Return of the Legendary Runesmith-Chapter 513 - 512- It’s all thanks to you

Explaining a dialect to someone was easy, but helping them learn it within a few hours was a far tougher task.

However, Adrian had no intention of forcing them to master every single dialect. Even within the Confluence dialect, memorizing all the alphabets wasn’t necessary.

Why? Because their only, and most pressing, concern at the moment was the heat.

The mutant flower was slowly raising the planet’s surface temperature. As a result, non-awakened beings couldn’t remain outside, even at night, for more than a few minutes.

Shelters were therefore arranged, where cooling artifacts were being installed to provide humans with at least some breathing space.

Adrian’s focus was on teaching them how to create a functional cooling artifact.

"Is it really that simple? Just a single alphabet and we’re done?" Sei asked, his brows raised in astonishment as he watched the man tune the first thread within a few seconds.

There was no wasted movement or hesitation in his work. He only paused briefly to explain things to them.

Laura—the subject of the artifact and one of the seven from Nathan’s team—asked, "Sir Lockwood, why do we have to assess attributes every single time while tuning?"

Tasha clicked her tongue, as the question felt completely unrelated to the matter at hand.

However, Adrian showed no annoyance and calmly explained, "There are several trivial reasons. To give us assurance, to get our mana flowing, and to reassure the subject that we aren’t doing anything half-hearted."

There was no real need to assess an element while tuning the first thread. Still, much like a truck driver checking fuel before a long journey, runesmiths simply couldn’t help themselves.

Once that question was out of the way, Adrian asked the others, "Does anyone else have a question? If you want, I can show the tuning once again."

Tasha glanced at Nathan, and a few others did the same.

Nathan sighed and said politely, "Please show us once more."

Adrian chuckled. "No need to feel pressured about it. It took me more than a day to learn the tuning." That alone made several of them sigh in relief.

Adrian then continued with another explanation while tuning the artifact shell they had already prepared.

There was an entire team dedicated to preparing the artifact shells, while the runesmiths were responsible for attaching the threads.

The Confluence dialect was somewhat complex, as there was barely any difference between its alphabets. Even the slightest error could cause an artifact to behave strangely—or fail to work at all.

They wrote down everything they felt was necessary to remember. In truth, almost everything Adrian said was deemed important.

Once Adrian finished speaking, he asked, "Why don’t you try doing it yourself this time, Nathan? Trial and error is still the best way to learn."

The pressure immediately fell on Nathan, the youngest yet most brilliant mind among the seven.

He took a deep breath and picked up his runic pencil.

Handing the attribute assessment globe to Laura, he asked her to hold it.

At once, a shade of water, paler than oceanic blue, began to swirl within the globe.

Nathan got to work. Recalling each stroke and the precise lengths of the alphabet he had seen, he began to inscribe the artifact.

The ink flowing from the pencil was his own mana.

His eyes were closed, his posture relaxed. His hand moved calmly, without panic or hesitation, showing no anxiety despite what the others were feeling at that moment.

Exhaling deeply and steadying himself, the boy finally opened his eyes. The first thing he looked at was Adrian’s face.

A proud smile rested there, and that alone told Nathan he had succeeded.

"Yaaay! You did it!"

"I expected nothing less from our prodigious leader!"

"I can’t believe it... you’re amazing, Nathan."

His friends cheered and congratulated him.

Others nearby turned to look at the group, curious and confused by the sudden commotion.

Adrian couldn’t help but place a hand on Nathan’s head.

"You’ve done well, child."

Nathan’s eyes moistened at those words. He lowered his head and said, "It’s all thanks to you, Sir Lockwood."

Adrian ruffled his hair and replied, "Now be a good captain and help your team, alright?"

Nathan wiped his eyes and nodded. "I understand." Turning to the others, he added, "Let’s not disturb him anymore and return to our stations."

Adrian watched with a smile as a fourteen-year-old taught more than two dozen people about runes.

It’s saddening at the same time... Learning anything related to the Divergent element took the longest. Fully mastering it had taken him nearly a week.

Yet here, driven by desperation and a hunger to save their people, these children were grasping something so complex in mere minutes.

Shaking his head, he was about to check the group chat to see if Annabelle had messaged him when a voice interrupted.

"Are you done here?"

Adrian turned toward the approaching redhead.

Her face was pale, sweat clinging to her skin as if she had just stepped out of a steam bath. It said everything about the conditions outside.

"How were the artifacts?" he asked.

Iris grinned. "Oh, they were better than I expected. I feel like if we attach three great halls, we could manage them with just two of those artifacts."

Adrian hummed. "You’re the better judge of that, but make sure you don’t overexert them. These aren’t simple cooling artifacts. They regulate temperature, which means a larger space will put much more pressure on them."

Iris nodded in understanding. After a brief pause, she said, "Then let’s drop the plan."

She turned toward the runesmiths’ workstations, watching Nathan take charge as he explained things to the other teams.

Crossing her arms, she said in a gentler voice, "You’ve given them hope. And in times like these, that’s the greatest favor anyone could do for us."

Adrian smiled faintly. "With those brilliant minds, I believe that if they had a little more time, they might have found an alternative...maybe even something better than my creation."

Iris chuckled. "That brief pause just now. It shows you still carry a creator’s pride."

Adrian gave a wry smile. "Is that so?"

Iris shook her head. "Anyway, shall we depart for the epicenter of this whole chaos?"

Adrian’s expression sobered. "How close can we get without burning ourselves?"

Iris didn’t think for long before answering. "Twenty kilometers."

Adrian chewed on his lower lip.

This was going to be difficult.

But then again, it wasn’t he was expecting anything less.

•••••••

A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been reading the story so far, I would be very thankful if you leave a comment.