The Runic Alchemist

Damian lay awake the whole night, waiting to see if the mana energy—whatever it was—would return, but it never did. The more time passed, the more it felt like just his own imagination playing tricks on him. It wasn’t unlikely; he had experienced similar sensations before, sensing a mana signature that wasn’t actually there. But that had always been at the very edge of his mana sense, never as distinct as the one he had detected earlier.

While waiting, Damian absentmindedly turned the adamantite sphere in his hands. Both the metal—capable of sustaining such a unique spell—and the spell itself intrigued him. The description claimed that the ember of a golem species was sealed inside. That implied some kind of space-warping magic and that this thing was alive—or at least as alive as a golem could be. That made it vastly different from a standard spatial storage spell. The strange runes covering it were undecipherable, though, and he could only activate it once.

Morning arrived, and as everyone woke up and ate breakfast, Damian briefed them on what lay ahead. The mere thought of crossing a desert left them all groaning, already fed up with the dungeon’s environment. When he told them that the next level was the boss level—not the last one they had just come from—everyone fell into stunned silence.

Such brutal difficulty naturally made them question whether they were even ready for this dungeon, even if they went all out.

Seeing their reactions, Damian added, “The golem was just an anomaly, not suitable to fight with few people. A pugilist speciality. I think the monsters on the upper levels are manageable for all of you. However…”

“However?” Evrin prompted.

“You’ll all have to give it everything you’ve got,” Damian replied.

They exchanged glances before each of them fell into thought. If they went all out, they could level up quickly and minimize their time in this infernal dungeon. But doing so meant that everyone in Damian’s group, as well as the Highswords trailing them, would see their full strength. The decision was theirs. If they chose to keep their abilities hidden, Damian had already planned to use Dreamlight as much as possible and bypass the strongest monsters.

His priority was clearing the levels as fast as possible, not wasting time on unnecessary fights.

At last, Sam stood up with a grin and said, “Fuck it! We’re leaving after this anyway. What’s the point in hiding?”

“I want to level up as fast as possible,” Sariel added simply. “Can’t waste this opportunity.”

Amy and Sariel exchanged a glance and she nodded in agreement.

Einar smirked at Sam. “If you’re doing it, then it’d be stupid for me to hold back.”

Evrin, caught off guard by her closest friend’s decision, hesitated but ultimately nodded.

“Strength is what I need the most currently,” Lucian murmured. “It’s pointless if I don’t push myself.. especially now.”

Alex, Karl and Evante remained undecided, but it didn’t matter. With just Einar, Sam, and Lucian unleashing their full power, Damian was confident they could clear the dungeon at a much faster pace.

“No more wasted time, then,” he concluded.

They flew to the keypoint with Dreamlight and entered level 22. The terrain was divided into four sections by rivers of lava, each housing a different array of monsters in overwhelming numbers.

The first section was home to Pyroclaw Panthers—stealthy hunters with ember-coated claws—and Firefang Boars, which charged at enemies with burning tusks, swarming in large packs. Magma Golems occasionally appeared among them.

The second section belonged to Volcanic Chimeras—multi-headed beasts that spewed molten lava—and Blazehound Alphas, massive fiery canines that hunted in coordinated packs. Scorched Gargantuans—towering abominations formed from flame-touched bones—also lurked within.

The third and fourth sections contained Cindered Treants—twisted forest guardians infused with flame—Brimstone Wyverns, draconic creatures with explosive breath, and Searing Specters, wandering spirits that whispered burning curses, setting weapons and armor ablaze. Volcanic Gargoyles, perched like sentinels, rained down molten stone upon intruders.

Yet, despite the dangers, the battles felt easier than ever before.

Along with Damian using his runic spear he had just imbueded with icy and water spells, killing the monsters to get his last levels to 100 as soon as possible, the others were also pumped up.

Reize had even pulled out a heavy, cannon-like runic weapon she had crafted with Damian’s help. As a runesmith, fighting with one’s own creations grants significantly more experience than random combat, much like how mages gain more experience by using different types of spells to defeat monsters. The nature of one’s job mattered.

For Damian, the distinction was less noticeable. His primary class, The Runic Chemist Lord, was a fusion of craftsmanship and warrior skills. Whether he fought with weapons or bare hands, the experience gained was the same.

Reize’s cannon didn’t fire bullets—it fired concentrated laser beams. In essence, it functioned like an oversized, high-speed projectile. The recoil was fierce, but she handled it with ease. Unlike Damian, she was a true runesmith, boasting immense strength and dexterity. As a beastwoman, she was naturally gifted with a powerful physique.

Damian was proud of her. She even had faint abs. She always giggled whenever he touched them though.

Of course, Reize wasn’t the only one who had stepped up her game.

Sam was a one-man storm, glowing an electric blue as he tore through enemies. The walking cheat—goddamn him—even conjured weapons of all shapes and sizes from his aura-infused electricity.

Einar was just as ridiculous. She unleashed several eyebrow-raising skills, some making enemies weaker, others driving them into mindless rage, forcing them to attack only her. She even launched massive aura blades with eerie red, blood-like afterimages trailing behind them.

Damian suspected she had a job specializing in aura manipulation—an extremely rare talent. Typically, only pugilists had such abilities, but once in a while, a truly gifted swordsman could develop them as well.

That was impressive, but surprisingly, the most bizarre of them all was the quiet, overlooked commoner boy from their academy days—Sariel. The guy was an absolute monster.

Unlike any mage Damian had seen, Sariel wielded light and dark elements with unnatural precision and minimum mana cost. Some of the spells he cast were entirely his own creations.

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He confessed that his job aided him in constructing unique spells from both light and dark element.