The Rune Ring's Defiance

Clang! Clang!

Inside the narrow forge, only the sound of a hammer striking something echoed repeatedly.

She wore a sleeveless shirt caked with black residue, completely absorbed in her work.

"Is it taking long? My legs are getting tired."

"I told you I don't take custom orders, yeo. Even if you wait there, no honey's gonna drip down, yeo."

Lilith didn't even glance my way anymore, fully focused on her task.

Well, she's always been like this.

If I had to sum her up simply, she's a woman married to machinery.

Aside from those gleaming metals, nothing else interests her.

"Your habit of prioritizing metal lumps over people hasn't changed."

"Is that so, yeo?"

"You should know. Aren't you the only mana-less person in this world?"

"Yes!?"

Lilith shot up from her seat in shock.

The heated metal was slowly cooling, but for once she couldn't concentrate.

No wonder—few people knew she was mana-less.

Mana-less. Unable to sense mana, let alone use it.

Below even ordinary people, like an untouchable in a fantasy world.

"H-how did you…"

"Just heard it in passing. More importantly, can you take a custom order?"

"I really can't, yeo. I've got way too much backlog—"

"How about this?"

I pulled a black card from my right pocket.

The card I'd received from Erien during the entrance exam.

Lilith took it and examined it.

"Eek!? Where did you get this, yeo?"

"Do I really need to explain that far?"

"Hmm, not really, but it's personal curiosity, yeo."

"Whatever. So, can you take the order?"

"Of course I can, yeo. Follow me, yeo."

Lilith tidied up her current work and brushed off the black stuff clinging to her clothes.

"Follow me, yeo."

When Lilith opened a door deeper inside the forge—

"Oh?"

A space far larger than the exterior suggested appeared.

'This entire forge must be under some special magic.'

Space-distortion magic that made the interior look different in size from the outside.

Applied to a place this size?

'I can't even imagine how much they value Lilith.'

At this level, plenty of people must've tried to latch onto her.

Anyway.

"Take your time looking around, yeo. Just a moment, yeo."

Lilith dashed deeper into the space.

Nothing else to do, so I might as well browse.

'This place really does look like a shop.'

Swords of every design and size hung on the walls.

Inside glass cases were accessories like rings and necklaces.

And on every piece of equipment, a small engraved initial: 'L'.

Lilith's L, no doubt.

Which means…

"Did she make every single piece of equipment here herself?"

I slowly walked deeper inside.

No matter how far I walked, new equipment I'd never seen before kept appearing.

'Insane. How many of these has she actually made?'

So this is why they gave her so much space.

On a whim, I picked up one sword and swung it.

—Crash!!

I hadn't even put much force into it, yet the glass case split clean in half and fell.

Look at that power.

Of course, not quite at her prime, but these weapons could easily be called overpowered at this point in time.

Just as I was about to return the sword to its place—

'Huh? What's that?'

Between two swords, something out of place caught my eye.

The opposite side looked fine.

"Only this part sticks out."

It was practically begging to be pressed.

Hah, how did it know I can't resist things like this?

I'm the kind of guy who'd tap-dance on a five-hundred-million-year button even if it offered no reward.

I pressed the button firmly.

—Rumble!!

The wall to my immediate left began rising upward.

Peering inside, it was pitch black.

And an incredibly deep-looking secret room.

"But running away after opening it isn't my style."

Using the wall for support, I slowly descended the damp stairs.

How long had I been walking?

'Deeper than I thought.'

It felt like there was no end no matter how far I went.

Just as I started wondering if there was some entry condition, my foot touched flat ground.

Feeling along the wall, I found a switch and pressed it.

—Flash!

The entire room lit up.

…But.

'There's nothing here?'

This was the kind of place where a hidden OP item or Easter egg should've been.

Yet even with the lights on, there was nothing.

A completely white-painted room.

And in the very center, a single glass case.

Only that case existed.

"Was this place made just for that…"

Just as I quickened my steps to check inside the case—

"Wait!! Don't touch that, yeo!!"

Turning around, I saw Lilith panting with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her hands on her knees.

She was drenched in sweat. She must've rushed down here in a hurry.

"You should exercise more."

"That’s not the important part—h-heek! How did you even get in here!?"

"It was open, so I came in. So, what is that?"

I pointed over her shoulder at the glass case in the center of the room.

Lilith hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"That is… hmm, should I call it a failure, or a masterpiece……"

"A masterpiece?"

"Yes. The performance is ridiculously good, yeo. Ridiculously good, but it has a flaw, yeo."

I had a rough idea.

"Runes, huh."

Runes—a language where magic dwells within the letters themselves.

As I mentioned before, Lilith evolves into a golden goblin who scatters overpowered weapons covered in powerful enchants in the late game.

How could someone with mana insensitivity create such things?

The answer lies in runes.

Runes allow even idiots who can't handle magic to use it, as long as they can engrave them.

However.

"Rune magic itself is so powerful that it has to be diluted when engraving."

"You even know about runes… Could it be, what's your real identity, yeo?"

