Forming the C-rank Personal Mana Shield was like looking at the sheet music for a symphony the day after learning how to read music. The blueprints that the Schema provide me showed me what the final runes should look like. It was kind of like seeing a completed, three-dimensional puzzle laid out before me in my mind, which you have to recreate with papier-mâché and glue.

But with Samantha’s help, I made slow and steady progress. Samantha highlighted the parts of the rune pattern that shared similarities with the rune patterns I already knew. She walked me through, step by step, using 3-d holograms to tell me where to lock each rune pattern into place.

The white-walled room that I was in also functioned as a time-dilation chamber, Samantha explained. The room would time out in six hours, and we had already wasted a large portion of that time training with my mana control and just talking.

In addition to the Mithril and Compressed Mana Orb as the two base components, we also needed a material that would function as wiring, fixing the mana orb in place, and also allowing for mana to travel at rapid paces and in incredibly high densities through each part of the breastplate.

This wiring was completed by Velir’s Web. Velir’s Web was another C-rank material, a light and translucent film that looked almost like a spider’s web. As Samantha explained it, Velir’s Web was a Rune Master’s favorite material. It essentially glued things in place—it wouldn’t do to have the Mana Orb jostle out of its nook in the breastplate.

The challenge was that I had to layer rune after rune inside Velir’s Web, which was only a centimeter thick. Then I had to line Velir’s Web up directly to the connecting runes that I made on the Mana Orb.

This was one of the downsides to Personal Mana Shields. They were, essentially, single-use items. With a City or Town’s Mana Shield, you could easily replenish the Mana Crystals that powered them, and the runes themselves would last a long time. But with Personal Mana Shields, many of the runes had to be carved directly on the Mana Crystals or Mana Orbs that you were using, and the moment the shield was broken, the whole rune pattern was shot.

With the way the C-rank Rune Pattern worked, it somehow transferred the damage of an attack directly on the Mithril, or other material, that the Rune Pattern was made up of. As a result, by the time the Compressed Mana Orb was out of juice, even the durability of the Mithril would be so shot that it couldn’t be used again.

To me, this seemed like a huge downside. But the way Samantha saw it, this just meant that we would never run out of customers.

It wasn’t just the complexity of the rune pattern that made this difficult. The sheer volume of mana that I had to pour in to form just one single rune was insane.

Since this was essentially a virtual space, I had appeared in a simple robe, without my inventory, which meant I didn’t have access to equipment that boosted my Mana Pool and Mana Regeneration.

A single rune, just the size of a cubic centimeter, sometimes cost me a third of my mana pool—around 30 mana.

Anyone with less than 100 points in their Mana Pool would be hard-pressed to complete a single C-ranked rune—since with C-ranked Mana Sensing, you could only control mana equal to half your Mana Pool outside your body at once.

With two dimensional runes, I had been able to get around this by transferring mana into a Rune Master’s knife, and then using Ayoxa Sap to keep my mana in place once it touched a surface.

But Ayoxa Sap couldn’t leech into an object and lock mana in three dimensions, so it was useless for C-rank runes.

And that was only considering Mana Pool.

For someone who focused primarily on developing their Mana Pool, six hours could feel extremely tight, if their Mana Regeneration wasn’t up to par.

While there technically wasn’t a level limit to becoming a C-rank Rune Master, these informal requirements likely made it difficult for most people who hadn’t killed multiple Region Lords and Zone Lords to become a Rune Master at a mere Level 33.

Samantha had me work slowly till the last hour, before I finally completed the last rune pattern.

I was kicked out of the white room unceremoniously. To my disappointment, the beautiful C-rank Personal Mana Shield that I had created vanished along with the rest of the room.

Congratulations! You have upgraded your profession to Rune Master (C-rank): Allows you to learn and complete Rune Patterns up to C-rank. Teaches Mana Sensing and Mana Control. Grants External Unattributed Mana Affinity (C-rank). +3 Mana Pool per level; +2 Mana Regeneration per level.

