"Just as I thought, the Death God Olanir Origin Rune really can be combined with other runes!"

Wei’en opened his panel to check. The upgrade progress for Introduction to Runology was already more than halfway complete.

Rune Tree of Knowledge: Introduction to Runology (3/10 runes +1), Soul-Devouring Rune Max Level (Cannot be upgraded), Undead Summoning Rune Max Level (Cannot be upgraded), Death God Olanir Origin Rune Level 1 (0/1), Mechanical Rune (Death God) Max Level (Cannot be upgraded)

’A level 1 Death God Origin Rune?’

’So stupid. No wonder I kept failing before...’

Wei’en smacked his forehead. He had been so focused on branding the Magic Rune that he forgot he should have leveled up the Death God rune first before trying to combine it with the Mechanical Rune.

Thankfully, he succeeded in the end. Otherwise, he would have died from his own stupidity.

Wei’en then used the panel to raise the Death God Olanir Origin Rune to max level, consuming 10 Survival Points.

[Congratulations, your Rune Knowledge: Death God Olanir Origin Rune has reached max level. Effect: 100% success rate when drawing this rune.]

[Congratulations on obtaining a max-level Rune Knowledge. Your Introduction to Runology progress: 4/10 (+1). Special Reward: Spirit Level +1.]

A flood of knowledge about the Death God Olanir Origin Rune appeared in his mind.

Only then did Wei’en realize how much of a fluke his earlier success had been.

The Death God Olanir Origin Rune had two core nodes: one for the Origin Channel and one for Origin Amplification.

The "Origin Channel" node established a transmission channel to the slumbering Death God’s origin, allowing one to borrow (or steal) the Death God’s Origin Power.

At the same time, some of the patterns in this node also served to control the size of the channel, preventing it from opening too wide and excessively corrupting the rune’s user.

In this regard, Wei’en couldn’t help but admire the benevolence of the person who created this rune.

If the creator had harbored even the slightest ill intent, everyone who branded the Undead Summoning Rune would likely have been corrupted into abominations by the Death God.

As for the Origin Amplification node, it was easy to understand. It had the effect of amplifying other runes.

But which specific aspect of the rune it amplified... was quite random.

Take the Undead Summoning Rune, for example—after being amplified by the Death God Origin Rune, the effect was that it added several options for Undead Creatures during summoning and allowed for contract summons.

An unamplified Undead Summoning Rune, on the other hand, summoned random Undead Creatures each time, which undoubtedly reduced the Magic’s practicality.

Another reason he said his success was a fluke...

...was that when combining the Death God Origin Rune with other runes, the channel between the two core nodes had to be consistent with the Origin Rune.

Simply put, only runes with a hexagram pattern had a high probability of matching; the compatibility with other rune patterns was very low.

’So lucky...’

Wei’en sighed in wonder, then immediately got to work preparing to brand Number Two Xiaoxi with the Mechanical Rune.

’I wonder what kind of changes the Mechanical Box will have after being amplified by the Death God’s origin...’

Xiaoxi seemed to sense his intentions and looked at him quizzically. "Apu?"

"Be good and stay still. This will be quick."

Wei’en grabbed the little head and, under the gloating gaze of the ghost and the surprised look from Miss Zombie, acted swiftly and decisively.

[You have successfully branded the Mechanical Rune (Death God) and learned the Mechanical Box Spell (Death God), Level 1. Evaluation: Origin is a good thing, especially when "borrowing" it from others. Special Rewards: Spirit Level +2, Survival Points +5.]

[Note 1: Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) Effect: Forms a special subspace for storing machine-related items.]

[Note 2: The Death God Olanir’s Origin will slowly corrupt all machinery (materials, equipment, puppets, etc.) stored within the subspace, imbuing them with the Death attribute.]

[Note 3: Death attribute: When attacking, randomly releases Extraordinary characteristics such as Plague, Calamity, and Decay. These Extraordinary characteristics can stack.]

[Note 4: When all Extraordinary characteristics (Plague, Calamity, Decay) have stacked to a certain degree, Instant Death is triggered. (Depends on the target’s Origin strength.)]

[Note 5: As the Magic’s level increases, the level of the Death attribute will also increase.]

’Isn’t this a bit too overpowered!?’

Wei’en’s eyes widened as he stared at the notifications on his panel.

He never imagined that the amplified Mechanical Box Spell would have such an insane effect.

Didn’t this mean that from now on, any Mechanical Puppet he made would gain the Death attribute just by being stored in the subspace for a while?

This... this was... It was like strapping a cannon to a bicycle. It wasn’t a tank, but it was better than one.

’Amazing, simply amazing!’

Although he didn’t know the practical combat effects of the Death attribute yet, just seeing the name was enough to tell him how badass it was.

However...

’Holy shit, it costs 50 Survival Points to level up once?’

Wei’en was dumbfounded. In the skill list on his panel, it was clearly written: Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) Level 1 (0/50).

’If it cost 50 points just for one level, and if the cost increased tenfold each time... wouldn’t the number of Survival Points needed to reach max level be astronomical?’

He glanced at his remaining Survival Points—79.

’Just enough for one level...’

Wei’en silently calculated his options.

He currently had quite a few abilities he could upgrade. Among his skills, the Meditation Technique, Gonzalez, and Gunnery each required 100 Survival Points to level up.

Meanwhile, Soul-Devouring Magic, Undead Summoning, and the newly learned Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) required 50 Survival Points.

After a moment of consideration, Wei’en decided to upgrade the Mechanical Box first.

