shoulder, wondering if someone from the thieves guild would mark him after he came out of the bank with both Robert and Lucille.

Luckily he did not see any shadowy figures looming in the dark. The guards that were standing around the bank made sure to remove any suspicious elements from the premises. This building was also in the innermost reaches of the city.

To get in, a person needed to get past another gate that was surrounded by a large wall. This was recently created and most of the rich merchants lived in this section of the city. This of course pushed any poor citizens that previously lived here out into the slums that as always were kept hidden away from the main roads.

“Well then, I’ll excuse myself… you two take care…”

Roland said while nodding slightly. With the money in his possession now he could go prepare a list of materials that he needed. He didn’t even have time to look through the new crafting schematics that he received from the guild master.

There was also the problem with Robert being here, for now, he was successful in keeping his identity hidden but this could change. It didn’t seem that Robert was suspecting anything, this was mostly thanks to Lucille being here. It was clear that he was lovestruck and had a pile of roses inside his brain keeping him occupied.

“Wait Sir. Wayland!”

“Um… was there something else you needed?”

Roland asked while stepping down into the road.

“Yes, we have a request but it isn’t from me…”

Lucille looked to the side of the knight that was accompanying her. Roland turned his head towards his brother that instantly evaded his gaze.

‘Why is he acting all shy all of a sudden…’

The suspicious behavior was quickly explained by Robert's next words.

“Yes, I have a request. Could you create a runic shield like the one you lent me in the dungeon? I will of course cover all the cost of manufacturing it!”

He said while pulling out a sack filled with some coins.

“You want me to make you a shield?”

“Yes, we will be staying here for another six days… is that not enough time to make one?”

Robert asked while his brows were furrowed. The shield that he lent to Robert had mostly turned into scrap metal after they left the hidden dungeon part. He was given it back later but the only thing he could do with it was to melt it down to get the deep steel back.

Six days were actually enough to create a shield from scratch. He just needed a thick enough slab of metal that he could cut into the shape of the shield then shape it further with his hammer. Attaching the handle and some mana stones was probably the more strenuous process as it required more control.

Then only the runesmithing would be left, this he could probably knock out in a day or two with his current skill levels. With his high mana reserves, he would probably be able to power through it without needing that many breaks. This also depended on the complexity of the runes as some of the lesser runes he could fashion in a couple of hours.

“Six days might be a bit…”

He lied, as he tried to refuse the offer. Even if he could do it, he still wanted to minimize the interactions with his brother. It was a half-lie, taking into consideration that he wanted to do some other projects first, making a shield was not something on his radar.

“It would be difficult… is that so... that’s a shame.”

Robert didn’t seem to even argue about it as he accepted the refusal but before Roland could escape this predicament an overzealous ice mage spoke up.

“How about we just buy a good shield at the store and Sir. Wayland just adds his runes to it? That should save a lot of time!”

“Uh well…”

Roland twitched slightly as he couldn’t deny that fact.

“Would that be possible?”

Robert’s eyes lit up in anticipation as he looked at Lucille.

“Yes, most runesmiths only focus on creating runes. There is no need for Sir. Wayland to craft the whole shield, with his skills he shouldn’t need more than a few days to finish, isn’t that right Sir. Wayland?”

Lucille looked at Roland with a big smile as if she gave him great advice. She looked like a puppy that wanted to be petted but he wanted to punt her instead.

“I guess you are right…”

Not wanting to seem like a total asshole he just agreed. He was still talking to a noble lady with high status. She was his ticket into the magic academy and more runic knowledge, it would be unwise to alienate her. She might seem all friendly now but after she left that could change.

“That’s great, do you know any good shops Sir. Wayland?”

Lucille asked while Roland just thought about his next move and how to minimize his interactions with Robert.

“Good shops? I mostly send my assistant to buy resources and I also craft my own weapons…”

He did visit some of the blacksmithing shops just to see how the city was structured. This he did to see if he could ‘borrow’ any new runic designs.

“But there are a few large weapon and armor shops here, I’m not sure which one would be the best, we will need a deep steel shield at least…”

Roland turned to Robert and started asking questions.

“What kind of runes would you like me to inscribe? Would you rather have a multipurpose item or one that focuses on something specific, both have their pros and cons.”

“Multipurpose?”

