(Path of the Dragon Mage: Exiled) 32. Grinding Runes (Patreon)

The pamphlet of collected runes was clearly the work of a  well-meaning, enthusiastic amateur. Not a trained scribe. The  handwriting was awful; cramped and messy.

Corvus needed every iota of experience from his Literacy skill to decipher it. As he read through, he realized he held a goldmine of information.

On the spare few pages, he learned that the varying shapes inside the  runes were called glyphs. Where and how many times the glyph  intersected with the outer circle— or barrier— of the rune helped inform  the overall strength of the spell. In addition, linked runes were more  powerful the more the 'barriers' intersected with one another.

Gwen's unnamed aunt suspected there was a difference between chained runes and ones which were linked in a pyramid structure.

There could also be runes within runes — and that stamps of  ownerships, the names of the hedge witch inside linked runes — was an  aspect of this. In addition, the most powerful runes of all came with  stamps of ownership.

She hinted of vaguer runecraft theories... observations she could  only comment on as an outsider because she had no magic of her own. Some  of the handwriting in these passages was messier than usual as if  showing her frustration.

Corvus felt a grip of grief for the woman. Runecraft had been her  hobby. Her passion. And according to what Gwen had told her, she had  eventually died of an infection that one of these runes might have  cured.

On that vein, the last page showed the runes themselves. They were all medical related.

Suppress Cough

Replenish Blood

Reduce Fever

Purge Infection

Knit Flesh (minor)

Knit Teeth

Knit Bone

Spark Of Life

And each and every one of them came with many warnings.

Suppress Cough and Reduce Fever both made the  patient feel more comfortable. But suppressing a cough came with the  risk of not being able to clear the lungs and airways out. A person  could essentially drown in their own bed.

Reduce Fever similarly could plunge a person into a freezing  cold or provide a more hospitable environment for the infection to rage  through the body. A fever, apparently, was the body's way of combatting  a sickness.

Knit Flesh did nothing for scarring and could permanently cripple a person if tendons and muscles knit wrong.

Knit Bone was only to be used after the bone was set, first.  It was never to be used with breaks that pushed bone out of the skin,  or 'spiral fractures', whatever those were.

Knit Teeth would not help a tooth infection, only with holes or cracked teeth. It would do nothing at all for replacing a lost tooth.

Purge Infection must never, ever be used on the bowels.  There was a disease where an organ in the stomach would explode if left  untreated too long. That was to be fixed with surgery and Knit Flesh.  Otherwise the person may lose the ability to process food.

Spark Of Life was the most dangerous of all.

This rune allowed one person to transfer a spark of their very life  essence to another who was floundering or on the edge of death. But it  came with a fifty-fifty chance of killing the donor.

The aunt's note said it should only be used with mothers bringing a  dearly wanted baby into the world. She also opined that that rune should  be called 'A Life For A Life', but apparently that was already taken.

Corvus found himself smiling grimly at the note. He thought he would  have liked Gwen's aunt, should he ever had the chance of meeting her.  What a shame that he never would.

He wondered if she and Gwen were in any way similar, and what Gwen liked to do for fun. If she had any hobbies, any dreams...

He shook his head to dispel the foolish thoughts and turned his  attention back to the pamphlet to read through the pages from front to  back again.

Then, after clearing away a bit of bare ground, he drew out the runes onto the dust.

Immediately, he hit on a problem. Trying to activate the first —  Suppress Cough — was like running full tilt into a wall in his mind.  Corvus lurched back, and his fingers dragged through the rune,  destroying it.

He recovered a half breath later and checked the status of his mana wells in his mind. His mana hadn't budged an inch.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried drawing another rune out, this time with Knit Flesh.

He got the same result, though he was careful not to ruin the rune when he lurched back.

Something was wrong. He was certain he had copied the rune exactly as  it had been in the pamphlet. Once completed, the rune felt right with a sixth sense he could not name. Was he not powerful enough to activate it?

No, Corvus was certain that if it were a matter of power then his mana well would have still been drained dry in the attempt.

He frowned down at the list. Then it clicked. He couldn’t activate a 'Suppress Cough' rune on dust like he could Shield or Ever-Flame.

It had to be done on a living being.

His gaze slid to the horses which were resting idly in the stable.  For one blink of an eye he was tempted... and in the next moment he  rejected the thought.

No. If he were going to test a rune out, it would be on himself. Not an innocent animal.

How, though? He had no quill and ink to write. He could wet the dust  into mud and draw it on his skin, but that felt off, too. Corvus knew  the answer deep in his bones, and the realization made him swallow. Roan  had said the first day they met: Hedge-Witches activated runes with blood.

