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Andrian knew that not all elves had the same level of strength as the one he fought. There might be some of them who were much stronger.
Therefore, he had to prepare himself and remain vigilant if he ever faced a similar situation with a stronger enemy.
Chapter Start
After considering a few things, Andrian decided to upgrade his Observation Skill. He knew that heightened awareness would be extremely useful, especially for detecting enemies or individuals from a distance.
"System, upgrade the passive Observation skill using 2 Upgrade Points."
[DING!
Passive Observation Skill upgraded 2x
Upgrade Points: (5 - 2 = 3)
Passive Observation Skill successfully upgraded.
Skill: Observation - Advanced (Passive)
Description: Capable of detecting anything within a 5-kilometer radius, including living beings, inanimate objects, emotions, presence, and souls.]
Andrian nodded in satisfaction after seeing his Passive Observation Skill upgraded to the Advanced level. His detection ability had significantly increased. The skill description indicated that this passive skill could detect anything within a 5-kilometer radius, including presence, souls, emotions, living beings, and inanimate objects.
"With this ability, I can be more vigilant against approaching threats," Andrian thought, feeling more at ease with his enhanced capability.
Andrian continued his journey back to his base, carrying the unconscious elf woman. In his mind, he kept analyzing the previous battle and thinking about ways to face stronger enemies in the future. With his newly upgraded skill, he felt more prepared to tackle the challenges ahead.
After some time, he finally arrived at his base and placed the elf woman in a room where he could interrogate her later to gather more information about her purpose and reason for spying on him.
But before that, Andrian decided to inscribe a few Runes on the elf woman's body to prevent her from escaping once she regained consciousness.
There were several Runes he could use to ensure she wouldn't do anything undesirable after waking up.
First, he would inscribe a Rune with a Paralyze effect. The Paralyze Rune was a powerful magical rune often used to incapacitate enemies or dangerous creatures without causing physical harm.
To create this Rune, he first had to craft the Rune Symbols. It's important to note that not just any symbol could be used in a Rune. The symbol had to have a specific meaning or representation of the power or effect it would produce.
In this case, Andrian used two different symbols: the symbol of lightning/electricity and the symbol of nerves, which represented the power to halt movement.
After crafting these two symbols, he added bright blue and purple colors to indicate the energy related to nerve control and movement.
Next, he would create an Activation Mantra using an ancient language to activate this Rune. Andrian wrote an ancient word that read, "Per vim ligandi immobilitatis, motus cesset. Rune Paralysis, excita!" Or in English, "By the binding force of stillness, let movement cease. Rune of Paralysis, activate!"
After this, the Paralyze Rune was ready to be placed on the elf woman's body temporarily and could be removed at any time.
When activated, this Rune would emit energy that affects the target's nervous system, causing temporary paralysis. The target would be unable to move or respond physically, although they might still be conscious. The duration of the paralyze effect depends on the target's resistance. Typically, this effect lasts from a few seconds to several minutes.
The mana required to use this Rune was also very minimal, allowing for repeated use.
Next, he would create a Rune to disrupt the flow of mana within the target's body.
Just like the previous Rune creation, Andrian would first craft a symbol. This Rune symbol was circular with intricate lines representing the disruption or blockage of energy flow, with the main symbol being a broken line or swirl indicating mana severance.
The color of this Rune was dark red or black, indicating its power to block or absorb mana.
After crafting the Rune symbol, he would give it an Activation Mantra to be spoken when he wanted to activate the Rune.
He wrote in the ancient language, "Per vim immobilitatis, fluxum magiae interrumpe. Rune Mana Disruption, excita!" Or in English, "By the force of stillness, sever the flow of magic. Rune of Mana Disruption, activate!"
When activated, this Rune would emit energy disrupting the mana flow around the target, preventing them from accessing or using mana for a certain period.
The duration of this Rune's effect depends on the target's resistance and the amount of mana the user has. The more mana the user possesses, the longer the Rune's effect lasts.