Robert asked as he was not sure what Roland was talking about. Most of the magical equipment that people came across had one or two enchantments on it.

A suit of armor would most of the time be given a buffing rune that for instance increased the user’s strength. Then it would also have one active skill like a magical shield that could be activated on command.

Roland’s own armor could not be used by anyone that didn’t possess a runecrafting skill. Without access to the runic code inside the item, it would be impossible to activate all of their features. This was why when Robert previously used his runic shield he could only activate one of its effects that was set as default by Roland.

“Yes, I could place activation runes at the shields handles, you’d just need to focus your mana towards the activation rune to activate the spell. I wouldn’t put too many runes though, the more there are the quicker the shield will deteriorate.”

This explanation revealed some of his techniques. This was mostly learned by him when he was a runic blacksmith and when he had to be creative. There he just used spots in the weapons that when a person injected their mana into it would then activate the desired effect.

“Fascinating, a multipurpose runic structure… it sounds so elementary but also quite difficult if you take into consideration that the runesmith would have to customize the already created runic structure to fit the weapon…”

“It shouldn’t be that tough… you just have to alter the schematics slightly…”

“Alter the schematics?”

Lucille’s reaction to Roland’s statement was a bit strange. The girl’s eyes went wide and she looked like the first time she saw his runic armor.

‘Did I overestimate the runic knowledge of the basic runesmiths in this world?’

Roland was self-taught but this was not due to him wanting it. Due to this, he was still unaware of how other runesmiths operated. He thought back to all the schematics that he lifted from the stores.

That time he only attributed it to not being able to enter the inner parts of the stores. He thought that these runes were just the basics that everyone used and then altered for more promising effects. By how Lucille was acting this seemed not to be true, it looked like altering an already established rune was not an easy task.

“By Solaria, you must be a real prodigy Sir. Wayland, I just must inform the Professor about this, I’m sure you’ll have so much to teach each other!”

The girl started bouncing around like an overzealous slime monster. It took a few moments for her to calm down before the conversation could continue.

“How about we go to a store and pick out a shield for Sir. Robert here…”

“Ah yes… the shield!”

The group nodded and they finally moved towards the shopping district where most of the weapon and armor shops were at. As expected most of them were run by dwarfs. That was when another problem arose.

“Welcome to Molgud’s armor shop, how kin ah hulp ye?”

A robust dwarf asked after seeing Robert coming in but when he saw a peculiar-looking Runesmith in runic armor, his expression changed.

“Ey, what do yer want? Don’t ye have ur fancy smithy?”

“Huh? Is there a problem?”

“Sure is! Now git!”

The group was shooed away by the grumpy dwarf before they could even ask about any available shields. They attributed it to the dwarf having a bad attitude, Robert needed to be held back from going back inside. In his eyes this was blatant disrespect towards his lady, luckily she was able to convince him otherwise.

‘That was strange…’

Roland wondered if this dwarf just didn’t like him or something. For now, they just continued to the next shop that was also run by another dwarf. This one reacted the same after seeing the intricate runic gauntlets that Roland was wearing. It was clear that they knew who he was by now and didn’t appreciate it that he was coming into their shops.

“What’s wrong with these dwarves… this is the third shop…”

“Yes, they are extremely rude, should we go complaint to the mayor?”

Robert and Lucille weren’t sure what was going on, but now Roland was sure about the reason.

“It’s my fault.”

“Your fault Sir. Wayland? But you didn’t even do anything?”

“That doesn’t matter, I’m a human and I also signed a contract with the adventurer’s guild, the dwarven union had probably given an order to ban me from all of their stores.”

Roland had to give it to the union, they were somewhat neutral with him when he was just an up-and-coming craftsman in the woods. Now, on the other hand, the moment he signed a contract with the guild they decided to go to war with him. This also meant that he might have difficulty in getting good prices on the market. He would need to get in touch with some of the non-dwarven merchants.

“The dwarven union, why would they… ah!”

Lucille managed to realize what this was all about and stomped her foot in indignation. Robert on the other hand wasn’t that invested in runes or blacksmithing so he wasn’t aware of the union’s pull. After a quick explanation, he also looked maddened by this face.

“It’s fine, this was bound to happen, it’s just how the dwarves operate but not all of them are like that.”