Although this would alter his upcoming plans, leaving such a powerful effect unused to upgrade other abilities... just felt like a total waste.

At this thought, he no longer hesitated and directly chose to put the points into the Mechanical Box.

Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) Level 1 (1/50), (2/50)... Mechanical Box Spell (50/50).

[Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) Level 1 (50/50), upgrade?]

[Upgrade.]

[Congratulations, your skill: Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) has been upgraded to Level 2. Effect: Subspace created by the Magic x2 size, Death attribute level x2.]

’Double the space, double the Death attribute level. Awesome!’

But,

Mechanical Box Spell (Death God) Level 2 (0/500)...

Damn it, the Survival Points required for the next upgrade really did increase tenfold!

Wei’en: "..."

’Looks like it’s impossible to get powerful overnight without putting in the work.’

Just then, Number Two Xiaoxi suddenly spoke up. "Baba, I... I want a name too."

Wei’en turned to look at it, seeing its expectant gaze. "Your name? Let me think... How about... we’ll call you ’Driver’."

He had a reason for the name. He was originally studying the Mechanical Puppet discipline, but now, because of the Death God Origin Rune’s amplification, all his machines would have the Death attribute. ’Death Mechanical Puppet Wizard... that sounds incredibly badass,’ he thought. The puppet’s name should come from that. His mind ran through the options: ’Death... Crash... Death-Wizard...’ He vetoed ’Death’ immediately—choosing death was never a good choice. ’Crash’ sounded too unpleasant. But since his mechanical puppets would also function as vehicles, ’Driver’ was the perfect, less ominous alternative.

’Once my Death Mechanical Puppets are fully developed, I’ll call it—"The Old Driver."’

’Absolutely, peerlessly badass!’

"Driver?" A grin spread across Xiaoxi’s face. "Thank you, Baba."

"Good, very polite. Go and Meditate."

"Mhm."

Wei’en looked at the large and small Rune Marks on Driver’s forehead and thought, ’Its intelligence is clearly much higher than the ghost’s.’

’Are the newer ones always stronger than the older ones?’

He turned his head to look at the ghost and Miss Zombie, who were still "getting along intimately."

"Say Baba..."

"Get lost."

"Say..."

"..."

’No need to think about it. The new one is definitely stronger than the old ones.’

Wei’en stretched and glanced at the time on the grandfather clock. ’Five o’clock already. Looks like I won’t be getting any sleep today.’

But with the Mechanical Rune branded, his point-spending spree for the day was more or less over.

Although it seemed he had only gained a Miss Zombie, his confidence in the future had increased countless times over.

The Mechanical Box, especially after being amplified by the Death God Origin Rune, had made him completely change his previous plans. He was now determined to learn how to make Mechanical Puppets first.

But he had no choice. He had too few Survival Points at the moment and had to make this trade-off.

’When I have more Survival Points in the future, I’ll make the adult choice—I’ll take everything!’

...

...

After a short rest, Wei’en activated the "typewriter" and prepared to upload today’s intelligence report, intending to fleece the "Ghosts" for what he could.

’6 pence is 6 pence. Besides being short on Survival Points, he was even shorter on cash.’

"New Calendar, August 11, 1578. Weather: Clear."

Hm?

Wei’en paused as he wrote this.

After thinking for a few minutes, his eyes lit up. ’Maybe I can do this—’

"Respected Liaison Officer, regarding the identity of the Dawn Church’s Holy Favored, according to an informed source, the Holy Favored is the Guardian Knight Melbel, who came from Klande..."

"Because this Knight has been staying in the Krimms Cathedral district, it is impossible to verify the authenticity of this intelligence..."

"—Caster Intelligence Officer, Wei’en Loft."

That’s right, Wei’en chose not to report the information about Kali. Instead, he passed the blame onto Melbel, with whom he had a grudge.

He did this for four main reasons.

First, it was for Sister Kali’s sake, of course. He couldn’t be sure what the Ghosts planned to do once they obtained intelligence on the Holy Favored...

Second, Wei’en was extremely displeased with the Liaison Officer’s arrogant attitude last time, so he wanted to cause some trouble for them. Who knew, it might lead to some unexpected gains.

Third, it was a chance to screw over Melbel. If he could get him killed in the process, that would be even better.

As for the final reason—

—based on some clues, he judged that there was likely another group of people in Caster providing intelligence to the Ghosts.

Therefore, he wanted to use this opportunity to test them and see how long it would take for the Ghosts to obtain accurate intelligence.

If a long time passed and the Ghosts didn’t discover the error in the report, it would mean that the other group’s intelligence-gathering channels were inferior to his.

In that case, he would have much more room to maneuver in the future. It might even be possible to fleece them with fake intel...

’And if the Liaison Officer eventually discovered the intelligence was wrong? Well, that would be the "informed source’s" fault. What did that have to do with a weak little Intelligence Officer like him?’

After a moment, with a few crisp CLINKS, the blue and white box began to flash.

Wei’en breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the Liaison Officer found this piece of intelligence acceptable. Otherwise, they probably would have already "called" him and gone into a rage.

He opened the box and looked inside—1 gold pound and 5 shillings.

’This much?’

It seemed the esteemed Liaison Officer not only "found it acceptable" but also highly approved of his work.

’Not bad, not bad at all.’

Wei’en counted the gold pounds twice before putting them into his Space Ring. He chuckled, "Now we’ll just see when that other group manages to find out the Holy Favored’s real identity."

Once he confirmed their level of competence, he could confidently execute his "Fleecing 2.0" plan.