Chapter 775: Heading to Tom’s

"Good work, all of you," Moon said, nodding to each team member. "That was a clean clearance, and you held up well against the tough stuff down in the valley. I’d take any of you on a team again." He nodded to each of them. "Theo, I’ll have that transfer to you within the hour. The rest of you, rest up. You earned it."

The team exchanged farewells, the three newcomers now looking at Moon with genuine respect rather than the wary reservation they’d carried at the start, their doubts long since erased by everything they’d witnessed.

With the gate cleared, the spoils divided, and a new enemy in the Richter Group freshly made,

Moon set off, his mind already turning toward Surpasser corpses, a new estate, and whatever came next.

After finishing with the gate, Moon made his way to the Trading Center.

Twenty minutes later, he walked out with everything he needed, a fresh supply of health potions, stamina restorers, mana-replenishing potions, and, most importantly, a stock of rarer rune materials for his advanced runes.

The principle was simple but demanding, the more powerful the skill he wanted to house inside a rune, the stronger the rune material needed to be to contain it. Low-grade materials couldn’t hold high-tier skills, the energy would simply shatter them. And now that his arsenal included skills like Cryothunder-Assimilation and Thunderclap Raiju, he needed premium materials capable of safely storing that kind of power.

With everything purchased, Moon sent messages to Selene and Yara letting them know he’d cleared the gate, and fired off another to Tom, both about the clearance and a note that he wanted to discuss finding a proper estate when the old fox had time.

Then, while waiting for replies, he headed home.

In the courtyard of his house, Moon settled in to work, beginning to inscribe his most-used skills into Skill Runes.

It was meticulous work. He carefully channeled each skill into a prepared rune, binding the technique into the material so it could be triggered instantly later, without the normal casting time. Thunderclap Raiju into one.

Explosive runes, siege runes, and others. Each inscription drew a portion of his mana, locking it into the rune until the stored skill was eventually used.

His mana depleted slowly as he worked, but recovered soon after between inscriptions, since he wasn’t in combat and his regeneration was strong. And this, he reflected, was precisely why talented runemasters were so formidable.

A skilled runemaster didn’t fight with their reserves alone. They prepared before battle, pouring their mana into runes in advance, banking their power into ready-to-use forms. Then, in combat, they could unleash those stored skills with little to no cooldown, firing off technique after technique without the usual mana drain or cast time slowing them down.

A runemaster who’d prepared properly could deploy an overwhelming barrage in the opening moments of a fight, exactly as Moon had done with his Thunderclap Raiju against the dotted leopard, catching enemies off guard with instant, pre-loaded power.

It was an efficiency multiplier, a way to front-load his strength and sidestep the limitations of real-time casting. And for someone like Moon, who commanded such powerful skills but could burn through mana quickly in intense fights, as he’d experienced before, a well-stocked arsenal of Skill Runes was a good ace card to have.

He worked steadily through the afternoon, the courtyard quiet around him.

Honeybun ambled around the courtyard nearby, occasionally announcing practicing some of the words Moon had taught him, while Mirage grazed lazily in the corner, the two of them keeping him company as he prepared for whatever challenges lay ahead.

By the time he finished his inscriptions, which had taken a few hours, Moon remembered the buzz from his phone a few minutes earlier, which he’d ignored while in the middle of binding a rune.

He checked the message now. It was from Selene and Yara.

<Hey! Since we figured you’d be in the gate for a while, we decided to stay over at older sister Sierra’s estate. Do you want to pick us up later? Or should we meet somewhere?>

Moon read Selene’s message, his smile twitching at the corners.

Big sister Sierra... He shook his head wryly. She’s old enough to be your mother. Shouldn’t you be calling her auntie, at least?

He thought it, but had the good sense not to type it. Just in case the Ascender happened to be standing next to Selene and read the message over her shoulder. Offending an Ascender over a joke about her age was not a mistake he intended to make.

Despite her youthful appearance, which made her look no older than her mid-twenties, Sierra was almost certainly in her late forties or early fifties. The slowed aging that came with evolving meant powerful fighters could look decades younger than their true age, and Sierra wore it well.

But "big sister" was still a generous stretch, and Moon suspected Selene used the term precisely because she knew it flattered the older woman.

He typed out a reply instead, keeping it safe.

<Just finished up, cleared the gate without much trouble. Glad you two stayed somewhere comfortable instead of waiting around. I’ll come pick you both up now, then we can head to Tom’s estate, I want to get your opinion on something.>

Selene read the message with curiosity written across her face, <Sure... We will hang out until you arrive.>

He grinned slightly as he typed out the next message.< And tell Sister Sierra I said hello, I’ll thank her properly for hosting you when I get there.>

He hit send, figuring a little courtesy toward the Ascender who’d taken Yara as a disciple and gifted him a B-rank bow never hurt.

He glanced around the courtyard at his completed work, a fresh set of Skill Runes ready for his next battle, his beasts lazing contentedly nearby.

Moon pocketed his phone, recalled Honeybun and Mirage into his beast taming space, and headed out, ready to make the trip to Sierra’s estate to pick up Selene and Yara before making his way to Tom’s place.

***

Author’s Notes: Sorry for the low updates past two days, I’ve been feeling sick, so that affected my work and update. I’ve been feeling better, so it should not be happening again. Thank you for understanding.