The Runesmith

“Lord Arthur, how come you've bin ignoring us? a'm sure yer aware o' th' mines in th' dungeon, how come you've bin denying us entrance to it?”

“Ah, was there a mine like that? Think the guild master did say something about it? But shouldn’t you visit him first? The Adventurers Guild is responsible for anything that involves the dungeon. Now, I’m kind of busy with work, I’m sure everything will work itself out with time.”

“Wirk itself oot? whit ur ye plannin…”

“The Lord, has another appointment and will be busy for the entire week.”

A maid with cat ears approached an angry-looking dwarf that was trying to hold in his anger. His face was red and not the kind of red that he usually got from drinking. Nevertheless, he was talking with a noble, there was no way for him to raise his voice or complain. His experience was telling him that if he didn’t tread carefully that things could turn sour.

“Ah ken whit yer doin’ , ah will report this to th' union.”

The maid just smiled while pointing her palm toward the door. The dwarf slowly got of from the chair he was sitting in, took one last glance at both the smiling maid and the man behind the large desk before leaving. A sound of a slammed door was heard by both the people inside the office as well as the three standing outside of it.

“You?”

“...Dunan was it? could you move, you’re in my way.”

Not far from the office entrance stood a tall man, his face would be considered handsome and his frame more than athletic. It was the city’s only Runesmith and to Dunan it was someone that he didn’t get along with. Though, without any retorts in mind he just gave out a snort before charging out through the corridor instead while leaving the three people there wondering what all of this was about.

…

‘Why did they have to call me at this moment? Did they want me to bump into one of the union dwarves or something?’

Roland was the man in the corridor and the other two were the usual guards, Sir Gareth and Sir Morien. The two had proven themselves to the city guards in the last monster siege and were on the path of becoming an important element in Arthur’s army. They were already teaching the basics to the recruits and more people came to sign up as business was booming, or to be exact it was about to really take off.

“The Lord is waiting for you, Master Wayland.”

“Mhm.”

He just nodded at the two knights that seemed to have changed their view of him. Previously he could see a sort of disdain in their eyes but now it was gone for some reason. Roland wasn’t sure what the reason for this was. Perhaps after killing the Lich he had gained some respect, the two actually knew that he slew it himself without help from any outside sources.

His potential of becoming someone influential and powerful was steadily increasing. It didn’t happen often but other people had managed to defeat tier 3 monsters while a tier lower. It wasn’t bad to assume that such a person was on the way up and holding someone like that in contempt was never a good idea.

‘I guess I’ll have to get used to this newfound respect, Master Wayland, huh?’

Naturally, after becoming part of the Valerian noble entourage, people in the city started treating him differently. Even though from the outside he was nothing more than a servant, he was still a servant to someone that carried a noble title. It was even scarier when that title belonged to the Valerian house that ruled this island. They were the law and everyone knew that they took their name very seriously. Even going against a servant wouldn’t be taken lightly as from the noble's perspective, it was going against their brand.

“If it isn’t Master Wayland, I’m sure you’ve already seen the angry dwarf from the union when leaving.”

“Yes, I did but won’t they become even more suspicious of us if they see me?”

“Suspicious? We are past that part.”

Arthur shrugged while smiling, Roland wasn’t sure how to reply while taking a seat before the large desk. On it he could see various documents and contracts, some new and ready to be signed by some merchants. It was clear to him from glancing that Arthur was busy in preparing his shipping enterprise. He needed to sign contracts with merchants and now while the dungeons' worth was underplayed was the best time to do so.

‘Isn’t this like playing on the stock market with insider information?’

The dwarves knew that the mine existed there but had no idea of the bigger picture, the dungeon with tier 3 monsters in it. Along with others, they decided to wait while the dungeons was being cleared out, otherwise, they would probably already be preparing for the major influx of business.

When a dungeon with tier 3 monsters and materials was revealed the status of this area would skyrocket. Many people would kill for a chance to have an early start in such a region and Arthur knew this. Before more eyes were placed on Albrook he needed to close all possible deals.

