Above the mage!

Chapter 369: First-order Rune Construction: [Winter is Coming]

In the room, the windows were closed, blocking out the sunlight from outside.

Instead, there is light brought by magic.

This is to ensure the stability of the light.

A long table is spread out horizontally.

Standing in front of the table is Gao De.

Next to the table, in the corner of the room, stood Anna, looking at the table with her big, shining eyes.

On the table, four components made of bronze are lined up in a row, and the lines on the edges of each component fit perfectly.

Another four days passed, and the four components handed over to the blacksmith for making were all in place.

Judging from the shapes alone, these four parts resemble shoulder armor, chest armor, arm armor, and leg armor respectively.

However, although the appearance has taken shape, they can only be considered semi-finished products before runes are engraved on them.

As the saying goes, runes are the finishing touch to a painting. Runes are more than just the "eyes" of rune construction.
Next to the four components was a rune assembly design that Gaode had made while staying up late at night.

A set of first-level rune constructs tailor-made for himself.

[The coming of cold winter].

[The Coming of Winter] The entire design and calculation process consumed a huge stack of manuscripts, but the final finished design drawing is actually only this small.

Overall, it looks a bit like a mecha design drawing from a science fiction novel, divided into four areas, depicting the four components of the assembly in turn.

There are four parts, each of which carries a separate, operational rune array.

To micro-scale a rune array composed of hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of runes with various powerful functions on a component as limited as a piece of cloth requires extremely advanced rune manufacturing technology.

This is a hard condition, just like if you want to play football, you first have to have a leg, there is no reason for it.

This step is certainly extremely difficult, but the real limit to the number of rune constructors is still in the next step:
The rune arrays between the various components need to have the ability to function independently while also being able to merge into one.

They combine with each other to become a large ultimate rune array, thus providing a unique construct effect for the rune construct.

This process requires a superb mastery of runes, the continuous expansion of the boundaries of knowledge, genius ideas, and unparalleled creativity.

Especially the word "creativity".

This thing is like talent, mysterious and intangible, but it does exist.

Fortunately, Gaode has this kind of thing, and it is even extremely outstanding.

Gaode himself doesn’t know how outstanding he is and what his upper limit is, but at least it is enough to amaze He Xi.

However, under the new rune system constructed by He Xi, the limitation of "creativity" that stands like a boulder in the way of rune construction has the possibility of being cleverly skipped.

——As long as the rune knowledge is mastered firmly enough and the six basic rules of runes are thoroughly understood, it is entirely possible to design a qualified rune construction blueprint through massive calculations and trial and error.

Of course, this doesn't mean that "creativity" is not important.

On the contrary, under the new runic system, creativity becomes even more important.

Calculations can certainly allow ordinary rune masters to design rune constructions, but this type of design relies on existing rune construction designs and is essentially a reorganization based on knowledge, like piecing together one's own work.

But truly outstanding rune construction design cannot be achieved through calculation alone; it ultimately relies on "creativity".

A metaphor that is not very vivid is that in the world before AutoNavi traveled here, after the development of artificial intelligence, with its powerful computing power, it could already replace a large number of low-level painters in the field of design.

But true artists are irreplaceable, and even more valuable in an environment dominated by artificial intelligence.

Artists will never lose their jobs. With the development of artificial intelligence, their status will only become higher and higher.

The same is true in the field of rune construction.

After his thoughts raced through his mind, Gao De gathered his thoughts and put all distracting thoughts behind him.

He took a deep breath and spread out the materials he had prepared long ago on the simple table.

He was going to start drawing "The Coming of Winter".

"I'm going to start." Gao De whispered to Anna beside him.

Anna's eyes lit up and she nodded obediently.

Afterwards, Gao De no longer paid attention to her, the magic power in his body flowed slightly, and [Divine Guidance +] was added to himself.

He picked up the lithography pen given by mentor He Xi and poured magic ink into it.

Then, a golden symbol flashed in the pupil of his left eye.

The third-level Mandor Demon Eye is activated.

