Hearing the alarm go off on his phone, Yasuo immediately jumps out of his bed. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep, but he was energized thinking about obtaining another random rune.
After half-heartedly taking a shower and getting dressed, Yasuo clicks on the much awaited button, [Yes].
A familiar sight appeared before Yasuo, a hologram spinning three different slots like a roulette. Seeing this made Yasuo excited again just like the first time he saw it.
'What types of runes will I get this time?' Yasuo thought full of anticipation.
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~You may choose one of the three runes to obtain~
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1. [Water shot rune]
Description: Using mana, a small amount of water can be shot.
Rank: Common
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2. [Ice spear rune]
Description: Using mana, an ice spear can be shot.
Rank: Rare
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3. [Fire-arrow rune]
Description: Using mana, a fire-arrow can be shot.
Rank: Rare
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Unlike last time, the rune choices were now all pretty similar to each other. Every rune option was a type of magic attack.
'Well, that makes the choice easier.'
Not having to think about anything complicated, Yasuo could now comfortably choose which type of 'magic spell' would fit him best.
Immediately the first option [Water shot rune] was taken out of the equation as it sounded weak and only had a common rank.
In comparison to option one, option two [Ice spear rune] and option three [Fire-arrow rune] sounded much more powerful and both had a rare rank.
Yasuo thought about which one would be better for him, but he didn't really have a preference between the two runes.
Not really knowing what they were exactly, Yasuo did what anyone in this day and age would do in this situation, look for an answer online.
Yasuo found some information about both of the types of magic and even found some videos about them. Seeing this confirmed Yasuo's thoughts. The two types of spells were very similar to each other, with only small noticeable differences.
'The ice spear has a little higher piercing ability than the fire-arrow and can actually be physically touched. However, the fire-arrow can inflict a burning effect and its attack is a little bit wider than the ice spear.'
Knowing this didn't really help with the decision as the runes were still very similar, the only difference is that, depending on the situation, one would be better than the other.
'Thinking about this longer won't help me get anywhere. I have read that ice type magic is more rare than fire type magic, so I will choose option two [Ice spear rune].'
Having clicked on the rune, there was no going back. Just like the first time, the appearance of the rune was instantly made visible.
Seeing this rune left Yasuo in awe. The rune had a delicate but intricate design that evoked the crystalline structures of ice and snow. Made from a series of interlocking geometric shapes, which looked like sharp frozen spikes, arranged in a repeating patter that created an overall sense of harmony.
A relatively simple, but beautiful rune. Caught in the moment Yasuo put his left hand on the table and started drawing the rune. The sharp geometrical shapes allowed for bold brush strokes, which revolved around a centre point.
With every stroke the lines became sharper and more clear, soon sixteen frozen spikes were drawn in a circular pattern, creating the image of a snowflake.
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Rune: [Active: Ice spear rune]
Description: Using mana, an ice spear can be shot.
Rank: Rare
Grade: Good
Mana cost: 25
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In his first attempt Yasuo succeeded in creating a 'good' grade rune, which he was satisfied about.
Being happy about his new rune, Yasuo wanted to test it out immediately. But because he had woken up so early, the awakener gym was still closed so he couldn't test it out there yet.
With a few hours before the gym opened, Yasuo started redrawing his [ice spear rune] and [mana barrier rune] to pass the time and in hopes of them getting a higher grade than good.
Now knowing that the placement of runes is important, Yasuo had already thought about where would be the best place to draw the ice spear. He thought the best place was on the back of his hand, which is the reason why he drew it there.
Unfortunately for him, the [ice spear rune] didn't get a grade higher than 'good'. Yasuo also didn't have any luck in improving the grade of his [mana barrier rune] no matter where he drew the rune.
But he still had one place he hadn't tried yet. This place was the first that came to mind when he thought of a barrier, but sadly he couldn't draw the rune there. The placement he thought was the most suitable was his back, which he couldn't properly reach himself.
Yasuo was thinking about possible solutions for this, but he couldn't come up with any suitable ones.
Thinking about this made the time fly by, and it had already become nice o'clock, which meant that the gym was finally open.
