Chapter 8: Rune

“So this is a Wizard Tool,” Luo Nan muttered, his gaze fixed on a short sword that emitted flames. The flickering light on the blade was so mesmerizing he couldn't tear his eyes away.

This item was the legendary exclusive equipment of a Wizard—a spell tool, or simply, a Tool.

Different categories of Tools had varying degrees of amplification effects on Wizards. Some could easily double a Wizard's combat power; a Wizard with a Tool and a Wizard without were two entirely different concepts.

However, any single Tool was incredibly precious, far beyond what Luo Nan could afford at his current stage.

“If the plan goes smoothly…” Luo Nan secretly made up his mind, “I must buy one later.”

Reluctantly leaving the stall selling Tools, Luo Nan continued to wander.

Luo Nan had his own routine when browsing.

Whenever he saw someone bargaining at a stall, he would discreetly approach and stand nearby, listening. Once he had a good understanding of what the item being discussed was and its corresponding value, he would quietly move on.

After half a day of this, his knowledge had truly advanced several levels.

He was already showing signs of transforming from a complete novice in the Wizard World to a semi-novice.

“Hmm?!”

As he wandered, Luo Nan’s gaze suddenly stopped at a particular stall.

There weren't many people in front of this stall; most Wizards would glance at it and walk straight past.

The stall owner was a black-haired middle-aged man in his forties, and he didn't seem to have any intention of actively soliciting customers, mostly just lazily sitting on a chair.

The stall primarily sold pigeon egg-sized stones, each engraved with different patterns, occasionally flashing and carrying a hint of mysterious aura.

Luo Nan’s eyes flickered. He walked over calmly, picked up a patterned stone from the stall, and asked the owner, “What’s the price for this?”

The stall owner gave Luo Nan a lazy glance and quoted a price.

Luo Nan put down the stone, picked up another, and asked for the price again.

After several such attempts, the stall owner finally showed impatience.

“Are you going to buy or not?”

“I am.” Luo Nan reluctantly put down the stone in his hand, then changed the subject. “First, give me some Universal Powder.”

“Two Magic Stone Shards per bag. Take as many as you need.” The stall owner pointed impatiently to the side, where numerous fist-sized cloth bags were piled up.

Luo Nan walked over, picked up a bag, and opened it to confirm. Satisfied, he placed down four Magic Stone Shards and took two bags.

After putting them away, he asked the stall owner again, “Do you have any blank Rune Stones?”

The stall owner, who had been half-reclining, propped himself up slightly and looked at Luo Nan with a half-smile. “Yes, five Magic Stone Grains a piece. If you buy a lot, I can give you a slight discount.”

Luo Nan silently calculated the balance in his money pouch, then thought for a moment and said, “Three per piece, I’ll take twenty-two pieces.”

“Dream on!” The stall owner directly rolled his eyes and said irritably, “This is a business that doesn’t even make one Magic Stone, and you’re bargaining like that? It’s five per piece, take it or leave it.”

Luo Nan tried quoting prices twice more, but the other party showed no signs of budging. In the end, he even turned his face away, too lazy to look at him again.

Luo Nan considered looking elsewhere, but remembering that this was the only stall he had encountered selling Rune Stones on the street, he decided against it.

“Then give me thirteen pieces,” Luo Nan sighed lightly, nearly emptying his wallet.

The stall owner took Luo Nan’s Magic Stone Shards, and his attitude finally improved slightly. He got up and walked to the back of the stall, retrieved a bag, and as he handed it to Luo Nan, he spoke with a playful expression, “Little brother, thinking of learning Rune Engraving to become a Runemaster?”

Luo Nan hummed in acknowledgment. There was nothing to hide; only Rune Engraving required Universal Powder and blank Rune Stones. The stall owner in front of him was clearly a true Runemaster and naturally knew this well.

“Self-taught?”

“Self-taught.”

“Just started?”

“Just started.”

The stall owner looked at the items in Luo Nan’s hand, his expression a strange mix of oddity and curiosity, and said, “You don’t seriously think you can become a master with just these materials, do you?”

“Is it impossible?” Luo Nan blinked.

“Ha.” The stall owner laughed, directly pulled over a Wizard who was setting up a stall nearby, pointed at Luo Nan, and said to the man, “Malfoy, listen to what this kid is saying! He told me he’s going to become a Runemaster with thirteen blank Rune Stones!”

The stall owner’s tone was exaggerated and theatrical, while the Wizard he pulled over looked at Luo Nan with a cold, idiotic gaze.

Luo Nan felt his self-esteem insulted and was about to fight back, but unexpectedly, the stall owner suddenly laughed heartily and slapped two blank Rune Stones into his arms with a “smack.”

“Kid, I’ll give you two more to round it off. Go home and practice hard. If you succeed, come find me, and I’ll give you another bag… Oh no, ten bags of blank Rune Stones!”

“Really?!” Luo Nan was stunned, subconsciously confirming.

The stall owner, however, said nothing, merely looking at him and laughing loudly without stopping.

“What are you laughing at? Haven’t you heard, ‘Don’t bully a young man for being poor’?!”

At the Town entrance, Luo Nan walked out, carrying large and small bags, his expression indignant. But then he remembered that being mocked had gained him two extra blank Rune Stones, a free gain of ten Magic Stone Shards, and his mood didn't seem so bad anymore.

“Thump—” Luo Nan tossed his last remaining Magic Stone Shard into the air like a coin, caught it, looked at it for a moment, then dropped it into his empty money pouch.

“The seed of wealth. I hope it grows more and more from now on…” Luo Nan sighed, tucking away his money bag.

He had originally planned to find a knight cultivation method from the mundane world in the Market, but after looking around, he found that such things didn't seem cheap, so he had to give up.

The return journey was much slower than the trip there, mainly because he was carrying too many things.

As the sun set, Luo Nan finally returned to his treehouse.

After checking the “marks” he had left before leaving and confirming that no one had entered his home in his absence, Luo Nan carried his belongings into the small house.

He hastily finished dinner and caught dozens of fireflies to make a new lantern.

Inside the quiet little treehouse, the fireflies glowed like water. Luo Nan sat in front of his oak table, carefully reading the Wizard Inheritance book that introduced Runology.

Runes were an extremely important component of the Wizard’s power system.

The creation of Runes originated in ancient times, pioneered by a legendary Wizard whose knowledge was as vast as the sea and whose talent was astonishing.

The emergence of Runes greatly solved the drawbacks of long casting times and complex, cumbersome preparation for Wizards, lowered the threshold for casting many spells, and directly led to the incredibly glorious era of Wizard Tools!

“Every Rune is the crystallization of countless wisdom and effort from the Wizard who created it.”

“Every sunrise and sunset, in some corner of the world, at least one Rune is created, and at least one Rune is silently forgotten and buried.”

“The rank of a Rune determines the rank of the enchanted Tool. A high-grade, rare Rune can lay the foundation for a lineage’s Inheritance, an supreme opportunity that countless Wizards would go mad and fight over.”

Luo Nan skimmed over the long sections at the beginning of the book introducing the origin of Runology, and about a third of the way through, he finally found the key points he wanted to read.