Chapter 678 Runic Weaponry


    The blue dragon clerics looked at each other with excitement. This was something that they could do. If they had Runecrafters trained, they could copy this and make Commander Rank weapons, as long as they were powerful enough.


    It would be immensely time-consuming to provide them to the entire army, but they could provide higher quality weapons to the Academy and the new students.


    Karl was thinking the same thing. He had eleven students in total, between the Acolytes and the Beast Rangers team. Eleven weapons was a day''s work, but he could manage that without any majorints.


    "Should we go further and see the extent of the capabilities of our modern steel?" Karl asked.


    "It should be more durable than ancient steel, unless it was from a System Enabled period of history.


    We don''t actually know when this book was written, and there hasn''t been any mention of the System in it, only of crafting skills. So, it could be from nearly any point in the past." The team leader noted.


    "More durable doesn''t always mean more manapatible, though. This alloy probably wasn''t in use at the time, so we may have to continue to study which alloys are the most suitable in the modern era." One of the others added, sparking a small argument about which alloys should be tested first, after they had their own Runecrafters trained.


    Karl let them argue as he began to inscribe the other axe, making an identical copy. One of the two was going to be destroyed by the testing, and he was certain that the clerics would want one brought back as a sample for whatever sort of presentation they were going to have to give to their superiors.


    The final consensus was that they might have to bring back some of the old alloys, the ones which had silver mixed into them, or other precious metals. That was not good for the utility of a nonmagical weapon, but for one with Runes on it, the change could be critical.


    By the time that they finished arguing about the answer, Karl had already finished the other weapon, and the delivery man had brought him a whole pile of short swords and daggers for the students.


    "We are ready. Please begin to upgrade the de." The clerics announced in unison, then began tough at their synchronized thoughts.


    Karl slowly added mana density to the test weapon, and the runes began to turn from gold to a shimmering amethyst purple, which filled the carved runes like a solid gemstone.


    It was absolutely exquisite.


    Just as the transformation finished, Karl stopped adding more power, leaving the weapon at the lowest possible Royal Rank power level. That was enough to prove the point, and he wanted to see if the weapon was going to remain stable.


    The clerics began to cast spells on it, and turn it carefully in their white gloved hands as they studied it, then one went to the phone on the wall and made a call.


    "I have summoned a Royal Rank warrior to us. They will be able to test it in the basement training room without fear of overpowering the enchantment identally. Then we can see how it will react to having a skill used as an ovey to the Runes.


    That will be the most telling part of our trials." The cleric exined.


    Karl nodded. "Then I will bring this other axe to mid-Commander Rank. Please summon a Commander as well, in case the first test fails.


    Or even if it doesn''t. So that we can see if there are any hidden stability issues." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Karl wasn''t sure if the response could have been more excited, even if he had told them that they were celebrating every national holiday on the same day. The Clerics were overjoyed, practically vibrating with energy, and sorting through piles of cameras and sensor equipment in the backpacks they had left by the door.


    The two Elites came running only minutester, prepared forbat, or some other emergency.


    "Rx, it''s just a weapons test. The Blue Dragon gets a bit excited about new knowledge." Karl warned them.


    "A weapons test?" The shorter of the two men asked.


    Karl pointed to the axes on the table, and the two Elites began to visibly freak out about the presence of the magical ''artifacts''.


    "Where did you find these? Commander Rank and higher weapons are so difficult toe across, even in the Dungeon. Is that really a Royal Rank de? Dragon Gods, that is beautiful." The Royal Rank warrior gushed.


    "An experimental Royal Rank weapon. We don''t know if it''s stable enough for regr use yet. What we need you to do is follow us to the training area, and see how they do when you actually use them, especially with higher ranking skills." Karl exined.


    "Certainly. What will we be using them on? I doubt that the standard training dummies will hold up to repeated hits at Royal Rank." The warrior noted.


    "You will be using them on me. Or, more correctly, on my barrier. That way the dummies shouldn''t be mangled with every hit, and we can continue to stress test the alloy used in the weapons." Karl exined.


    No need to tell them that it was just a regr axe whose appearance was altered by the empowered Runes.


    The two Elites took their Rank Matched weapons, and were immediately ushered out the door by the hyper group of Clerics.


    Karl was beginning to think that all Clerics were secretly nerds, but they all just had different things that set them off. Red Dragon Clerics got all mushy and maternal around orphans, Green Clerics were constantly looking to go interact with nature, and as Karl could clearly see, giving Blue Dragon Clerics new knowledge to test was better than any sugar rush.


    In fact, they were nearly as worked up as Lotus when she saw that Remi and Cara had advanced. It was far more entertaining to watch than Karl had expected, and he had to jog to keep up to their pace, so he didn''t miss the elevator.