Roland knew by now that Arthur wasn’t just interested in managing this city like a normal noble. He could just get the usual taxes and let the place grow by itself while he relaxed. This was however not his main goal, the young man was interested in gaining power and prestige.

For this, he needed more capital than taxing the city and in this case, trading was the way to go. Massive amounts of resources would be moved from the dungeon in the form of monster parts and minerals from the mine. He was the city lord and could make things a lot easier or harder for any merchant company. Roland wasn’t sure if he would go with a more symbiotic approach or if he forced bribes from them, either way, had its pros and cons but money would be gained eventually.

What he was more interested in was not how Arthur would be gaining his riches but on what he would be spending them on. To this day he had no idea what the noble was after, it didn’t seem that he was that interested in competing with the other heirs to the Valerian household but perhaps with this lucky break he was finally ready to get his hands dirty? For Roland that had signed a contract, this wasn’t that welcome of a revelation as he could end up against some influential opponents.

“I see that you have been busy.”

“Haha, probably not as busy as you Master Wayland. I’ve gotten a report from the adventurers but I would also like to hear it from you, how does it look down there?”

Nevertheless, he was only a runesmith and not something like a knight or even a butler. Perhaps those two knights and the maid would be considered problematic by his siblings but he was only a craftsman. At most he could see Arthur getting replaced by someone while he just switched to another boss. However, the further their cooperation continued, the tougher it would be to break those bonds that were forged.

“That dungeon is a lot larger than I’ve expected, please look at this.”

“Is this a map?”

“Yes, they have managed to fully explore three floors for now, and there are more of them but I think you probably received a copy of the map?”

“Indeed but it wasn’t as detailed as this one, could you make me a copy?”

“I’ve already made one, here.”

Arthur nodded while smiling as if he expected to receive this parchment. On it were three dungeon levels that the team of five platinum adventurers had explored within a week of being inside of the dungeon. They had decided to retreat afterward as they had not prepared for anything longer.

“So correct me if I’m wrong but it seems that the upper floors contain easier monsters.”

“Yes. The monster levels were lower and so were their numbers, each floor had one chest being guarded by a smaller group of them. After exploring two of the upper levels they had attempted the lower floor and found the levels of the monsters going past one hundred sixty."

“Yes, this makes sense…”

Both of the men nodded, this dungeon was structured in a similar fashion as the starting area of the lesser one. The upper levels were easier while the lower a person traveled it became harder. Probably at the end, a boss chamber waited for them and perhaps a path toward a new more difficult section.

“Hm… is it an open dungeon, or …”

Arthur started pondering this fact while looking at Roland, he had kind of thought through the fact and came to his own conclusion.

“If I may?”

“Please speak out.”

“Thank you. First of all, it’s possible that another entrance exists to this dungeon, if we follow the stairs leading up, we might discover a new entrance that had not yet been discovered.”

“A new entrance? That sounds troubling.”

Arthur frowned at the mention of a separate entrance. If such an opening existed there was a high probability that it was outside his area of influence. It would be possible for someone else to claim the rights to this dungeon or at least siphon away a large chunk of its resources that he would not be able to tax.

“However, the entrance might not exist…”

“Do you mean?”

“Yes, if it’s connected to the super dungeon then it would make sense but we won't truly know until we explore everything, that’s why I would propose exploring the upper floors first to see where the dungeon ends.”

“Hm, I’ll consider your words when I talk to the adventurers but perhaps it would be better if the guild master took care of that part…”

Roland raised his eyebrow a bit as he noticed something off in Arthur’s tone. He didn’t seem that cherry when talking about the group. Perhaps they weren’t inclined to follow his orders as he was still a kid with no actual power. It wouldn’t be strange if they refused his proposal and just continued at their own pace. Having a fellow tier 3 class holder talk to them instead was probably a better choice. The guild master was invested in this new venture and would probably do his utmost to make it work. With a staggering amount of money on the line and his propensity for greed, Roland wasn’t worried.

“It seems that everything is progressing well but you must hurry, the dungeon can’t remain closed for too long. I can probably give you another week before we have to open it up.”

“A week?”