This Rune's limitation is that it cannot cause physical harm and may be less effective against targets with high magic or mental resistance.
Finally, he would create a Rune with an illusion effect.
Since he hadn't yet created a spell with an illusion effect and it would take considerable time to develop one, he opted to create a Rune with an illusion effect instead.
First, Andrian crafted a symbol in the shape of a circle with complex patterns representing creativity and mind manipulation, with the main symbol being an eye and a swirl symbolizing the power to create illusions from imagination. This Rune was colored purple and dark blue, depicting the energy related to illusion and mind manipulation.
He then created an Activation Mantra using the ancient language that read, "Per potentiam mentis, realitatem voluntate mea fingi. Rune Illusionis Imaginationis, excita!" Or in English, "By the power of the mind, let reality be shaped by my will. Rune of Imagination Illusion, activate!"
This Rune would allow him to create illusions fully controlled by his imagination. These illusions could be visual, auditory, or even tactile, depending on his power and focus.
The duration of the illusion effect could vary depending on the strength of the Rune and Andrian's focus. Typically, this effect would last from a few minutes to several hours.
The amount of mana required to activate this Rune was also very minimal, allowing for repeated use.
The limitation of this Rune is that the illusion has no physical substance and can be dispelled by someone with sufficient knowledge or awareness of the illusion's nature. Additionally, the illusion might be less effective against targets with high resistance to mental manipulation. Therefore, while using this Rune, he must maintain a high level of focus to ensure the illusion does not dissipate or be nullified by the target.
With this Rune, he could create an illusion from his imagination and control it according to his will. The reason for creating this Rune was that he did not want to use physical interrogation techniques, which were unnecessary at this point. Therefore, he preferred to use this method to create an illusion for the elf woman to extract the information he needed from her.
After completing these three Runes, he began placing them on the elf woman's body one by one before she woke up and realized that Andrian was doing something to her. He would activate these Runes if the situation called for it.
After finishing placing the three Runes on the elf woman's body, Andrian waited for her to regain consciousness.
"Alright, I've finished setting up all the Runes on this elf. Now, I'll wait for her to wake up and interrogate her to gather information and understand her purpose for spying on me," Andrian thought.
As he waited, he contemplated the types of information he wanted to extract during the interrogation.
[DING!
Notification: Host, I apologize for interrupting your thoughts, but now is the perfect time to inform you of something important.
I suggest that in the future, if you want to communicate with the system, it's better to do so within your mind. I can read your thoughts, and speaking directly to me when others are around could lead to undesirable consequences.]
Andrian was slightly startled by the system's words. He realized that he had always spoken directly to the system using his voice, not considering whether others might overhear the conversation.
Reflecting on this, he felt a bit foolish, as someone hearing him talk to the system might think he was crazy, or worse, his secret about having a system that helped him grow stronger rapidly could be exposed.
"Thank you, System, for notifying and warning me about this," Andrian thought to the system.
[You're welcome, host. It's my duty to always guard, nurture, and assist you whenever and wherever.] The system replied gently.
Andrian smiled and nodded. From now on, he would be more cautious when interacting with his system, using his mind for communication whenever others were around.
After waiting for a long time, the elf who had been unconscious slowly began to wake up.
Seeing this, Andrian straightened up and prepared to handle the situation calmly. He would extract information from this elf and reveal her purpose.
"Ugh... my head hurts so much..." grumbled the elf woman, holding her head in pain due to being knocked out by Andrian during their fight earlier.
"Oh, finally you're awake," Andrian said.
He sat in front of the elf, who was lying in his room, with a calm tone and a relaxed expression.
The elf was still holding her head, feeling dizzy and in pain. She didn't quite hear what Andrian said and looked around.
"Where am I... right now..." she asked weakly, glancing around to check her surroundings.
Andrian replied, "You are currently in my place. I brought you here to get answers from you about what your purpose is and why you were watching or spying on me earlier."