You have learned Mana Sensing (C-rank): Allows you to see nearby mana. Allows you to see high concentrations of mana far away. When activated, allows you to see mana in greater detail and identify its attunement. Cost: 10 Mana per minute. Cooldown: None.

You have learned Mana Control (C-rank): Allows you to send your unattuned mana outside your body and control it. The amount of controllable mana at any given time is equal to half your natural Mana Pool.

You have learned the Personal Mana Shield Rune Pattern Blueprint (C-rank): Necessary to create a Personal Mana Shield Amulet (C-rank). When complete, forms a Mana Barrier around your body that blocks incoming attacks.

I was very excited, for a number of reasons. Becoming a C-rank Rune Master was already worth it, just from the +3 Mana Pool and +2 Mana Regeneration per level.

Then there was Mana Sensing. Keeping Mana Sensing active virtually all the time cost me 10 mana per minute, which was basically the same as 5 floating Stat Points. With the upgraded Mana Sensing, I would no longer need to spend 10 mana every minute keeping an eye on my surroundings.

And finally, the biggest unexpected gain for me was the hidden benefit of Mana Control—essentially, it granted me access to a second Mana Pool, outside my body, equal to half my natural Mana Pool.

It was moments like these that made me characterize my relationship with Samantha more as a love/hate relationship, than just a hate. Maybe we were frenemies?

Samantha was good at what she did. I had to appreciate that. Even Lord Ignatius had been impressed by my Status Window when he first saw it. And now, it was even more terrifying.

Samantha said, proudly.

I took out my Communication Amulet to check any recent “Voicemails” that I had missed.

I was mildly surprised to find that there were none.

Samantha said.

Samantha said. She added that line with a bit of bitterness.

You make it sound easy, I thought, somewhat confused. I thought the Zone Lord was hiding.

Samantha said.

How am I supposed to make a Personal Mana Shield, when I don’t have Mithril?

Samantha replied.

Samantha’s words reminded me of my own mine. Ethan had more or less completely cleared my underground mine of higher-tier monsters, and while there was an abundance of Mana Beads, there was virtually no metal ore to be found. By this point, we had pretty much given up on the privacy aspect of the Nova City mines, favoring instead the rapid accumulation of mana beads.

I took out my Communication Amulet, and contacted Abelino.

“Jarek,” Abelino said, answering almost the second I called him. “My friend, how can I help you?”

“I have a business proposition,” I said. “I believe you have some raw metals from your mine in Tijuana. I recently became a C-rank Rune Master, and perhaps we can arrange for a mutually beneficial deal. Given the right materials, I can make a C-rank Personal Mana Shield.”

“The People’s Unity Government has D-rank metals to trade, but not C-rank. If you are interested, I will send a clone to negotiate in person.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Also, let me know the moment you have a lead on your Zone Lord. I have a skill that will let me track him down easily.”

“Of course.”

Name:

Jarek

Level:

34

HP:

44/44

Physical Defense:

18

Strength:

31 (+5)

Mental Power:

14

Dexterity:

10 (+5)

Agility:

24 (+14)

Perception:

20

Luck:

22

Mana Pool:

106 (+10)

Mana Regeneration:

60 (+10)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

420,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(C-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (C-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Aquatic Respiration (E-rank)

Polyglot (E-rank)

Soul Communion (D-rank)

Cursed Lightning (D-rank)

Spiritual Traveler (D-rank)

Soul Explosion (D-rank)

Mana Control (C-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (C-rank Low), Soul Magic (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Vampiric Blade (D-rank): +5 Strength, +5 Agility.

Bloodied Battle Robes (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Imperial Scout Boots (E-rank): +4 Agility.

Greedy Gloves (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Bonded Blades (D-rank): +5 Dexterity, +5 Agility.

Communication Amulet (E-rank):

Interdimensional Pouch (D-rank):

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter