[The Runic Serf Lv.1: Runes are a prestigious heritage, You are far from understanding it. (Effect: Basic Rune authority.)]
"Another Skill? But this wording, I know that I just started reading about runes today, but aren't you looking down on people a bit too much, System?"
Damian decided to rest for a while after bawling his eyes out but still took the book with him. His mana particle experiments had hit a roadblock due to resource problems so, he couldn't make any more breakthroughs, but if what he learned from this book could somehow be applied, it might open up an entirely new direction for his research.
Damian didn't try to activate his new skill—he already knew what it did. What surprised him, though, was that this skill was typically associated with the Beginner Enchanter-related job, which one could only obtain after Ascension. It served as a voice-activated command for self-made runes and runic structures.
After lunch, Damian read the Runic book in its entirety. Thanks to his [Scholar] skill, he was somehow able to read at a much faster rate and also grasp the meaning of most of the complex sentences. After a few hours, he used his Truthseeker's Eyes again and tried to make sense of as many runic equations as he could.
In the evening, a cool breeze brushed Damian's face, prompting him to look out of his window. Feeling the urge to get some fresh air, he grabbed his books and headed to the garden to find a nice spot.
He had just spotted a good spot in the garden, while he headed towards it he noticed Lucian sitting under a distant tree, with Rosie, the kind maid, sitting beside her, holding books and other stuff.
Rosie immediately noticed him and started waving, which wasn't left unnoticed by her not-so-amused mistress as she shot a glare at Damian. Well, she was too far away to be seen clearly, but that's what Damian imagined she must have done when her face turned towards him.
Damian decided to retreat and turned around to walk towards his previous spot, but as if the heavens were plotting against him before he could get far, a voice called out behind him.
"Oh, Master Damian! Can you give this to the young miss if you're heading that way? I have something I need to attend to."
"Uhm… I was…"
But before he could finish, Thomas handed him a letter or whatever there was in the sealed envelope, not even waiting for his response.
"Thank you so much, young master," Thomas called back with a smile that Damian could have sworn was more like a smirk.
Left with no other choice, Damian reluctantly approached the tree where Rosie was still waving enthusiastically at him for some reason. The first thing he noticed was the towering stack of books beside them. The reason as to why anyone would even need so many books for just one evening was beyond Damian's understanding.
"Here my lady. Thomas asked me to deliver this to you," Damian said before handing over the envelope, which was quickly accepted by Rosie, who then brought it to Lucian.
As Damian was about to turn around and leave, Lucian's voice stopped him.
"You can read here."
Not wanting to make an unnecessary issue out of nothing, Damian just sat down a few meters away from them. He placed his two extra books aside and focused on the Runic one. Though he had already read it twice since morning, it was pretty thin, right now he wasn't actually reading it but rather, studying the runic formulas, trying to make sense of something else than just the one section that he had somewhat figured out.
He heard some hushed conversation between Lucian and Rosie about the envelope but chose to ignore it.
"…I understand, but he didn't even consider it."
That last statement was a bit louder than the rest, catching Damian's attention. Seeing him raise his head, both of them paused their conversation and glanced at him.
"Ah, Master Damian, Are we disturbing you?" Rosie asked, her brows raised.
"No, it's fine. If you don't mind, may I ask what this is about?" Damian shook his head and asked.
"Hmm, you see, my lady here proposed to level up faster in order to focus on honing her skills and not worrying about leveling later, but her father rejected the idea."
'Level up faster?' Damian had to give it to her, it did make sense. Usually, kids would just focus blindly on leveling their skills within their specialization, just to make an overall level up. But if she reached the level cap first, she could then take her time mastering swordsmanship with a deeper understanding. That indeed was a solid plan and made a lot of sense.
Damian nodded then looked at the lady in question. "What method did you propose for doing that?"
Lucian hesitated for a moment but answered nonetheless, "I suggested bringing in monsters for me to kill with my sword. He said it wasn't feasible. Hmph… excuses…"
'What's with this brat? Did she seriously want people to go hunt monsters and bring them back into the palace? Sometimes she acts like a genius only to do something that reminds everyone that she's still just 8.'
"It is indeed unfeasible…" Damian let out a sigh.
"You… WHAT THE—"
However, before she could berate him any further for no reason, he cut her off.
"It's too costly and inefficient. If you want to level up, wouldn't it make more sense to go into the forest directly?"
Both of the girls looked at him as if he was a dumb kid, which maybe he was not knowing much about the world they were living in.
"I need to kill them with my own sword; otherwise there is no point in it. The forest is too dangerous. We can't focus on just one single thing there," Lucian said as if stating a matter of fact.
"Which is why going with at least 20 knights and a couple or two high-level combatants is safer and less costly than just ordering monsters in the palace. They can keep the other monsters in check while you deal with opponents that are on your level." Damian explained what he would do if he were in her place if he wanted to be power-leveled.
"It is indeed a nice plan, Young master," Rosie said while smiling at him.
"It is too dangerous," Lucian declared.
Damian, however, saw this as an opportunity. He wanted a chance to go out and collect some monster materials. Monster blood was a basic ingredient in the ink enchanters used for drawing runes. He couldn't let go of this chance, so he tried to give her one final nudge.
"Who knows? You might even unlock some unique skill while fighting in a life-or-death situation…"
His words got her attention, just as he had predicted. Unique skills, which led to prestigious job titles, were a really big turn-on for nobility. It gave them an edge over their competition, always a desirable thing. If she grew more powerful than her family's strongest warrior, she could even help in raising her family's status—a dream of any noble children, a chance to prove themselves.
"I will write another proposal," she declared after thinking about it and nodded with newfound determination. Even Rosie seemed pleased to be able to help her lady in some way.
However, the next night his own greedy arrow came back to hit him in his own little back. Thomas approached him, telling him to follow. With each step, Damian's mind raced at full speed, trying to figure out what he possibly must have done that the Baron himself was asking to meet him despite having such a busy schedule.