Under the effect of the Dharma Ninja Body, Gaode entered a state of extreme concentration almost in the blink of an eye.

All the fluctuations from the outside world had disappeared, and the only things left in his world were the photolithography rune pen in his hand and the bronze parts waiting to be drawn with runes.

Then, Godel leaned forward slightly.

Put pen to paper.

The tip of the pen trembled slightly, and a faint light flowed out, carrying strands of condensed magic power, slowly turning into lines and imprinting on the surface of the bronze.

Gao De practiced almost non-stop during this period, using stacks of lacquer jade paper, which made his brushwork very proficient.

The brushstrokes are smooth, like flowing clouds and running water, without any hindrance, slowness or mistake, and the hand holding the pen is as steady as a rock, without even the slightest tremor.

——The runes on the construct are all miniature. In this case, a slight wrist tremor would be magnified into a huge mistake on the miniature runes.

In the eyes of Anna who was watching from the side, the lines that Gode drew on the bronze parts were as thin as hair and could not be seen clearly at all.

Only by putting your eyes close to it can you barely see what the rune is.

But in the eyes of God's Mandorla, the scene was completely different.

Everything was magnified, and the miniature runes he drew were no different from normal runes, and were even larger.

The details of each rune and the direction of each line are so clear in his eyes, which is one of the reasons why his brushstrokes are so smooth.

For Rune Constructors, Mandorla's Eye is a plug-in, a powerful plug-in comparable to a modifier, which gives them precision and insight beyond ordinary people.

Time passed by bit by bit, and the room was so quiet except for the gentle breathing of Goder and Anna, and the slight vibration sound of the pen tip hitting the bronze.

Gao De is completely immersed in the world of his writing.

With the triple blessing of divine guidance, the body of the Dharma Ninja and the Demonic Eye of Mandor, even if it was his first time making a rune construction, Gao De could perform like a senior first-level rune constructor who had been immersed in the field of rune construction for many years.

Finally, Gaode put down the last stroke and completed the last rune.

In front of it are four new rune construction components.

Compared with before, the slightly yellowish bronze surface is now covered with dense and fine blue lines.

These lines interweave to form mysterious and beautiful patterns, as if they were painted.

If not to mention anything else, at least the appearance is much more beautiful, and some of them look like works of art.

"Okay?" Anna asked softly.

"Okay." Goder nodded.

"Did it work?" Anna asked
"I don't know yet." Gode replied, with a hint of caution and trepidation in his tone. "Try it!" Anna looked at Gode and waved her little fist, "It must have worked!"

"it is good."

For rune construction, the most important thing is the actual effect.

After Gao De responded, he picked up the rune component in the shape of the arm armor, and then the mana in his body flowed into the rune component.

With the input of mana, the runes on the arm armor components were lit up one by one. There was a halo flowing between each line, and the faint blue hazy fluorescent light covered the entire component.

Then, a piece of information flowed into Gaode's mind.

"Level 29 spell damage increase (the power of first-level and below spells increases by %)."

This is the rune effect of the rune array on this rune component, and there is only one.

Of course, a rune construct component is not limited to having only one rune effect.

But for rune constructs, the more functions the better is not necessarily true.

Because the number of runes that a set of rune constructs can carry is always limited.

Generally speaking, the more functions a rune set has, the lower the effectiveness of each function.

Conversely, the stronger the effect of a function, the smaller the number of functions.

Between quantity and quality, it is necessary to find the most appropriate balance point based on the situation and needs of the person wearing the rune construct.

But there is often a problem:
A mage certainly cannot be completely honest with anyone other than himself, and can only describe his needs to the Rune Constructor as specifically as possible.

This situation will result in the final rune construction never being 100% matching.

If Gaode creates rune constructs for himself, he can avoid all these problems and achieve a perfect match.

This is also one of his strengths.

The rune effects on the first-level rune constructs are naturally level one.

However, there are differences between the levels.

