Now that their conversation had ended, Nero crossed his arms and said, “Alright, I think it’s time to consume those Enys.”
“Consume the Enys?” Lunia asked, frowning.
Nemsus turned to her, his eyes narrowing. “Wait… You said you knew about runes.”
“I do!” she defended. “I mean, I know what they are. Everyone does.”
Nemsus sighed, rubbing his temple. “Alright. Then let’s go over how they evolve since that’s what you really want to know.”
He straightened up and began explaining.
“There are two ways to evolve your runes. The first is the natural way. Every time you level up, one of your runes will evolve with you. But there’s a rule—it must be lower than the level you''re advancing to. If all your runes are already at or above your new level, then the lowest one will evolve instead.”
He glanced at Lunia, making sure she was following before continuing.
“For example, let’s say I have a Level 1 Fire Rune and a Level 2 Ice Rune. When I ascend to Level 2, my Fire Rune will evolve because it’s the only one below my new level. I can’t choose Ice since it’s already at the level I’m reaching.”
Nemsus paused for a moment, looking at Lunia.
“But if both my runes were already Level 2 or higher—like a Level 2 Ice Rune and a Level 3 Fire Rune—then the Ice Rune would evolve to Level 3 since it’s the lowest one.”
Lunia nodded slowly, her brows furrowing in thought.
“The second way to evolve runes,” Nemsus continued, “is by consuming them directly from an Eny. But there’s a catch—you can only absorb runes that match ones you already have. If the rune inside the Eny is the same type as yours and at a higher level, your rune will instantly match its level.”
He gave her a moment to process before giving an example.
“Say I have a Level 1 Fire Rune and a Level 2 Ice Rune. Then I find an Eny that contains a Level 1 Fire Rune, a Level 4 Ice Rune, and a Level 3 Water Rune. What do you think happens?”
Lunia hesitated. “Uh… You absorb the Fire Rune?”
“No.” Nemsus shook his head. “The Fire Rune is the same level as mine, so it wouldn’t change anything. And I don’t have a Water Rune, so I can’t absorb it. The only rune I can take is the Ice Rune because it’s a higher level than mine and matches one I already have. My Ice Rune would instantly become Level 4.”
Lunia’s expression shifted as she pieced everything together.
“You get it now?” Nemsus asked.
She nodded. “Yeah… That actually makes sense.”
Lunia nodded, but her frown remained. “But what if none of the Enys in Nero’s hands have runes that match ours? What do we do then?”
Nemsus smirked. “That’s where extraction comes in.”
“Extraction?” Lunia echoed, tilting her head.
“Yeah.” Nemsus leaned in slightly, his voice carrying a hint of excitement. “Once—just once—in a human’s life, you get to steal a rune from an Eny, even if you don’t already have it. Doesn’t matter if it’s high-level or something you’d never normally be able to use. You can take it and make it yours.”
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Lunia’s eyes widened. “Just once?”
“Just once,” Nemsus confirmed. “And if none of these runes match us, that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.”
Lunia hesitated, curiosity flickering in her gaze. “So… is that the only way to get a new rune besides the ones we’re born with?”
Nemsus exhaled, rubbing his chin. “There’s one more way, actually. But we can’t use it yet.”
“What is it?”
“When you become a Dominus, you gain a new rune. No one really knows how it works—they just say the ‘Will of the World’ grants you one. If it’s a High Rune, it starts at Level 3. If it’s a Low Rune, Level 2.”
Lunia’s eyes gleamed. “Any other way?”
Nemsus blinked. This girl’s greedy, he thought.
“No,” he said flatly. “That’s it.”
Lunia still looked a little thrilled by all this new information. Even with her tired, dirt-smeared face, her excitement made her smile shine. Nemsus noticed how she used her hair to hide the scar on her face. His chest tightened.
He felt sorry for her.
But there was nothing he could do.
Not until one of them became a Dominus, at least.
"You done?" Nero asked, his gaze fixed on Nemsus.