"Just an ordinary top-ranked freshman. Anyway, now I understand."

I walked toward the glass case.

Inside was a single black ring, its surface covered in tiny, densely engraved patterns that were hard to tell if they were pictures or characters.

Lilith's performance wasn't something you could achieve by studying runes for just a few days.

It was a skill honed over years through repeated failures and successes engraving runes on countless weapons.

What concentration of runes was appropriate, which runes suited which weapon.

Then, what would her very first magic tool be like?

'Obviously crammed full of every rune language imaginable.'

Anyone who's played Minecrap would understand.

The kind of newbie thinking that tries to engrave every possible enchant onto a single diamond sword.

Lilith must've had the same idea, and with her ability, she actually went through with it.

"Am I wrong?"

"…Are you stalking me, yeo!?"

"Your reaction says I'm right."

A ring crammed full of every kind of rune.

Of course its power would be immense, and so would the feedback on the user.

That's why it was sealed away.

"……"

"So let's get out of here for now, yeo. If you mess with that thing, it's seriously dangerous, yeo?"

"……"

"…Customer?"

"How much is this?"

"Huh? Are you serious, yeo?"

I opened the glass case and examined the ring.

Right below it, the specs were written.

'12 weapon storage functions, and unknown beyond that.'

Unknown beyond that.

That's a bit too half-hearted, isn't it?

"That's because I've only used it once myself, yeo. There might be more to it, but I've decided not to touch it anymore, yeo."

"Good. I like it."

"Really? Then let's really head out now—Huh!?"

Before Lilith could stop me, I grabbed the ring.

"!!!"

Pain surged from my arm throughout my entire body.

Words couldn't describe it.

No object, word, or anything else capable of expressing this pain existed yet.

The kind of pain that made my legs feel like they'd give out.

But.

"This brat dares to try making me kneel!?"

I endured the pressure crushing my entire body and barely managed to stay standing.

This ring probably wanted to see me kneel.

"A mere piece of equipment having such arrogant thoughts."

The more pain assaulted my body, the tighter I clenched my fist around the ring.

"Abandoned by its parents like some illegitimate brat, so it can't tell right from wrong!?"

"I haven't abandoned her yet, yeo!?"

"Quiet!"

How dare she interrupt while I'm speaking.

Lilith, I'll deal with you later too.

After shooting Lilith a glare, I spread my hand wide.

The ring was vibrating like crazy.

The engraved rune language was also sparkling and glowing wildly.

"Hah! Just because you have one rune language, you think you're so great! You think I can't handle the likes of you!?"

I possessed basic knowledge about rune language.

The burden on my body seemed to lessen slightly, but that was all.

The ring was still resisting me.

"Aww…! Why don't you just give up—"

"Shut up! Hah, do you really think something can stop me? Since when did you start mistaking me for being weak?"

"That's not what I meant, yeo……"

I spoke boldly, but the truth was I was already at my limit.

My knees were about to buckle, and my hand holding the ring had lost all feeling.

I was enduring solely on willpower, but it wouldn't be strange if I lost consciousness right now.

'Dump all remaining Arrogance points ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into stamina!'

Two thousand points? Are you kidding me?

I poured in all my saved Arrogance points, yet it only went up one rank.

But was it too late? My vision was gradually going black.

'Hah, guess it wasn't meant to be.'

I'll just ask her to make me a decent rune weapon once I wake ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up later.

Just as I was compromising with myself—

'What is this now……'

A growth-type skill?

Like those F-rank skills that start out worthless?

'I've only got about 200 Arrogance left. No reason not to buy it.'

"Purchase… it…!"

I shouted with my last bit of strength.

There was no time to read the skill description.

With the suddenly granted skill, I reflexively activated it.

Rune Master?

There was such a job in the mage tech tree—

At that moment, something flowed into my mind.

Knowledge I'd never seen or heard before.

I looked down at the ring resting on my hand.

The runes engraved on the ring began to make sense.

Besides the runes that enhanced performance, there were also plenty of runes that inflicted debuffs on the wearer.

'No wonder it hurt like hell.'

One by one, I erased the useless runes engraved on the ring.

I didn't know how this was possible, but either way, it was fortunate.

'Must be the effect of the skill I just got.'

I'd check it properly later.

How much time had passed?

After finally erasing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the last rune that caused burning pain to anyone who touched it, all debuff runes were gone.

I immediately tossed it to Lilith.

"Here, catch."

"H-huh, what did you do!?"

"Doesn't matter. Is this mine now?"

"Um—"

I fixed my hair that had gotten messy while enduring the ring.

"Not interested in your opinion anyway. I'll be taking it."

"…Well, fine, yeo! Equipment shines brightest when it has the right owner."

"Good. Then I'll leave it to you."

Before leaving the underground facility—

"Ah, and about that ring."

"Yes?"

"Paint it flashily for me. In gold."

A student wearing a gold ring to school.

Even I thought it was an incredibly arrogant idea.

Lilith replied with a nonchalant expression, told me to come tomorrow, and kicked me out.