Damian was taken aback by the sheer number of options available before him. He hadn't expected to be qualified for the Esper class—an opportunity that was granted to only a few select individuals. However, the ability one ends up getting was totally random, which deterred most people from choosing it. Then there was Spellsword, which was what his new family most likely expected him to become, and then there was Mage and The Rune Shaper.
First, he explored the Mage path to see what kind of jobs he would be offered. There were many beginner roles—Water Mage, Space-Time Mage (which aligned with his affinity) and Rune Mage, a type of mage who fought with the help of runic tools. There were also basic options like Elemental Mage, Scholar Mage, and many more. The Space-Time Mage was particularly rare due to the strange nature of the space-time element with which to have an affinity. Rune mage was also considered a good choice. They were pretty decent jobs, but none were something that would be called prestigious. So, Damian returned to the class selection screen.
Choosing Spellsword would mean wasting all his intelligence and time he had spent on runic research. Plus, he wasn't keen on more sword training, so he dismissed it. The deciding factor, however, was his passion for research. Even if he became a Spellsword, he would never stop studying runes, so he figured that it was better to choose a path that aligned with his interests.
One by one Damian checked all the available class jobs but nothing caught his eyes.
So at last, Damian opened the Rune Shaper options. There were all kinds of crafting classes: Beginner Runesmith, Enchanter, Researcher and even an Expert Scholar, which was a second-tier job. It was indeed a significant feat if it was offered in his first rank-up job. However, after scrolling through the whole list, which showed low quality pixel animation of him in all kinds of funny costumes, one particular option caught his eye. It depicted him holding a spear in one hand, and a flask in the other, while wearing a mage robe. Beneath the image were the words: The Rune Chemist Lord.
It combined both of his specialities—Chemistry and Runes. But "Why the spear?"
Spears were common weapons for mundane humans, nobles rarely used them. If he chose this, would he need to master the spear as well? The sword training alone had been a nightmare for him and now he was supposed to start over with a spear? And what was with this job title? Damian had never heard about a job that had 'Lord' in it, let alone 'Chemist.'
"If the pictures are any reference, then it's kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none kind of role. Maybe I will get skills related to both Chemistry and Runes."
He had to admit, he was still tempted by Space-Time Mage. His life would be set in gold if he managed to land that role after running away. But the Rune Chemist Lord stood out as the most unique and prestigious of all the options he was offered. If it truly was a prestigious job, then the base stats alone would be in a whole other realm than the rest of the Light-Walkers.
The thing Damian needed the most right now was balanced strength - especially physical strength, with his childish body - only stats could give his swordsmanship some merit. No matter how cool Space-Time Mage was, it's still a back-line fighter and the spells for it were limited here, maybe for his second job he can try to get it. He needed to be self-sufficient to survive on his own for now.
Taking a deep breath, Damian selected [The Rune Chemist Lord]. Even if it didn't offer him everything he needed, there were still two more jobs he could go through before his next rank-up, this meant that he could switch his speciality to another class. In the worst-case scenario, he would just waste a little more time and would be forced to stay with his new family a bit longer than planned.
The computer shut down and the door of his dorm room opened. A bright white light streamed through it, obscuring everything else. With steady steps and a racing heart, Damian walked into the light.
The place he arrived at however was not something he was familiar with, yet he understood where he was—a lab filled with all sorts of liquids, solutions and substances, including monster blood and a big study table cluttered with papers, parchments and quills, taking up a major portion of the room.
However, the windows revealed an entirely different scene—not a starry expanse, but a green field teeming with hundreds of dog-like creatures. Their eyes burned with fire, flames licked at their legs and their tales blazed like some torches.
"What kind of hell is this?"
There was only one door that was facing the green field and above it was a fixed screen that displayed a lot of words, with a large red neon zero glowing at the top.
[Remaining Time: 29 Days 23 Hours 54 minutes]
[0-10: F | 10-25: E | 25-100: D | 100-200: C | 200-500: B | 500-700: A | 700-1000: S | 1000+: SS]
"If S is perfect and F is a failure then I guess I will need at least a C rank to pass this trial. That big red zero is probably my monster count."
A month felt like a long time for a first job trial. Usually, first rank trials would last no more than a week. Since it all happened inside a person's mind, in reality, the entire trial only took a few seconds in the real world.
'But 200 monsters, each with hellish appearances? Do they really want to kill kids?'
Damian looked all over the lab, crammed with more than a hundred different substances and solutions. Finally, he sat down on the chair placed before the giant table.
"As expected, the things I prepared are left behind in the real world. With all the monster blood I have here, I could easily draw dozens of magic circles to create a perfect trap. But the question is, how will I survive running through these monster-filled grounds with my tiny legs?"
Another way was sniping from his door using high-pressure water runes, but that would require a lot of waiting and tons of materials. Plus, it would take forever to do it one by one. Though it was safer, it would depend on how frequently he could enter and exit this lab.
However, the best way was to create something that could either blow up a large horde at once or give him an edge over their agility. Hell-hounds were unranked monsters, found only in fire-related dungeons, and their biggest weakness was cold or water. Water, however, was out of the question since it was more of a lifestyle rune than an attack one, and even with all the monster blood around him, he wouldn't be able to generate enough of such runes to drown 50 of them. He could on the other hand make air runes, but it won't be as effective as real cold.
Still, there still remained the question—whether he would survive long enough to set up a trap.
But all that was going to come after. There was something that Damian was itching to try. So, he stood up, rolled his sleeves and walked towards his lab to begin an experiment he had dreamed about doing during his long stay at the Baron's palace.
A way to further purify the mana concentration in monster blood.
To separate a mana ink from monster blood, Dilute the monster blood sample using a suitable solvent (e.g., water or an organic solvent). This step may help remove impurities and reduce the viscosity of the mixture. Performing filtration to separate any solid particles or debris from the mixture.
Then Selecting a solvent that is compatible with the monster blood such as acetone or ethanol. Mixing the diluted monster blood with the solvent and agitating the mixture to allow for the transfer of the magical ink into the solvent phase.
After each extraction step, allow the mixture to settle, and then carefully decant or separate the solvent phase (containing the magical ink) from the rest of the mixture. Transferring the collected solvent phase into a clean container.
Although Damian could do a further purification of the magical solution, that would consume more time than he had in hand; just doing this much had taken him half a day—but it was worth it.
The new ink for runes would be five times better than the monster blood, according to Damian's estimation.
At first, when he drew the fire rune, it would produce a steady flame that would burn for about a minute. Now, with this enhanced magical ink, although the rune drawn would be the same in all aspects, it would burn for four to five minutes.
With the help of this more potent and condensed magical ink, Damian could draw larger runes and greatly increase their intensity. It might seem like he had wasted a lot of magical blood just to make a few liters of this ink, however, the increased potency would more than make up for it in the long run.
Now with this done, all that was left for Damian was to come up with a plan to hunt those fiery pups.