THE RUNIC ALCHEMIST

When Damian woke up, an entire day had passed. He had stabilized the Dreamlight, supplying it with a continuous flow of mana from his lone liquid mana container. His few mana threads had kept it powered while he was unconscious.

His mana sense quickly picked up Reize, along with Lumi and Elias, in the seating compartment. A few Highswords were there as well. Without hesitation, he left the control room and walked toward them. They were cleaning. Lifewarden, Mindseer, Reize, and his two squires—all of them were busy washing down the seating area, cloths tied over their faces. The space had become noticeably clean; the stench was gone, and there were no longer any traces of the corpses.

Reize stepped toward him, and the others, understanding the moment, quietly gave them space. Inside his personal room, Damian carefully examined the mana within her. She now held twice her normal amount. The living artificial core he had envisioned was now a reality. However, traces of foreign mana still lingered in her original core, being forcefully suppressed. Without this new core, she would immediately revert to her previous state. Only climbing to transcendence could suppress the foreign mana in her body.

Seating herself beside him on the bed, Reize smiled—a true, genuine expression—and said with deep sincerity, “Thank you, Damian. Runefather told me what you did for me. Even though I’m the last person who deserves something this priceless.. Thank you. So much. I promise I will never betray your trust again.”

Damian only nodded mechanically. Then she began speaking—telling him about her past, the things she had done, the truth she had kept hidden. She ended with, “I didn’t know I had the blood of devil worshipers running through my veins. My saviors were demons themselves. I guess that explains why that man hated us with such passion..”

Damian listened to it all. And he did feel sorry for her—but only for a moment. It was the simple, instinctive sympathy one feels upon hearing a tragic story. But the feeling faded just as quickly as it came.

He stood up. Reize remained seated on the bed, looking up at him with uncertainty in her eyes. He reached out, gently cupping her pretty face in his hand, then spoke—his voice devoid of emotion.

“Trust does not come easily to me. For me to trust someone, it takes time. A lot of time. A lot of convincing.. Maybe it’s one of my worst qualities, but it’s the truth. I understand your circumstances. I might even help your little sister and mother.. but you broke my trust. I told you I would protect you. All you had to do was tell me the truth. But you chose neither path.”

Her eyes welled with tears. Yet, she did not argue. She only nodded, accepting his words in silence.

Damian withdrew his hand, his expression hardening. “From this day on, we are merely acquaintances. I do not want a partner who does not have faith in me.”

Reize’s body visibly trembled, but she forced herself to stay composed. Silent tears streamed down her face, falling onto her lap.

Damian turned to leave. But before he could step away, she grabbed his arm. When he looked back, her hand was outstretched toward him, returning the bracelet he had given her. Without meeting his gaze, she placed it in his palm.

Damian hesitated for a second before taking it. His expression remained resolute. She was an incredible woman—if everything else was ignored. She meant a lot to him. But she wasn’t more important than his self-respect. Lies and secrets among those closest to him were the one thing he could not tolerate. Maybe he was a hypocrite for saying that—after all, he had lied before. But his lies had never harmed others. And if someone truly important to him pressed for the truth, he would never keep it from them.

Leaving Reize crying in his room, Damian stepped out and found his squires waiting. They immediately began enthusiastically reporting what they had done in his absence. Both of them were practically beaming, clearly relieved that Reize had survived. They didn’t know what he had done for her—but they didn’t need to.

“We ate fish,” Lumi said cheerfully. “Cleaned up the seating room. Runefather fixed the hole in the generator room. Two generators are still out, though—oh! And don’t worry about anyone finding out. We guarded the generator like eagles, right?”

She turned to Elias for confirmation. He nodded enthusiastically, though Damian noticed he was avoiding his gaze, almost as if he were shy. Guess, he figured it out.. The reason he had been able to use a mana generator designed for Damian alone.

Damian merely nodded, half-listening to their recount. Then he sent them off to create a checklist of necessary repairs for the Dreamlight before they could take off again. Meanwhile, he flew up the ship through the open seating compartment entrance, breathing in the crisp, cool air. The ocean was not an ideal place for sightseeing but anything was better than endless desert.

In the distance, Bloodedge sat in a secluded corner, meditating. No one else was around.

Ignoring him, Damian pulled out his status tool. The cost of cutting half his soul could not be small..

—

Name : Damian Sunblade Lv.147

Race : Demonic Human – Hellforged

Rank : King

Affinity : Chaos, Space-time

Mana : 37890/42000

STR : 186 + 70 (Demonic Enhancement)

DEF : 197 + 70 (Demonic Enhancement)

INT : 238

AGI : 195 + 40 (Demonic Enhancement)

DEX : 147

CHA : 24 (Demonic Enhancement)

LUC : 10

Jobs :

King Rank: The Spellwright Monarch (Lv.47)

Lord Rank: Runic Forge Master (Lv.25) Elder Runebreaker (Lv.25), The Runic Chemist Lord (Lv.25)

Blessings : Godless [50 Available Points]

Titles : [Cold Blooded Killer], [Wild Hunter], [Primordial Metal Shaper], [Titan Killer], [Curse Bound], [Best Runesmith(Solar System)]

Skills :

Upgradable: [Tree Climbing Saint Lv.1], [Arcane Dissection Lv.3], [Scholar Saint Lv.2], [Swordsman Saint Lv.1], [Spearman Saint Lv.1], [The Runic Monarch Lv.5], [Battle Automaton Lv.1], [Archscript Sovereign Lv.3], [Sigil Replication Lv.2]

Racial: [Demonic Chains], [Berserk]

Perfected: [Eternal Scriptmaster], [Arcane Synthesis V4], [Runebreaker Monarch], [Essence Harvester], [Eldersmith’s Legacy], [Worldcarver]

Penalty :

(1). All stats 20% lowered because of overuse of life essence. Become a higher life form to mandate.

—

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