The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 706  Limited Power Supply

Karl and Cara both put a bit more energy into the storage for the barriers, as they had done more damage than expected, and the array was likely to suffer for it until the draw was replenished. ”There we go, that should make up for the usage of the room. Now, I suppose that we should send this blade off to be tested for any production issues. Was there anything else we needed to do before repeating the process with different combinations to test for viable alternate effects?” Karl asked.

”Do you have more variations prepared?” Forgemaster Granite asked.

”I have a few. The viability of them hasnʼt been tested. But theoretically, they should work.”

Duke Ambrose frowned as he realized that he had been entirely cut out of the process. He was the head of research and development, but they had sent someone here with a skill that he didnʼt know. Someone who had already prepared designs for the testing phase, which was what Research and Development was supposed to be doing.

But how could they do their jobs when they couldnʼt provide any actual input into his design process?

Karlʼs entire presence here was an insult to his authority within the facility, and a challenge to his position. For years, Ambrose had been here, toiling thanklessly to create new weapons for the Nation. Now, some upstart young Runecrafter just showed up and crushed the performance records of everything that they had produced in the last two years.

What Ambrose couldnʼt know was that in order to make powerful Runes, the creator had to be at an equal level. So, they wouldnʼt be able to mass produce them for distribution at Monarch Rank.

However, what they could do was distribute weapons that could eventually withstand Monarch Rank usage, and then distribute them and let them grow with their users. With the assistance of a Runemaster, the runes would adapt to the power pushed through them if you deliberately overloaded the stage they were at.

So, if the weapon didnʼt explode, it could be improved when the user advanced.

That was a long way off, as they didnʼt have a single other Runemaster yet, as far as Karl could tell. He vaguely recalled that there were supposed to be Acolytes sent by the Blue Dragons. But he hadnʼt seen them yet.

The best thing to do was ask. ”So, when will the Acolytes arrive? The sooner we can get working, the better.” Granite shrugged. ”Theyʼre in security somewhere. They arrived before you, but with ten of them sent at the last minute, none of their passes were ready.”

That was one problem down. But there was something off with the chain of command here. Who was supposed to be arranging for their arrival anyhow?

Karl addressed the group. ”Well, until they come down, we can continue on this project path. Should we start with the most or least likely to succeed?” Forgemaster Granite smirked. ”I say that we start with the least likely. Doing things that you know will work is how we ended up so far behind the power curve to begin with.”

That was clearly a direct jab at Ambrose, the head of Research and Development. But Karl ignored the bickering and motioned for someone to bring him another weapon.

This one was much different than the last one. Not only was the material different, the quality of the workmanship was far inferior.

Karl turned it over in his hands, then sighed and began to plan the Runes.

The Dwarves didnʼt believe in specific effects, they wanted grand concepts in their Runecrafting, to the point that even the language supported working that way.

So, Karl thought for a few minutes and came up with the most absolutely ridiculous compound rune that he could fit on the blade.

In a literal translation, it meant ”A divine sundering blow that splits the earth, shakes the skies and instills fear into the hearts of men, dragons and gods.”

But the supporting runes to shape the concept without breaking the single rune, as well as the addendums for power, an earthquake that would split the earth, and inspiring reverent awe of the wielder added quite a bit to the sigil.

The Dwarf stared at the rune as Karl finished writing the draft, then began to laugh out loud, his whole body shaking with mirth.

”Do you not have any fear of divine retribution? I am not certain I would dare to think that one, much less dare to actually inscribe it on a blade.” Granite laughed.

”Well, I have Limited Invulnerability. At worst, I should only be ninety percent dead. But if the rest of you want to stand outside the room, I totally understand.” Karl joked.

The rest of the group was baffled, as they couldnʼt even attempt to read what Karl had written.

Karl decided to tempt fate, and used [Disintegrate] to carve the runes as he envisioned them on first one side of the blade, then the other.

The runes appeared down the blade, as if drawn by an invisible finger, while Granite held his breath. He was waiting to see if they would be hit with divine wrath for hubris, but when the inscription was carved, nothing had happened.

”Now, to see what happens when we empower it.”

Karl began to add mana to the inscribed blade, and felt the air around him begin to tremble. He had probably overdone it with the runes to enhance the power of the blade, and even when he pushed the power level to Commander, they still werenʼt lighting up. Royal Rank brought a faint purple flicker to them, so Karl pushed it to Monarch Rank. Now they were glowing faintly red, as if beginning to activate.

Then the blade exploded in a shower of blackened shards that rapidly dissolved into ash as the freshly imbued mana dissipated.

”Well, that was unexpected. I guess that blade wasnʼt up to the inscription.” Karl sighed.

Forgemaster Granite cleared his throat, and pointed at the table in front of Karl. There was a black scorch mark on it where the blade used to be, and the protective enchantments were shattered.

”Minor technical difficulty. Do we have someone on hand to fix the tables?”