Chapter 35: The Lineage of Runes

With over ten subordinates and more than twenty slaves, the subordinates had horses while the slaves had carts—Gusby’s group truly had access to vehicles and mounts. But when Nio ordered them to set up camp, the main administrator, Gris, awkwardly told Nio, “Mine owner, we set out lightly; we didn’t prepare to stay overnight when we left.”
Hearing this, Nio snapped in anger, “Why do living people have to do such pointless tasks?”
“Ahem! It’s my fault!” Gris replied, though he felt aggrieved inwardly, thinking, “It’s all because of you who said we didn’t need to bring anything. We should reach Stone Whistle Valley before dark…”
“Enough! I don’t want to hear excuses now—I want solutions. Go talk to those two leaders and see if they can acquire some supplies, at least enough food for people and fodder for horses to get us through the night. Also, find out more about the fissure. Those who arrived first must have sent people to explore up and down it. If we can bypass it, it may be difficult, but we’ll have to risk losing a few carts to cross.”
Gris agreed repeatedly and set off to carry out Nio’s orders. Meanwhile, with Nancy’s guidance, Nio arranged his ten subordinates to take their respective positions for protection. Although Gusby’s short temper and untrustworthy nature made true loyalty unlikely in theory, in reality, besides loyalty, there were other factors binding the black mine owner and his subordinates together—such as interests and complex relationships.
Most of the people around Gusby were not young, and most were well aware of their own limitations. Upon closer inspection, everyone faced difficulties in life. Having followed Gusby for three, five, or seven years, they not only earned good pay but also became accustomed to it. So unless faced with a real crisis, no one would easily give up their livelihood. In short, these people formed various parts of a system, each bearing rights and obligations. In this world, aside from those acting on impulse, those who were deliberately brainwashed, or forced into such situations, no one truly risked their lives for another unless there was a deep bond or events severe enough to shake their souls.
Listening to Nancy’s description of these subordinates who were close to Gusby, Nio couldn’t help but think of his own group. Indeed, the relationship between him and people like Barret was more positive—they supported him and were willing to venture with him. But in return, he had also given a lot, and even so, their relationship still needed real tests—not just in life-and-death situations, but also when all seemed lost—who would stay by each other’s side? Human nature was so complex that Nio couldn’t guarantee anything until they faced real trials. Even putting himself in their shoes, he couldn’t promise to risk everything time and again to pull them out or save them.
From this perspective, finding a few followers wasn’t hard; the real challenge was cultivating true confidants who could shoulder heavy responsibilities. After all, the more capable someone was, the broader their vision and richer their experience, the more schemes they might have. From this angle, the relationship between the black mine owner Gusby and his subordinates might not be entirely contemptible or without merit.

I don’t put in much to begin with, nor do I expect high returns. If there’s a loss, it doesn’t hurt much—no serious damage or pain. Just replace the person, refine them a bit, and things keep running as usual. It truly fits that saying: if you do a job that could cost you your head, you naturally have to endure uncertainty day after day. I’m willing to take the hits. If someone really handles a situation well, then the relationship can be brought closer, with more care and cultivation. I don’t fully trust loyalty; as for experience, it depends on how long they’ve been with me and how many successful tasks they’ve completed. Anyway, adhering to one principle—no matter how branches grow or leaves fall, I remain unshaken.

“Interacting with people is a lifetime of learning!” Neo said, hands behind his back, feeling somewhat moved. Adversities temper people; when roles are reversed, one often views things from that role’s perspective through imitation, leading to certain outcomes. Whether right or wrong, it’s still a factor. And when these factors accumulate sufficiently, what one considers truth may become clear.

Thinking about relationships between people, Neo couldn’t help but consider his relationship with Milien. Applying the same formula, some conclusions seemed less favorable. Of course, Neo wouldn’t give up altogether or worry needlessly and create problems for himself, but he couldn’t deny that some possibilities or assumptions he’d never considered before might indeed exist. It was like before, when he only thought of comedic endings—just varying degrees of happiness—but now he understood there were not only comedies or tragedies, but also outcomes like unresolved situations, love turning to hate, or peaceful separations.

Gazing eastward, Neo’s thoughts seemed to fly far away as well. Longing and concern often came with memories of the good old days, stirring a deep desire—almost like the craving for food after three days without eating, hard to suppress yet inevitable.

Gris rushed back in a hurry.

“Miner, we’ve sorted out the supplies. A trading party is willing to sell us food at a fair price, enough for today and tomorrow. They also have some extra tents and blankets. If we huddle together at night, it should suffice.”

“Hmm, good work. How much gold and silver do we need?”

“About 22 gold coins.”

Neo nodded, reached into his pouch, and took out a money bag. After two pulls, he handed over 25 gold coins. Grisby relied on his experience handling countless amounts of money, while Neo needed a kind of tactile sense to be this accurate. “Take the extra as a reward for you.”