Corvus wavered for a moment. Then, before he could think up an excuse  not to, shed himself of his shirt. Then he took up his knife and nicked  his thumb.

His magic worked best when he used both hands to draw out the rune — an Ambidextrous bonus, he suspected.

So instead of drawing out the rune for Supress Cough on his arm, he drew it on his own sternum using both fingers.

This time the rune activated with a flash of blue he had come to associate with magic.

His mana dropped by 50 points and he felt a curious tingling  sensation sinking into his chest. The next breath he drew in was smooth  and unusually deep. He hadn't been ill to begin with, but the grit and  the straw in the stables had left dust in the air. He breathed as if he  had inhaled the freshest, most pristine mountain air in the kingdom.

"Wow," he said and then blinked. Was it his imagination or did his voice sound deeper?

No, his ears were clearer too. Strange. Then again, when he suffered a  head cold his ears often felt as stuffed as his chest, so perhaps the  rune affected something to do with that.

There was much about the body he didn't know.

A five hour count-down appeared in the corner of his vision. Very  inexpensive for only 50 points of mana. Then again, he wasn't sick.

He would have to try this rune again next time he caught a cold.

Reluctantly, Corvus wet a finger and wiped away a streak of blood,  breaking the barrier of the rune. The second the timer vanished he let  out a single hacking cough. The back of his throat tasted like dust.

Then he went down the next rune on the list, and so on. Each new rune activated was added to his Rune Dictionary in his mind.

Knit Flesh was particularly useful, though he had to nick his thumb all over again after the wound was sealed.

The only one he did not try was the Spark Of Life. He had no  desire to risk his life simply to add it to his mental dictionary.  Instead, he made sure to memorize the rune in case it should ever prove  useful.

The last rune he tested out that evening was one he had glimpsed  briefly on the Blue Dragon's muzzle cage. It was deceptively simple — an  X touching four points of the barrier circle.

This, he drew on the dust.

It lit briefly withdrawing nearly all of his mana — 150 points. The circle lit briefly and then flashed out.

You have added Cancel Power to your Rune Dicionary.

A linked-only rune. When used will cancel others along its chain.

That was... amazing. He had barely time to consider the implications before he was given two more surprises.

The first was that his internal Rune Dictionary had reordered itself into categories.

Basic Runes

Extraordinary Runes

Healing Runes

Linked Runes

He had a feeling there were even more categories just waiting for him to access.

The next were the double notifications.

You have increased your Rune Magic skill.
New level: Beginner 10

Ding!

Alert: Your Rune Magic skill has reached maximum level for a beginner.

Specialized class is required to access Intermediate levels.

"What does that mean?" Corvus asked.

As usual, the notifications did not elaborate.

He scowled and mentally toggled to the Path menu. As usual he was  faced with the same choices: Foot Solider, Hedge Witch, Scullery Boy.

"I wish to take the class of the Hedge Witch," he said.

No response. Well, it had been worth a try.

Why, oh why, hadn't he asked Larissa how one picked sub-classes? There had been little time to chat, but surely...

Corvus felt the muscles in his jaw firm in decision. He would return  back to Duckwater Village and ask her. Though it would be prudent to  wait a few days. The guards would be on the lookout for whomever had let  their dragons free.

Almost idly, he went back to his Rune Dictionary. There he looked  with pride over his growing list of runes. Bits of knowledge that were  his and no one could take them away.

He had come far in a few short weeks, and he had further to go.

Too bad none of the runes were something like 'Discover Secrets' or 'Fertilize Horse'.

Which reminded him again of the unfinished quest.

Fishing Roan's horseshoe out from where he'd hidden it within the  pile of used ones, he gazed at the half-destroyed runes again. His eyes  felt gritty with exhaustion.

It was late — coming on to evening. He suspected the only reason Solt  hadn't called him in was that he was still sleeping off his hangover.  But he would have to start their evening meal soon. Since Corvus didn't  have a cooking skill, it was likely to be hard tack and jerky.

He stared at the horseshoe a moment more, then his eyes caught the still sluggishly bleeding cut on his thumb.

Corvus lit upon an idea. A possibly stupid, vaguely disgusting idea. But if it worked...

"Boy!" Solt bellowed from the estate. "Do you want supper or not?"

He had been wrong. Solt had woken after all. Hastily, Corvus replaced  the shoe and stood, brushing his clothing free of dust. He would think  more about this.

The answer to the riddle of the horseshoe may be in his blood.