“Yes but even if the dungeon is open it doesn’t mean that people will reach that area so you will have some time to explore it. However, I’m sure many eyes will be on you, and sooner or later someone might discover our little secret.”

Roland nodded and was sure that the union dwarves would probably begin their search for the mine that Arthur was trying to deny. It wouldn’t be strange if they acquired some runic devices for this purpose. His involvement was already identified and hidden chambers behind runic doors wasn’t anything new. There were already ways of getting in and hiring another runesmith or rune mage for such a task was costly but not out of the question.

“So, they didn’t lie at least, I’ll have to look through these maps and will inform the guild master about exploring the upper floors first, is there anything more?”

“Yes, I wanted to bring up one more project.”

“A project?”

He nodded while moving a hand into his pocket to take out a round object. It looked like a marble with some faint runic traces and symbols over then.

“This is?”

“I call it a sensor.”

“A sensor? Does it have anything to do with those magical maps?”

“Yes, I was thinking of using them in the dungeon on a larger scale…”

…

‘Well, he was at least interested in my idea but first, we have to get the dungeon sorted out.’

Between his thumb and index finger was the same sensor that he showed Arthur. This little device was going to allow him to make some extra money and also make the dungeon a lot safer in the future. It was however only a side project that he thought about while stuck in the dungeon with that group of five and would take some time to come to fruition.

‘First I’ll have to get my workshop up and running, that one in the tower isn’t worth investing into. At least Bernir doesn’t need to come with me anymore so he can take care of that while I’m down there.’

Roland still needed to go down there together with the group of five for at least another week. After that, the dungeon would be opened up and people would probably be following after him. It wouldn’t be strange if the dwarves were already spending money to hire some competent personnel. Luckily they would only spend enough for a mine's worth and not realize that a potential A-rank dungeon was waiting down there.

‘I don’t have much time and nothing else to do down there anyway…’

Soon he arrived at his destroyed home where he was greeted by a loud howl. The place had been worked on by his magic but there was still a lot of work left to do. It was the middle of the day and he could hear some hammering. Bernir along with his own little assistant were busy repairing the shed that used to be a secondary workshop. His home's door had already been replaced but there was still more work to do.

For the time being, he decided to close the shop but this didn’t stop Elodia from showing up and helping them tidy up the place. The sight of her raking the rubble towards another area just brought a little smile on his face. Luckily soon some hired workers would show up to get things done faster. His mind wasn’t on the repairs though as another quick expedition into the dungeon awaited him and this time around his focus would be different.

…

“Well then Master Wayland, we will be off.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Roland waited for the group of five to disappear into one of the tunnels before moving toward his own backpack. On the surface, it looked like he was stuck opening the magical corridors for this group but in reality, he had his own motives. If he wanted it wouldn’t be hard to design a device to do it for him but instead he wanted to be here.

‘Luckily it wasn’t that hard to restore…’

From the large spatial bag, he pulled out two items. One looked like a large cannon with some cables connected to it and the other was a spider drone. He had used his free time to assemble a working model from the parts available at his workshop. His new salvaging skill was actually handy as it would produce working legs and parts from the melted remains of his spider golems.

“Well then, they are far enough, I should get started.”

The cables on the cannon were connected to his suit but also to an exterior power source. The mana crystals that were in this mine were a free source of energy that he intended to use up as much as he could. Time was against him and his level needed to rise higher. His plan was quite simple, kill skeletal monsters from a range like before. Only one thing changed from his old approach as this time around, he would have some bait.

“There is one, bring it over here.”

The golem reacted by entering the dungeon and going toward the red dot on the map. Soon enough a Skeletal Berserker was rushing after the small spider golem that was enhanced for speed. Just like with the tests after the drone vanished through the door the monster stopped. This was his cue to act, when it turned around the large cannon was used to deliver a devastating blow to the monster's back.

Infernal Skeleton Berserker has been slain.

Congratulations you have leveled up!

Roland smiled at the prompt but then quickly looked to the map for other red dots. The range of his map had become quite massive, he could see the entire floor and every monster that was on it. With the help of his drone that would lure them here he intended to grind them out for all they were worth. While the group of five were gone he would use his time here well.