“Thank you, Miner, for your reward.” Gris smiled, this time with genuine sincerity. Grisby usually gave rewards too, but mostly as change—three gold coins was already considered a top reward for trivial matters. More importantly, for extra expenses, Grisby usually only showed resentment, not rewards. This time, since it was classified as an extra expense, his reward meant the task had truly pleased him.

Nio then asked about the fissure again, and the news was bad—the fissure stretched at least ten kilometers on either side of the road, leaving no path at all. The sun was beginning to set, temperatures were dropping, and the remaining snow would freeze again. Not to mention cars, even horses and people might have trouble moving, easily slipping from the ridges into the valleys. As for valleys, there were valleys, but not necessarily paths. It was difficult to navigate within them, and there weren’t many ups and downs to help travelers. Even for those with strong legs, making this simple detour would likely take half a day.

Nio couldn’t think of any good solution, so he had Gries use money to handle the matter. Before leaving, he instructed, “Tell them that the fissure is filled with dark energy—it’s not a safe place. If they plan to camp there, it’s best to stay far away. Be polite in your words; don’t worry about whether they listen or not.”

“Okay, mine owner.” Gries wasn’t surprised. Gusby often boasted that he had been guided by some important figure and possessed magical abilities, but it was just nonsense to boost his own status. Everyone knew this and tolerated his harmless quirks. With this fissure, anyone could see it wasn’t very promising, so Gries didn’t mind playing along.

Gries went to handle the matter, while Nio returned to the car, opened the cabinet by the bed, and took out a red velvet bundle. Unwrapping it revealed a wooden box. A “sealing box” was one with certain energy-sealing capabilities, used to store magical items.

When the wooden box was opened, a burst of black light faded, revealing a three-finger-thick book inside. Its cover was pure black, resembling both wood and stone, with a metallic sheen. A ram’s pattern was embossed on the front, and it was locked with a clasp on the side. It seemed quite old.

“Trash. I told you—what kind of advanced dark magic book could a mere black mine owner get?”

It turned out that Nancy had searched through Gusby’s memories and found this information: While mining, Gusby had obtained some relics in a secret chamber of a dwarf ruin. Part of these relics became the source of that challenger’s Silver Combat Ability. Nio had found a foldable metal plate among the challenger’s belongings. After Nancy analyzed it, they realized that the challenger’s Silver Combat Ability was nothing ordinary—it was a combat ability practiced by members of the Mithril Alliance, formed during the conflict between dwarves, elves, and humans.

Nio also had some knowledge of history from those times. He knew that in an era of frequent wars, “military combat abilities” were a common form of training, and Silver Combat Ability was likely one of them. Humans tailored their training to different attributes, reflecting their overwhelming collective strength—no longer just a bunch of hastily trained cannon fodder.

Of course, this didn’t mean “military combat abilities” were useless; it was just that practicing them could obscure true talent. For now, Nio wasn’t interested in developing such a flashy combat ability, which might make some people think the Mithril Alliance intended to restore itself and take control of the Aemera continent again. His focus was on Gusby’s memories of other relics: mysterious magical items…

It turned out that what Gusby had treasured was such trash. Neo understood that in the eyes of ordinary people, anything related to magical energy was likely to be exaggerated far beyond its true nature. Still, the feeling of failing to find treasure left him somewhat disappointed.
“Fighting to the death in a secret chamber with someone who practices military combat magic—such a guy can’t possibly be some big shot.”
Neo also smiled. “If it were truly a powerful magical item, Gusby wouldn’t have been able to keep it for so long without it being damaged.” He pressed his hand on the ram’s head of the dark magic book. The negative energy was naturally drawn to the life force represented by Neo’s flesh, gathering eagerly before being fully absorbed by him. With the energy lost, click! The latch on the side opened.
The book was real, containing some dark spells, but most of its pages were blank, with neither text nor patterns. In fact, once its energy was lost, it was considered useless. Even if it fell into the hands of a dark caster, it wouldn’t be much easier to recreate a new artifact. Still, if ordinary people tried to decipher its text and patterns, they risked having their souls corrupted. After all, power wasn’t just about energy itself—just as the words of light could calm the mind and strengthen will, the words of darkness also had their own extraordinary effects.
“Huh, this content is actually quite interesting.”
Hearing Nancy say this, Neo, who was examining the material of the dark magic book, paused slightly and asked, “How so?”
“It’s a relic of a dark curse mage. Aside from the dark curses, there are six dark runes.”
Neo immediately understood. “Are they like the elemental monuments?”
“Mm-hm. I compared them with the light runes—they seem to be primary runes, which could give you one more method at your disposal.”
As for the exact number of light runes, perhaps only those in the Holy Light Church, who had lived for countless years, knew. But the 12 most common primary runes were widely known, used in artifacts and buildings as symbols of driving away darkness and evil. In reality, for any rune to truly exert its power, it needed corresponding energy infused into it, not just being written or carved. For example, the first ‘El’ that Neo obtained had power attributes infused within it.
Those who practiced rune magic usually started well, but at higher levels, they inevitably had to specialize, focusing on a series of runes that matched their own elemental strengths. Yet there were monsters like Neo—who not only absorbed other energies but also had Nancy help him organize and store them. This meant there were no limits to the runes he could use; he was essentially an energy converter, capable of wielding most runes except those related to holy light. At least for now, and for a long time to come, it was best for him to stay away from anything connected to holy light.
Primary runes reflected the main characteristics of power. Among them, light and darkness had evolved into a wide array due to their uniqueness, inclusiveness, and thousands of years of intense competition. The six runes Neo obtained from the dark magic book were darkness, fear, destruction, silence, distortion, and collapse.