Nemsus turned to him and nodded. "Yeah. Now, why don’t you tell us what runes are in those two Enys?"
He couldn’t help but notice the stupid smile on Nero’s face.
Nero looked down at the glowing Enys in his hands, his grin widening.
“The beast had:
Level 5 Earth Rune
Level 5 Time Rune
Level 3 Fire Rune
Level 3 Ice Rune
And the duke’s Eny has:
Level 4 Space Rune
Level 4 Life Rune
Level 4 Lightning Rune
Level 3 Earth Rune.”
Nemsus let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “Damn, we’re really some lucky bastards.”
He turned to Nero. “So, what are you taking?”
Nero didn’t hesitate. “Time, Ice, and Fire. Delilah’s still a bit far from ascending, and with these, when I do ascend, my lowest rune will already be at Level 3. Then I can push my Darkness Rune to Level 4 and have a Level 5 Time Rune.”
He was laughing as he spoke, his excitement barely contained.
Delilah smiled slightly, relieved to see things slowly returning to normal. Lunia’s fear was fading, and even Nemsus’s anger was starting to disappear.
Finally, Nemsus scoffed and crossed his arms. “You lucky son of a bitch.”
Nero blinked, momentarily surprised. It had been a while since Nemsus cursed as a joke. That was a good sign.
Nemsus said, “What about the other three you stole?”
Nero responded, telling him that they still had their Will Runes.
Nero’s heart pounded with greed. A Level 5 rune and two Level 3 runes—hhhhhh. He laughed again, unable to believe his luck.
And it wasn’t just that. One of the panther’s runes was Time—even among High Runes, that was rare.
The Eny also had Fire and Ice runes, the most common runes in the world, present even among Low Runes. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he had them in his Eny. That meant he could consume them now and still have the chance to extract the Time Rune for himself. His strength would skyrocket—not only that, but he would ascend as well.
Ouf. He let out a breath, steadying himself.
Gripping the Enys, he focused, channeling his mana to forge a connection between his Eny and the runes he had chosen. The process took time, but there was no risk—only power waiting to be claimed. His Eny trembled as it absorbed the higher-level runes, the energy swirling within him.
When it was over, his runes had transformed:
Level 5 Time Rune
Level 4 Darkness Rune
Level 3 Fire Rune
Level 3 Ice Rune
Nero exhaled, feeling the change settle deep within him.
The first thing he noticed was the sheer quantity of mana he could now gather—it was massive. Of course, that made sense. It wasn''t just the Eny that was responsible for gathering the mana; the runes did the same. The more runes you had and the higher their levels were, the more mana your Eny could absorb. Simple.
Then he noticed something else. The cold… was gone.
He wasn’t just resisting it—he didn’t feel it at all. It was as if he were standing in a normal room, not a freezing cave on the cold side of the planet. That had to be the effect of his new Fire and Ice Runes working together.
He exhaled sharply, testing the power thrumming inside him. Then he laughed—a real, full-bodied laugh.
He had a sage arsenal now.
Turning to the others, his grin widened.
“Alright… who’s next?”
Nemsus spoke. "It’s you and Delilah who got the Eny, so..." He looked at Delilah.
“I’m taking the Space and Life Runes,” she said, stepping forward without hesitation.
Nero stopped her. "You sure, Dee? The Earth Rune is a Level 5."
She nodded her head. "As we got Lunia with us now, she has to make herself useful."
Nero didn''t say it, but it seemed like a waste. A Level 5 rune—empires might go to war for that. Even Gaius risked his life for two runes at Level 5. But a Level 4 Space Rune was also good. After all, it was a High Rune.
Lunia felt a little warmth inside her heart.
"Thank you."
Delilah nodded before repeating the same process, her Eny glowing as it integrated the new runes. When it was over, her runes had become:
Level 4 Space Rune
Level 4 Life Rune
Level 3 Darkness Rune
Level 1 Ice Rune