Just like a first-level spell damage-increasing rune array, depending on the rune design, materials, and techniques, the power increase ranges from 20% to 40%.

Because of this rune component, Gaode only involved the function of "spell damage increase". Even though bronze is not a top-grade material, and even though it was his first time making a rune construct, the spell power increase still reached an upper-middle value of 29%.

Because it is pure, it is powerful.

Putting down the shoulder armor component, Gaode picked up the remaining three rune components one by one and input mana for testing.

"Level 1.5 agility (movement speed increased by m/s), Level sturdiness (cannot be destroyed by level spells or lower), Level spell damage increase."

The rune effects of the rune arrays on the other three rune construction components.

The spell damage-increasing effect is repeated.

Repetition does not mean uselessness, but it can be superimposed.

However, it is not an additive stacking. The damage increased by two first-level spells will ultimately result in an increase in power of 37% close to the upper limit, rather than 58%.

The stacking of the same rune effects has a marginal effect. The higher the increase, the smaller the value. Therefore, the stacking of two identical rune effects has the highest cost-effectiveness.

The verification passed, and the rune arrays on the four rune construction components can be successfully implemented and run, giving the wearer the corresponding rune effect.

But this is not the end yet, the most critical step has not been verified.

Gao De let out a long breath, calmed his slightly nervous mood, and put the four rune components together in order according to the shape of the edges.

Then, enter mana.

All the runes have now become one, as if they were alive.

The powerful force almost burst out from it.

Seeing this scene, Gao De’s heart was finally at ease.

He directed his mental power towards the rune structure.

Immediately, information flooded into his mind.

[Winter's Coming] (First-tier Rune Construction):

Constructor: Gao De
Rune effects: Level 1 spell damage increase, level 1 solidity, level 1 agility

Construct effect: The wearer's mana recovery rate is increased by 15%, and mana consumption is reduced by 8%
When casting an attack spell, you can consume extra mana to deal 5-10 degrees of cold damage (depending on the extra mana consumed)

The message "Constructor: Gaode" that pops up is a small trick in rune drawing. It is also a technique that every rune master has mastered. It is not complicated and does not require additional runes. It mainly plays a role similar to a "watermark".

It's a bit like the way an artist signs his or her name after completing a work.

Not only rune construction, most rune masters also usually use this method to "sign" when drawing magic circles.

Because, compared with other professions, rune masters are more like "artists".

Their "works" are very few, while other extraordinary professions are more like craftsmen who can produce a large number of extraordinary items.

There is no need to mention the rune effects that follow. As for the construct effects, they are designed with reference to [Breath of the Wild], so they have the same source of increased mana recovery speed and reduced mana consumption. Of course, the values ​​are far inferior to those of Breath of the Wild.

The difference is that Gaode did not focus on endurance, but consciously added additional damage methods based on its own needs.

Looking at the set of [Winter Coming] in front of him that he had created himself, Gao De felt inexplicably dazed.

At this moment, his heart could no longer calm down, his thoughts were flying everywhere, and many memories flooded into his mind.

In the end, all thoughts settled on He Xi.

At this moment, more than two years had passed since he entered the rune workshop in Gavin Building.

The experience of studying runes with He Xi for a year had a profound impact on him.

Now, He Xi has been gone for more than a year, and he has finally successfully created the first set of first-level rune construction based on the six basic rules left by He Xi.

This means that he is already a first-level rune constructor.

This identity is far beyond what a first-ring mage can achieve.

Things are rare.

In most people's perception, even a second-ring mage's status is far from comparable to that of a first-level rune constructor.

After a brief moment of joy and melancholy, Gao De suppressed his complicated emotions.

For him, everything has just begun.

This is true whether it is the path of a mage or the path of a rune constructor.

The upgrade was completed, and it also came with an unexpected limit-breaking effect.

New spells mastered.

Now, the "top equipment" [Winter is Coming] is also in place.

Everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared.

Everything is ready, just waiting for the dark night and strong wind to catch the thief and claim the credit!

(End of this chapter)