The rune itself does not possess offensive characteristics; it merely increases or enhances a certain effect. Take darkness, for example—its basic application is called “Merging into Darkness,” which, as the name suggests, grants the user some night vision and the ability to hide in darkness. Of course, this is just a visual deception; one can still be detected through sound, smell, and so on. The lower-level spell “Dark Veil” has a similar effect. In contrast, the light from the holy runes—its basic application “Eye of Light” or the spell “See Through Darkness”—are the perfect counter to such runes, though they also expose the user, with their eyes shining like crystal lamps, making it hard not to be noticed.

“Too bad I don’t have any material suitable for containing dark energy at hand.”

Nancy reminded him, “There’s something ready-made—the black lambskin paper from the Dark Magic Book.”

“Uh…” Neo thought about it and found it amusing. He never imagined he would one day become a spellcaster who tore books to use as materials. “Alright, I, Gusby, am also a remarkable person with my own tricks in critical moments.” Smiling, Neo tore off the first few pages of the Dark Magic Book and threw them away. The dark runes were derived from the spells in those pages, but there was no need to learn the spells themselves. These spells weren’t purely dark—they carried an addictive quality, a deadly temptation in themselves.

After Gris arranged for the food, Neo ordered the caravan to turn around and head back. After traveling about a kilometer, Neo stopped them. He had discovered a rare terrain: a curved ridge leading to a flat, isolated area surrounded on three sides by cliffs, covering over a thousand square meters, like a sandbar of a long bridge suspended over a river. Although staying there posed the risk of being trapped, ordinary monsters could only attack from one direction, and even advanced monsters wouldn’t make much of a difference in such a confined space.

The main problem on the ridge was the lack of a sheltered spot from the wind. But since it was still some time before dark, they had time to set things up properly. Instead of setting up tents, Neo had some trees cut down from nearby valleys and nailed them into the ground to form a enclosure around the tent covers. They also scraped ice and burned stones to dry the ground, burying hot stones beneath it. With thin blankets, they could get through the night.

“Gris, remember to show gratitude. If we had a different master, the slaves wouldn’t be treated so well,” Neo instructed, raising his head with a smirk.

“Yes, yes, Master Miner, you’re truly merciful,” Gris said, though inwardly he thought, “Those slaves are happy, but the workers are grumbling. Who are you trying to please here?”

As if knowing what Gris was thinking, Neo took out his money bag and handed him a dozen gold coins. “Give this to the workers. There’s no wine to warm them up, but they can’t be short of money for wine. Feed the pigs well—treat those slaves kindly so they’ll work harder to make more money for us. It’s all for the sake of the gold coins.”

Gris was stunned for a moment before gratefully thanking him repeatedly. After going down and talking to the workers, they all worked much harder. Some even said privately, “It’s not bad having a strong master—at least it makes us feel closer to each other…”

Nio was naturally relaxed. The carriage stopped right in front of the camp, its wheels locked. He climbed onto the roof via the side ladder and sat down on the bundled luggage, taking in the surroundings. The Hilfanis Valley was full of ravines; under the slanting sunlight, the ice, snow, and rocks glowed brightly and endlessly, evoking a sense of vastness. It had its own unique charm, different from the lush pines and beautiful peaks.

“Ah…” Nio suddenly stood up, spread his arms, and let out a long, continuous howl.

One of the thugs glanced at Nio and said to his companion, “Why does the mine owner’s howl sound like a wolf’s?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get to work. The mine owner’s been stressed these past few days—be careful.”

Nio howled again as if no one else was around, took in a deep breath of cool air, and felt considerably better. Just as he was about to get off the carriage, he saw carriages moving along the road from east to west—clearly heading this way.

“It seems we’ve got company.”

