Redo! Last Chance for a Dying World!

Chapter 89: Runes

Geth looked at his Attributes and nodded, satisfied. His Intelligence was catching up to his Wisdom, which he was still a bit on the fence about.

"There are many Intelligence-based Classes that I can picture showing up in the future, but nothing that focuses on Defense," He spoke to Albus.

The Grimoire just lifted the two corner tips of his open pages. It was as if he were shrugging. Geth focused back on his remaining TP and SP.

"Alright, let's start with our Skills. I want to level Mass Blessing as high as we can." The following Level would cost him 5 points, and he was sure there would be another jump beyond that.

5 Skill Points disappeared as the Rune in his mind began to warm up. As usual, the Mana began to enshroud it, quickly cooling it down.

Geth glanced at the pages again. Level 4 would take 7 Skill Points. "All right, go ahead with the next as well."

His available points were reduced to 5 as the Rune began to heat up again. This time it looked as if it was melting and cooling rapidly, forming a more solid structure.

It reminded him of how weapons were crafted. The blacksmith would heat the metal up before bending it into shape. Once the steel was cooled, he would heat it and re-shape it again.

The process continued until the metal was thin enough to form a blade but solid enough to cut through bone. It appeared to Geth as if the same process happened between Runes and Mana.

Once that was upgraded, he browsed through his other Skills. Inspection also required 5 points to get to Level 3, so he used the last of his points there.

Next were his Talent Points, of which he had 18 available. Looking through the prices of each one, he found them exorbitantly expensive.

The cheapest and most practical was his Common Talent, Thick Skin.

It would cost him 7 TP to upgrade to Level 4.

"Upgrade the Thick Skin Talent, Albus." Another flash as pages appeared in Albus' bindings. Geth closed his eyes and watched as runes spread from his Mana pool, imprinting themselves all throughout his skin.

He opened his eyes again and found that to improve to Level 5 was exactly the 10 TP that he had left. He took a moment to think about it.

'I'm already gaining a bonus of 10% to my base Defense now... do I really need to improve that?'

In time, he shrugged and proceeded with Leveling Thick Skin again. Instead of it upgrading, he received a prompt.

:Thick Skin will reach Level 5 and undergo an evolution. Do you wish to continue? Yes / No:

"Hmm?" He questioned. Albus didn't respond to his query, so he continued. "Yes!"

:Thick Skin has reached its stage of Evolution. Talent will be upgraded from Common to Uncommon. Please select which path you would like to follow;

Option 1- Dense Skin

The composition of User's skin begins to change, taking on the properties of ancient creatures.

+15% Base Defense

Option 2- Thick Frame

The quality of User's physique improves. With it comes power.

+10% Base Defense +2.5% Base Strength:

"We will definitely be going with Dense Skin," He said once he'd made his decision. Thick Frame would be nice, but it only increased based on the Base Attribute and not the total.

As soon as he made his decision, he felt his body begin to change. Geth closed his eyes and sensed the Mana changing within him.

His skin began to shiver as the Runes forced their way deeper instead of lying just under the surface. It looked strange on the inside, so he opened his eyes.

Geth watched as his arms began to lose their composition. It wasn't painful. On the contrary, it was almost soothing.

The skin itself soon began to flake away. It was similar to recovering after a terrible sunburn.

He stripped his gear and clothing in the middle of the graveyard. Geth watched as all of his skin fell to the ground.

'Have I turned into a snake?' Geth wondered, looking himself over.

He peered closely at his skin. It looked as if the small wrinkles and ridges he was used to were gone. In their place were minute, tough to see, shining scales.

'They are barely larger than my pores,' he thought while observing. His pores were still in place, but it seemed each one was in the middle of a scale.

After moving around a bit and getting used to the smooth skin, he donned his armor and took a look back at Albus. There wasn't much left for him to do, so he decided to test his new abilities.

Geth used his Inspection Skill and peered around the graveyard. The effects exceeded his expectations.

He was not only able to see the footprints from where everyone had walked but also knew at a glance who every track belonged to. Geth cast his eyes around, able to see every step that the brothers or Hulk had taken.

Even the fingerprints from them tapping on the tombstones couldn't escape his gaze. He then turned his head towards the ceiling, following the long trails of Mana floating upward.

It was then that he realized the true extent of the Inspection Skill. Standing there, staring at the ceiling, he was able to read the meaning of a handful of Runes.

His previous experiments hadn't been forgotten. He attempted to draw the simplest one he could make out.

It was a small circle with a slash through the middle. A small dot rested just off of the top of the shape.

The Rune meant warmth... he had actually been able to read it! Not just that, but many of the simpler Runes could be understood as well!

Geth used his Mana Sense to bend the surrounding Mana to his will. It followed his command and marked out the shape in the air.

Once he finished drawing the main structure, he placed his pointer finger where the small dot should be. The area in his immediate vicinity became warm!

He was actually controlling the Mana!