While fusing with the Runestone of spellcasting, Jack was taken into a world of flying stones and quicksand.
He was assaulted by a hail of stones. He tried to use his hands as if swords to repel the stones, but there were just too many stones. The more he repelled, the more stones were conjured. It was as if he had to be hit by the stones. There was no way around it.
After getting stoned for a torturingly long duration, he suddenly felt himself sinking. He looked down and saw his feet were ankle-deep in the sand. He tried to pull himself out but couldn't. He sank fast. Before he knew it, he was completely submerged. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. Which was weird because even underwater, he could breathe just fine in this game world. What he felt now was what was called getting suffocated in his old world, and it was excruciating. It was worse here because he couldn't die.
Even under the sand, the text box asking him to quit was magically visible, tempting him to click the quit button. Jack forced himself to not look at it.
He then found himself falling out of the sand and back to solid ground. Then the stoning came again. It continued to repeat, countless times.
He didn't know how long it was. When it was finally over, he found himself sprawling on the ground. Peniel was looking at him with a smile.
"You succeeded," she said.
Jack sat up and wiped the sweat on his head. "I don't think I will ever get used to this. The one who designed this runecrafting process was truly sick people."
Now that he had fused with the Runestone of Spellcasting, he could summon it at will. It was now floating beside him with a yellowish glow.
*
Runestone of Spellcasting (unique runestone)
Increase spells' power by approx. 30%.
Elemental energy required for upgrade: 0/100,000
*
"Spell power… Does this indicate only spell damage?" Jack asked.
"No. It will increase your overall spell power," Peniel explained. "Spells that have probability will have their probability increased by thirty percent. Spells that increase attributes will increase thirty percent more."
Jack cast Time Realm. The max-level Time Realm had an AOE of a fifty-meter radius, but the barrier that marked the spell's edge was now farther than fifty meters from him. He focused his willpower on the runestone beside him and saw the spell's edge move further away.
He did not doubt that the enemies within this spell would also become slower than usual. He checked the spell's duration. It remained normal. The runestone's power didn't affect the spells' duration.
Jack then cast Heightened State, a Magician's basic spell that increased mana regeneration and increased skill cooldown. He saw his mana recover faster than the usual effect of the spell.
He then cast Illumination. The light ball conjured was brighter than normal.
He tested injecting as much willpower as he could while reading the description from his runestone. At his runecrafting level, he could push the increase to almost 50%. This meant at his best performance, he could increase his spells' power by half.
He then used the unique-grade Amber he had gotten from Euphosine to feed his Runestone of Spellcasting. The gemstone supplied 2,500 elemental energies to the runestone.
"You haven't slept…?" Jack heard Grace's voice from behind. He turned and saw Grace was half awake and staring at him with a sleepy face.
"I'm just about to!" Jack hurriedly stored everything back and canceled all his still ongoing spells. He went to the makeshift bed that had been prepared.
Grace was staring at him until he closed his eyes, making sure he truly slept this time.
*
The next morning, he overslept because he was too tired. Grace intentionally didn't wake him up to let him rest. She also told Peniel to let Jack sleep.
When he woke up, he received the notification of some calls. He thought at first it was from John due to some emergency. It was instead from his grandfather.
He contacted Domon back.
"Gramps, you finally managed to learn how to use this messaging system," Jack greeted.
"Yeah. Jet taught me. It feels weird, though. It's like using a handphone without a handphone. I'm not sure I will get used to this. Anyway, when will you be coming back? Jeanny said you are done with whatever it is you left to do."
"I may probably return later today, but I will have to deal with kingdom matters first. Why? Do you miss your grandson?"
"A little. I have someone I want you to meet," Domon said.
"Is it Freddie? It is I who sent him there," Jack said.
"No, not Freddie. Someone else. I've made an appointment with this person to teach you. Don't take too long. Come back to the guild headquarters once you are done. She will only be here until next week. I'm not sure if I can persuade her to come again the next time. So, you better not waste this chance."
"Teach? She? What is this about?"
"Just come back as soon as possible. Domon out."
'Domon out? Do you think this is walkie talkie?' Jack thought.
He was curious about the person Domon wanted him to meet and what this person was going to teach him. Knowing his grandfather, it would be something related to martial arts. But this in turn picked his curiosity even more. His grandfather was the best martial artist he knew. What could this other person teach him that his grandfather couldn't?
He threw all this to the back of his mind. First thing first. He had to get the Gold Dragon Wings today.
He got ready and went to the Dragon Flight portal. He didn't see Grace or Greed. Grace was probably telling Greed another tale in his hut. He couldn't tell the time since he was underground but he estimated it was almost noon already.
Since he planned to go back to Thereath today, he didn't waste any more time and entered the portal.
Half a day passed. Jack finally completed the fourth run of the day. The draconic essences he had collected finally pushed his Divine Gold Dragon Bloodline to level 9.
His attributes, HP, Stamina, and MP now received a 52% boost from the bloodline. He also received a new skill.
He activated the skill and a pair of huge dragon wings of golden color spread from his back.
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