Roland didn’t care that much as he had enough knowledge to get by already. There was also the guild that would probably supply him with well-priced materials if he really was banned from the market. Such an approach would have worked on a more inexperienced and unestablished craftsman but he was now somewhat entrenched.

“Dwarves don’t run all of the armor shops, think there was one place that my assistant told me about, we could try there… if all fails then Lady Lucille you’ll just have to buy the shield yourself without me.”

It would be better if Roland was with them so that he could pick up the best shield from the lineup but if he couldn’t then it was also fine. He was not really that interested in making this shield in the first place.

“Oh, a non-dwarven shop? That seems interesting.”

“Yes, my assistant always told me to go there as the goods are pristine.”

“Well, what are we waiting for, let us depart!”

So they went towards this shop with the ‘pristine’ goods. The journey took them away from the richer part of the city and more to where the regular people lived. The shop became visible soon and it had a characteristic sign with a bull with large horns on it.

“This is the place, excuse me.”

Roland was the first one to enter as he was leading the way. Robert on the other hand held the door open for his noble lady that just giggled. The inside looked a bit dark but it was certainly an armor shop with some shields on display.

“Greetings, what brings you to this Taurus smithy.?”

A peculiar bell sound resounded through this shop and it was followed up by a womanly voice. When he turned around he realized the meaning behind ‘pristine goods’ that his assistant was talking about.

‘So that’s why that idiot was always blushing like a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl whenever he talked about this store…’

Before him stood a large beastwoman, she was at least two meters tall and had large pointy horns on her head. Her hair was a mix of black and white, her legs were covered by long black leather boots. For a moment he expected to see hooved legs but by the shape that he was seeing she had regular feet.

The woman before him had quite the assets that were barely being contained by a large smithing apron. Her skin was slightly darkened and looked similar to caramel. She was quite toned while also packing on a bit of muscle, it was clear that those hands were good at swinging a heavy hammer. The source of the bell sound was also revealed by a cowbell-type accessory around this woman's neck.

“Ah yes, my friend here would like to purchase a shield.”

“Your friend?”

The large woman turned to Robert while intently looking at the young man's features.

“Hm… not bad, I’ll give you an 8!”

“You’ll find the shields over there handsome, take your time.”

She pointed Robert in the right direction. The young man was clearly not used to women like this one so he took a moment to process the information. His lady companion showed a cute pout before both of them left to look at the goods. The beastwoman then turned to Roland, she rested one hand on her hip while using the other one to rub her chin.

“Hm, you have a nice deep voice… but without seeing your face I’ll have to give you a six for now.”

“Uh, okay?”

Roland wasn’t really sure what to say. The woman just laughed while standing behind the store counter. She then leaned forward which caused a certain bouncy place to be more visible.

“You must be Wayland the Runesmith, you’re becoming famous around here… but maybe infamous would be the better word for it?”

“So I have heard… it doesn’t seem that you care for the union’s ban that much though…”

“Hah, those dwarfs can go screw a wild boar, they think that they own the whole market. Speaking of dwarfs… you didn’t bring that red-haired fellow with you, did you?”

“Bernir? No… did he do something?”

It seemed that people were already aware of him and Bernir living in the woods. This was a good thing as it would get people to think twice before attacking his assistant again.

“Heh, I guess the weasel didn’t tell you.”

Roland wondered what this was all about, he did remember Bernir coming back with a black eye one day. He just told him that he got into a scuffle with some drunks at the bar, but maybe someone else was responsible for it.

“Ah… I must apologize for my workers' behavior, did he cause any damage to your shop?”

“To the shop? No, to my pride on the other hand… are you sure you want to take responsibility for that?”

The woman replied while licking her lips, Roland flinched slightly as the atmosphere changed. Before any sexual harassment from either side could take place, Robert returned with a shield in hand.

“This shield looks fine, what do you think of it, Wayland?”

Roland’s head did a quick side turn, as he moved his attention to Robert he could have sworn that he heard the woman clicking her tongue.

“Looks fine…”

The shield was a large kite shield that was in the shape of a teardrop. It was made from deep steel and was actually of high quality.

“Great, we shall take it!”

“I see that you have a good eye for quality, sugar. Do you want me to wrap it up?”

The woman poked some fun at Robert who was still confused. Soon the party left the shop, the lady blacksmith sent them away with a bright smile, though this smile was mostly directed at the hand filled with shiny coins that she was now holding.