Chapter 666: 666
They kept following the trail left by Corona Discharge's stream of lightning until it suddenly stopped. The floor went from dripping wet to humid as if an invisible barrier had halted the spell's advance.
"It seems you were right, the only possible explanation for this phenomenon is a Warp Steps." Phloria said.
"Quite the contrary, it doesn't make sense." Lith shook his head. "According to what I saw with Life Vision, the Teks appeared close to our camp, this place is too far to have any significance."
He even tried using Invigoration on the nearby wall despite the fact that none of his magical senses perceived anything, but to no avail. Rocks were just rocks. There was nothing magical in the area.
While Phloria was racking her brain to find an explanation to that riddle, her army amulet drew her attention. The interference prevented her from communicating with the outside, but it still worked just fine at close range.
"I have good news." Professor Neshal's hologram was fuzzy, but her voice was clear. "Most of the characters you found are just well-hidden road signs, but some of them are powerful rune words."
"Never heard of them." Lith replied, noticing that Phloria seemed distressed.
'That's her "I'm hiding something from you" face.' Lith thought. 'Damn, we really did spend too much time together. If she's able to do the same to me, then all my lies are for nothing.'
"I read your file, you've actually met them before." Neshal said. "Do you remember that ancient Warp Gate you discovered in Othre? The one the Dawn Court used? Well, it was made of rune words.
"This is classified information, so I can tell you only the bare minimum to understand our situation. In ancient times, when Forgemastering had yet to be created, mages used runes to empower their creations.
"Runes are power words that represent an aspect of magic and that can imprint it in an object. They were awfully expensive and unreliable. You needed to carve them and then fill them with magic crystal's dust to keep them active."
'Like those cables!' Lith thought.
"They were expensive because once pulverized, a magic crystal loses a lot of power and recharges slowly, so you could only use purple crystals and obtain mediocre effects. Unreliable because if anything happens to a single rune, the whole spell is broken.
"Imagine a sword that can stop working after a bad clash, or an armor that offers no protection if it takes a hit. That kind of bad. In ancient battles, runes became the first target because they were easy to spot.
"That's the reason modern magic uses only mana runes to create arrays and artifacts. They are conjured by the spells, giving them their effects, but being made of energy, they can't be damaged."
'So runes were the first way fake mages had found to emulate true magic.' Lith thought. 'Fake Forgemasters need to draw magic circles, whereas I don't need them because I can freely manipulate my mana.'
'Yes, but Neshal is feeding you only old news.' Solus pointed out. 'I bet that Runesmithing has evolved with time. Both the sword in our possession and Phloria's hairpin are the proof of that.
'Huryole's sword must be some kind of middle link between ancient and modern Runesmithing. I'm sure of it because its runes are all made of energy, not carved, but unlike Phloria's hairpin, they are visible.
'If you think about it, visible runes have several downsides. The most obvious are that they made it impossible for you to hide since they shine like a torch and that just by watching at your blade your opponent can predict its enchantments.'
eyy i finally reached chapter 666