The Runic Alchemist

Damian stared at the heavy metal sphere in his hand. It was adamantite!

As a runesmith, he had, of course, heard about this metal and the rumors surrounding high-level dungeon relics forged from it. Setting aside the golem's sentience, just possessing this much adamantite was a priceless reward.

But it was already covered in dense runes, all inscribed in a strange language. He guessed he wouldn't be able to repurpose the metal. Creating a golem with it was the best use—provided the consciousness stored inside obeyed him. It should, probably. Otherwise, what kind of reward would attack its own owner?

Damian stored the sphere in one of his supreme-grade spatial storages and used the keypoint to advance to the next level. More than fighting, flying forty kilometers across each level was what truly wasted his time. He could open wormholes, but they were risky—he couldn't sense mana through them and wouldn't know what lay on the other side. Plus, flying was more mana-efficient. He had plenty of mana these days, but he still needed to use it sparingly. Anything could happen in a place as unpredictable as this.

Level 23 looked completely different from the levels above it, an endless stretch of sand dunes as far as the eye could see. There was nothing in sight but sand—sand everywhere. And, of course, hidden monsters and massive creatures crawling beneath the surface. The sun seemed even closer here, its heat bearing down with oppressive intensity. The temperature exceeded fifty degrees, forcing Damian to constantly use cooling spells to keep his body from dehydrating. Even then, they were barely sufficient. If he had to cross this level on foot, he might need to resort to Lucian's ice spells.

Halfway through his flight, Damian sensed another Emperor-ranked monster. He hadn't expected to find one here, though he had hoped for it. Still, it was a welcome discovery. He couldn't ascend another level yet—he had already been flying for three hours and needed to return soon.

Adding additional wind runes, Damian surged forward through the scorching sky, heading toward the immense mana signature.

It was an armored scorpion. A massive one.

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Easily 150 meters long, with a dangerously sharp, venomous tail extending over 80 meters in height. Its pitch-black exoskeleton radiated an ominous aura, and all in all, it was the ugliest thing Damian had seen so far.

Without hesitation, he conjured a massive air blade and severed the scorpion's tail in a single slash. The dismembered limb writhed violently in the sand, even after being separated from the main body. As Damian prepared to launch enormous stone bullets at the enraged scorpion—still thrashing about, trying to locate its attacker—the tail suddenly leaped back onto its body and reattached itself.

"The hell?" he muttered. "Was that ever a thing with scorpions?"

Not that he cared to find out.

Instead, he pummeled the creature with jagged rock bullets, their sheer force shaking the dunes. The scorpion's exoskeleton was as hard as solid stone, forcing Damian to switch to laser attacks to burn through its armor and pierce the flesh beneath.

It took five minutes, but he finally slew another Emperor-ranked monster.

The kill netted him two levels, bringing him to 96.

But he had already spent over five hours in this solo dungeoning. He had no intention of flying through the hot, dry air for another few hours just to search for another Emperor-ranked beast. Besides, he was growing concerned about Reize and the others.

Instead of flying back, Damian attempted to open a waygate beside Sam. However, just as he completed the runic circle and activated it, the blue, shimmering portal suddenly swirled with violent intensity, its color shifting to an ominous purple.

Damian immediately canceled the spell, staring at the now-empty space in front of him.

What in the hell just happened?

'Nothing good ever comes from that weird purple element.. Am I in a mana-dense zone, and it's interfering with the waygate?'

Yet, now that the scorpion was dead and its mana stone safely stored in his spatial storage, the ambient mana levels had dropped significantly. Just to be sure, Damian flew away from the area and attempted to open the waygate again in a different location.

This time, the portal glowed a steady blue with a soft, shimmering light. Still, Damian waited for a full minute before stepping through.@@novelbin@@

Fortunately, it worked as expected.

He emerged right above Sam, who was fast asleep in a tent—it was well past midnight. The golden shield was up. Just seeing it made Damian feel better.

Yet, as he stepped outside the tent, his senses prickled.

Something was nearby.

Not a person, but a mana signature. One he recognized.

It belonged to one of the Sunkeeper followers—a third-ranker. Thunderclaw, was it? The guy with too much facial hair. It was faint—too weak to belong to a person—but it didn't belong to anyone else either.

And it was right beside Reize.

Damian ran.

Reize wasn't far. Within moments, he found her inside the Dreamlight, reading one of the books she had brought along.

She blinked in surprise at his sudden arrival in their room.

The mana signature had only lingered for a few seconds, but it had been distinct. He couldn't have been mistaken.

"Did any Highswords come here?" Damian asked, his mana sense stretching outward, searching for the same presence.

Reize stood up from her bed, setting down her book as she walked closer, concern flickering in her eyes.

"They did, but after asking about you, they left.." she replied.

Maybe one of them had used some weird skill, assuming no one could sense it?

Damian scanned the area. The Highswords were two to three kilometers away now, in three distinct locations. That Thunderclaw guy was with them.

Then what had he sensed in his ship?

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Reize asked, stepping outside to check the surroundings.

"No, it's nothing," Damian said, slipping back into his usual calm expression. "You can sleep now. I'll check the shield."

"Yeah, I was just about to.." she murmured, yawning. Then, with a soft smile, she kissed him and walked back inside the room.