After mastering the Defense Primordial Rune, Edward focused on the second artifact that made clones. However, this rune was harder to master as it involved multiple runes fused into one.
As such, he had to break them down and study them individually. So, Edward created a Shadow Clone to spear this endeavor while he focused on something else: updating his Arcane Runes.
The first step Edward took was turning these runes into living runes. He followed the formula he used for the Primordial Runes, modifying it to fit his own rune.
Things proceeded smoothly as he created his first [Living Arcane Rune].
"What do you think?" asked Edward.
"Just like Primordial Runes, they are inherently more potent but not very effective for battle–unless you stored them beforehand."
Edward agreed. [Living Runes] take too much time to engrave. Furthermore, creating one takes a tremendous amount of soul power and Willpower. Such consummation is not ideal for battle.
So, the best use of them is for Artificer or storing them beforehand and using them similar to a magic scroll.
"You're correct, but the usage of energy has reached a new height." The consciousness of the rune has a natural instinct not to waste any energy. So, with this [Living Rune[, the empire's energy usage reached a new height.
Edward activated the Arcane Rune Spell, a basic Fireball Spell. However, he felt like two people were casting the same spell with the Living Runes. The rune ensured Edward did not waste any mana during the casting process while borrowing the mana in the environment and boosting the spell like an Arcane Sorcerer.
"How are the calculations for the 3-D spell going?"
"It's still 10% completed," replied Morgana.
Arcanists can cast Ultra Spells using 3-D Runes. However, most 3-D Runes are used for magical artifacts. Regardless, Edward wanted to know how powerful Ultra Spells would become after turning into [Living Runes].'
And it was not just them. Edward can use Law Spells, which are even more powerful. So, he wanted to know what would happen after Law Spells used [Living Runes]. What about Law Spells that used Living 3-D Runes?
All these researches are the tip of the iceberg of his future research. So far, he has only recreated one major aspect of Primordial Runes.
"Remind me to upgrade my Grimoire."
Edward still had the Grimoire from Black Clover. After returning home, the Grimoire did not have much effect on him, so he decided to use it as a powerful magic scroll book.
He will store countless terrifying spells that require long casting time and have weird requirements. So he can summon the book and cast these spells when needed. Now, with the study of Primordial Runes, the Grimoire will have more potential.
"No problem."
Edward focused on the other aspects of Primordial Runes and recreating them. He did not take much effort to make his Arcane Rune resonate with a [Authority] nor borrow Cronai's Will.
However, he hit a barrier when trying to recreate Primordial Runes's ability to access the World Source. The closest he came to was creating a very complex Energy Converter, allowing his Arcane Rune to also use countless energy to activate.
However, he knew this was a pale comparison.
"As long as the Empire discovers a new energy, we can immediately create an energy converter by studying how it reacts to a Primordial Rune. However, their ability to access the World Source should not be so simple."
"Why don't you try to use Willpower to force access to the World Source?" suggested Morgana. Since such a rude method worked for [Authority], it might work for World Source.
"Let's try."
Edward mobilized his Willpower and created another rune.
"It failed," replied Edward. "The resistance was a hundred times more than normal. It's like Cronai would fight me to her last breath if I tried."
"In that case, you might have to raise your Willpower to 10 if you want to have a chance of succeeding," explained Morgana.
"True, but even then, it might be a simple process."
Morgana nodded, "So, what do we do now? Do you have any ideas?"
"No. It seems Primordial Runes have a special identity, and their status as the primary and best magical language cannot be changed. So, our goal now should be to master more of them until we can dethrone them."
"It would be best if we had an encyclopedia of Primordial Runes," commented Morgana.
"That's not a bad idea."
Edward accessed the Akashic Record and searched for such a thing. However, after seeing the price, he closed it without hesitation. He guessed even if he sold most of the Empire's current knowledge, he might not be able to buy it.
'Primordial Runes are so valuable?' Edward sighed, "The Magus Race should have created an encyclopedia. Let's see if we can find it. In the meanwhile, let's turn the recorded runes we have into true Primordial Runes.'
The rune recorded in the Awakened Individual of the Empire can only be said to be the lowest level of Primordial Rune imitation. What Edward has to do is turn them into the genuine them, allowing the Empire to master more Primordial Runes.
"What is Orochimaru doing?" suddenly asked Edward.
"He's doing his own research on the fusion of the flesh and the soul."
"That's interesting. Tell him to participate in the Chakra Research. Now that we know Chakra has greater potential, we should place more emphasis on it."
"As you wish," said Morgana before sending a message. A few seconds later, she said, "He refused. According to him, he's already too busy."
"Tell him if should listen to the man who controls his funding."
"...He agreed, begrudgingly."
"As long as he listens," nodded Edward. "Send a copy of the information to Tsuna to see if she's interested in continuing studying Chakra."
After giving these orders, Edward continued his research on Primordial Runes and updated his Arcane Rune.
He has subdivided his Arcane Rune into different categories, classes, or types. First, there are common runes, which can be simple or complex, followed by 3-D runes used in Ultra Spell.
Then, there are Sub-Law Runes used by incorporating Advanced Dragon Language; these runes can resonate with [Authority]. He plans to use them to allow Arcanist to use the next class of runes: Law Runes.
As the name implied, these runes were created and modified to allow him to cast spells with his mastered Rules.
Another category is Will Runes, which can borrow the Universe Will's power; these runes paired great with his Will Coating Technique he created based on One Piece's Haki System.
Finally, there is Paragon Runes, which are a combination of everything else. Paragon Runes are the new class of rune he created that matched Primordial Runes.
While deep in his work, time passes. Edward looked at a design of Netheril before him.
After mastering many Primordial Runes and creating countless Paragon Runes, Edward chose to update the floating city. Moreover, this update is major, as he was trying to elevate it to Tier 11.
His plan was simple: use Primordial and Paragon Runes as the core of the city, turning it into a living creature. With the Living Runes as the core, he could link the consciousness of all the runes, turning the entire city into a living creature.
As a creature with a soul and consciousness, turn Netheril into a Tier 11 Entity. Sadly, his plan faced a major flaw–he did not yet create the method of becoming Tier 11.
So, even if Netheril became a living thing capable of training and growing like an Arcanist, it made no difference.
"Regardless, the new update will greatly improve the floating city.'
If Netheril were on par with a Tier 10 God who controlled a dozen planes, after the update, he would be on par with the ones who controlled hundreds of planes.
'Furthermore, I can use Netheril to test out any Tier 11 method I create.'
"Master, it's time to go."