"Your runic bracelet, aren't you registered in Yalveran Runes Association?" Ori asked with confusion, looking at Arthur like he was an alien species.
"There's a runes association?" His eyes turning wide, Arthur was even more confused. The two looked at each other for a few moments in silence.
"… You're clueless, huh?"
"Well, I can't deny that." All Arthur could do was scratch his head and avoid the group's gaze. Ori sighed and pulled the chair from underneath the table for Arthur to sit on. It was the start of another studying session.
***
"Bro, don't do anything reckless, please. I think it'll get better later, I can…" His brother texted him, trying to stop him. Arthur doubted there would be anyone threatening him in the academy, so he just told his brother to shut it and give him the name. After a while, he finally got it.
Kody Nightroad, Year 3 Class A.
He was Arthur's classmate, but Arthur never had the time to meet the rest of the class. He knew Ellen, Markus, and barely Amelia. He didn't even know the name of the rest of them, let alone some Kody.
Arthur opened the classroom door, drawing some attention in. It was the quiet transfer student that everyone was curious about but too cautious to make acquaintance with.
"Kody Nightroad?" Arthur spoke loudly enough for the whole class to hear, and they begin to whisper among each other before a guy stood up from a group of three students. It was a redhead student with green eyes, a noticeable belly protruding in front of him. He wasn't fat, just not having a lean body either.
"Yes?" Unlike what Arthur had expected, his face was a lot less intimidating than he imagined. His eyes were round and clueless, giving him an innocent vibe.
"You're Kody Nightroad?" Arthur asked again, unsure of the contrast in imagination against reality.
"I am, you are…"
"Arthur Silvera,"
"Oh," It was then that realization dawned on Kody's face, his eyes turning round. It looked like he recognized Oren's last name and his face took a shade of yellow.
"Do you want us to go somewhere else?" Kody bobbed his head up-and-down like he was prepared for this, and took the initiative to ask Arthur this question.
"Uh, sure." Arthur felt like he was thrown off by such an unexpected attitude, and the two left the classroom alone before it got a lot nosier.
Their walking was filled with nothing but silence, and Arthur's perception could pick up how nervous Kody was. He kept mumbling something like he was rehearsing a mantra for him not to forget, and the two reached the rooftop in a few minutes.
After leaving the building and going to the academy's rooftop, Kody turned around suddenly making Arthur dodge backward instinctively. Thinking the redhead was trying to attack him, Arthur almost knocked the hell out of him on reflex. It was only then that Arthur saw Kody was bowing down, ninety degrees even.
It was such a clean-cut bow that Arthur was sure this guy rehearsed it before, and Arthur cursed himself for being mesmerized by how professional it was.
"I'm sorry!" Kody's body was sweating visibly while he apologized. "I didn't mean for it to go this far, I only wanted to intimidate him a bit!"
"Why would you do that?" Arthur's eyes were cold, he wasn't ready to be fooled by a person's external demeanor.
"You might already know the story, but my little sister likes your brother. However, he rejected her saying things like he was unworthy. It was the first time that she had a crush on someone, and she cried all day in her room because of that rejection," Kody was still bowing down as he explained, and Arthur had to stop him and ask him to lift his head.
"Thank you. After I saw her like this, my heart ached. I asked around and found out what happened, and decided to…"
"Beat my brother into submission?" Arthur folded his arms in front of his body, thinking of ways to beat this fool.
"No! I wouldn't dare! I just wanted to give him some pressure to awaken, they always said that revenge is the best reason for strength!" Kody shook his head like a scared chicken, and Arthur realized his reasons.
"That doesn't explain why you hurt him." Arthur's emotions were still far from being cooled off, and he took a step toward the ginger.
"I know! I just wanted to give him a reason to grow stronger, hopefully getting them to be together." Kody didn't take a step back and resigned himself instead. Arthur paused when he heard this. He remembered his brother's reddened face when he asked him if he liked this girl.
"Okay, I understand." Arthur nodded his head, thinking of some plans. "I also think my brother needs to change his mindset and be a bit more confident, but we'll be using a different way than yours."
"We?" Kody's jaw dropped as his eyes widened almost becoming like a chicken's eggs. "Are you helping me in getting them together?"
"I am, I can't have my brother miss on things like I did," Arthur said and Kody's face was pained, looking like he was a single-loner as well.
"I'm sorry for what I did, I never used my ability against him. I only sought to intimidate him a bit, that's all. If you're willing, let's get these two together, and you have my blessings!" Kody reached out his hand for a handshake, and Arthur took it. Despite his actions, this guy wasn't so bad.
"I'll still beat you up though, repaying what Oren had to go through." Arthur pulled on Kody's, fisting him in the face lightly. Screams echoed knitting the song of justice being delivered.
***
"So, you take the whole week off and then come back to beat someone up?" Markus laughed, looking at Kody who had a few bruise marks on his face.
"I was busy, and we're cool now," Arthur answered after he sat on his seat behind Amelia. The girl was still as cold, and Arthur never saw her not drinking her strawberry milk.
"Are you sure? Because everyone is saying how the transfer student is bullying people."
"Oh, and?"
"Uh…" Markus was taken off guard by Arthur's response, and he didn't know what to do. It was then that he heard a rare chuckle come out from Amelia, and he was even more surprised.
"I guess you two share the same mindset." Markus shrugged before turning toward his phone. Arthur simply smiled and opened his phone as well. He needed to check the information Ori just told him, so he used the search engine to look up some websites.
As Ori said, there was a runes-focused association in the Yalveran Union. Unlike what he had expected, this was another world altogether that Arthur had no idea it existed.
To summarize it, the association registers anyone who wishes to be a runes' master. They would start as apprentices, veterans, masters, grandmasters, and so on. Arthur was stunned by the popularity of this profession, it seems that it was a branch of blacksmiths, engineers, and probably everything.
These people would create weapons and artificial artifacts using only the mana paths to make a living. They would study the runes provided by the association through their runic bracelets, providing virtual reality.
For the sake of convenience, Arthur decided to call these artificial runes and his runes to be true-runes. He had researched all this time about people having the same ability as him, and there were none. Abilities and runes were thought to be extremely different matters unrelated to each other.
This proved that the legacy Jizo gave him was truly unique. Even though he was grateful for having it, Arthur couldn't believe he was a 'chosen one' or anything.
He was not, that has already been proven by his near-death experience due to his overconfidence in the underground tunnel. He was someone lucky, and he needed to use that luck to rise.
Runic bracelet were artificial artifacts created by the association to ease the process of learning for anyone willing. Of course, they needed to be awakened people with no criminal record or past offenses. They would then be issued a runic card that would have the runes they purchase from the association.
Today's club activities made Arthur realize that artificial runes had a chance of failure if the materials used were inappropriate or the mana path had some mistakes. His runes were different in that Arthur used them as easily as he can breathe, without any chance of failure unless he had no mana.
Things were getting complicated so Arthur needed to close his eyes to think them through. He lied on his desk, thinking ahead of all the things he needed to hide or show.
First, artificial runes gave weaker effects. They usually are affected by the surrounding environment because they lacked the 'creational' property of his runes.
Second, artificial runes needed a medium to channel. Things like Runes' bracelets and artifacts were examples of those, and maybe even potions.
Third, he needed to fail a couple of times when trying to write an artificial rune to make things more believable. He wouldn't hide his talent, but he didn't want others to know of his trump cards. That was the best way to go if he wanted to rise.