Indeed, this caravan wanted to join Nio’s group and spend the night there. Not long ago, Gris had bought supplies from them.

Nio was indifferent about it. But when they met, he was surprised to find that the caravan’s leader was an acquaintance: Baron Angus Bode of the Erdrit Territory, along with his daughter, Kara Bode.

“Strange! Extremely strange!” That was all Nio could think as he saw the father and daughter here. Kara’s sister was the wife of the young Duke of Ensbas. Thanks to this relationship, Angus and Kara should have been among the first to be rescued from the Erdrit Territory. Even if one ignored that connection, logically, they should have arrived in larger places like Asia or Phoenix City by now, or at least in towns like Shelter Valley. Why would they appear here at such a time?

Nio also noticed that none of the familiar faces from his time fighting in the North Laurel Forest in Tures were there—no knight Adrian, no squire Lance or Anqiro, no sergeant York. Everyone was a stranger. Moreover, out of the over 40 people in the caravan, half were wild wolves. Even though these wolves were dressed as ordinary guards, their military bearing couldn’t hide from Nio’s keen eyes.

Nio didn’t know much about the situation in the later stages of the disaster centered around Solis City. He only heard that Solis had been conquered by foreign invaders, and those who stayed behind either died in battle or became food for the invaders. The West Wind Warband had suffered heavy losses, with less than one in ten surviving. If that were true, there should be fewer than 500 survivors of the West Wind Warband. It was unclear how two whole groups ended up here. But with so much on his own plate and the Bodes clearly trying to stay low-key and hide their identities, Nio decided not to get involved. After all, he had saved Kara’s life in Solis, and in return, Angus had had Adrian help him once. They were even, so Nio felt at ease.

The Bodes’ group seemed much busier and lively. Following orders from their leaders, the wild wolves also built leather-walled enclosures, eventually connecting with Nio’s group and surrounding the entire area. This not only protected them from the wind and stray light but also served as a barrier.

As dusk fell, both teams instinctively avoided lighting large bonfires and instead used camp stoves to boil water and cook meals. They also noticed that each other had covered the heads of their horses with masks while feeding them bean cakes, further demonstrating their mutual understanding. Animals are naturally alert and can sometimes sense danger in advance. In open areas with warhorses, there’s no need for extra precautions. But here, with limited space and mostly inferior horses, if things went wrong and they panicked, not only might they fall off cliffs or trample each other, but the people in the camp would also suffer greatly. That’s when the masks proved useful.

After this incident, Bode sent someone to invite Neo over for dinner. Of course, eating was secondary; the main reason was that Bode, based on Neo’s performance, felt he could be a valuable asset, hence the invitation. Neo understood the intention and didn’t hesitate, simply following along to eat and drink.

Inside the tent, a long table was set up temporarily, with fine food and drinks. Besides Bode and his daughter, there was also a werewolf. Neo estimated his strength to be around level 8. More than three months ago, such a powerful opponent would have made him look up to him, but now his mindset had changed. Neo remained calm and composed, unbothered even by the werewolf’s unconsciously imposing aura. They talked while eating, mainly about the current situation.

“I’m a miner, specializing in gray ores. I accidentally discovered a secret chamber in an dwarf ruin, thinking there might be treasures inside. Instead, it was corrupted by the power of a dark magic book. Since then, I’ve become more sensitive to dark forces. That fissure emits a similar aura. It’s hard to say what might emerge or what monsters might gather there, so it’s best to stay far away…”

Neo’s half-truths successfully won Bode’s trust. In fact, Bode already knew something about the Black Miner Gusby, as some of his men had stayed in the Moroloro Mountain camp for a long time. When Gusby went to buy slaves, Bode’s men, out of caution, had prepared a somewhat detailed report. Moreover, Bode possessed a holy artifact, allowing him to know Neo’s power attributes from the start. Neo neither hid Gusby’s identity nor concealed his own powers, openly revealing these two key points, which made Bode feel at ease.

However, given the importance of his mission, he didn’t want to get entangled with anyone along the way. He had two reasons for seeking Neo out: if this man was suspicious, he would have to eliminate him to avoid mistakes. Bode also had capable people who recognized that the fissure was unusual. Now that suspicion had largely been ruled out and Neo seemed sensible, asking only about the present rather than the past, it was time to discuss cooperation.

“No problem. When traveling, it’s only right to help each other…” Neo agreed readily. He had six fighters at level 5 or above, with the remaining five mostly at the sergeant level. On Bode’s side, even among the West Wind Werewolves, more than half were at level 5 or above, with the rest around level 4. Together, they could secure a road with high safety, so he had no reason to refuse.

As they were eating and chatting, the curtain was lifted and a werewolf stepped in. Though he seemed relatively calm, Nio could tell from his demeanor that something was wrong!