Rushing towards the gym, Yasuo quickly greets Greg at the entrance and goes straight to the personal training room from Yoona, which he was still using.
Going in the room, Yasuo locks the door and sets up a training dummy at the back of the room.
Not being able to wait anymore, Yasuo quickly took a few steps back and put his left hand forward. Concentrating on his hand, the ice spear rune became visible.
Never having done any sort of magic attack, Yasuo didn't know what to expect or how it would work, so he just went for it.
"[Ice spear]!"
As soon as Yasuo said that, ice started forming on the left side of his hand. It only took a few seconds for the ice spear to fully form.
The ice spear having fully formed, it suddenly shot out without Yasuo giving any commands, but it shot backwards.
*Bang*
Looking backwards, Yasuo saw the ice spear stuck in the wall.
'What?' Thought Yasuo as he was confused.
Yasuo didn't know how this even happened, but from the sight of the spear in the wall he recalled something.
After first swinging his dagger in his room, he created a hole in the wall just like he did now.
"Who is being so noisy?!"
Like a sense of Déjà vu, the neighbouring training room had heard this. But unlike last time, Yasuo was prepared.
"Oh, it was nothing. Just continue like normal." He said, not wanting anyone to storm into his room like Yoona noona did that time.
With the ice spear still in the wall, Yasuo tries to pull it out as quietly as possible, which went easier than Yasuo had expected as the ice spear had already melted a little bit.
Having avoided a dangerous situation, Yasuo starts thinking as to why the ice spear flew backwards.
After a few minutes of thinking about this, Yasuo was still stumped. Not being able to figure it out, Yasuo started recreating what happened.
Just like before, Yasuo stands in the middle of the room facing the training dummy and puts his left hand up. He was now in the exact same position.
Something immediately stood out to Yasuo when he was in this position. The rune, being on the back of his hand, was facing himself.
'Because the rune is facing me, the ice spear will also shoot in this direction? So if I want to shoot it forward I have to draw the rune on the palm of my hand?'
Everything sounded so logical all of a sudden. In the realisation of the moment, Yasuo rushes home and draws the ice spear rune again, this time on the palm of his hand.
With the rune finished, it started shining brightly.
~Excellent grade~
'Yes! That must mean that this is the perfect placement of the rune.'
Being sure of the placement, Yasuo was confident that the ice spear attack would work this time.
Grabbing his phone, Yasuo immediately reserved an F-rank portal to test his new rune out.
Luckily he could find a nearby portal and within a few minutes, Yasuo had already entered it.
Not being afraid of goblins anymore, Yasuo gives up his stealthy approach and starts running to find goblins as soon as possible.
Because of his careless approach, he quickly finds a goblin, who had also spotted Yasuo.
The goblin was standing alone in an open patch of grass, and its legs seemed to shake.
'That must be the effect of my title [Goblin slaughterer], which makes goblins instinctively fear me.'
The goblins stood frozen in fear, 'The perfect target!'. Yasuo put his left hand up with the rune facing the goblin and activated "[Ice spear].
The ice spear started to form, and within a few seconds it was complete. Just like last time, it shot out immediately, this time moving forward hitting the goblin and piercing it through its lower region.
'Yes! It even pierced the goblin! My aiming has to improve though…'
Yasuo was excited about this. Looking at his mana, he still had plenty left as the skill now only costs 20 mana instead of 25 mana after having upgraded the grade of the rune.
Having cleared so many F-rank portals at this point, Yasuo viewed it as his own personal playground. Running around like a kid, Yasuo fought all goblins he came across and used the ice spear as much as he could.
At one point he even stopped using his dagger, only using the ice spear spell to shoot at goblins and actually physically holding the ice spear and using it as a melee weapon.
Unfortunately for the goblins, this actually worked and Yasuo had successfully cleared the portal.
'Haha, that was fun. I now not only have a melee weapon, but also a long ranged attack, which will increase my combat strength by a lot.'
Almost having forgotten the joy and thrill he got from clearing portals because of only focusing on reaching his sub-goals all day, Yasuo changed his schedule.
'Besides training towards the sub-goals I set, I will also clear a minimum of one portal every day.'