Rejected Morgan's request to slice me up.
After more than two hours of research, I'd already progressed from "reinforcing objects" to "reinforcing specific parts of my own body." By a magus's standards, that was at least entry-level reinforcement magecraft—yet the trait system still refused to acknowledge it.
So Baiye decided to change approaches. He went upstairs, dug through the luggage he'd brought back from the hotel after dealing with Matou Zōken yesterday, and pulled out a notebook.
The original owner of that notebook was a magus named Aozaki Touko.
Four years ago—
Back then, Baiye was still active in Misaki City—the first "map" he'd landed in after transmigrating.
Late November that year, an outsider magus infiltrated Misaki and issued a territorial challenge to the city's leyline administrators: Aozaki Aoko and Kuonji Alice.
By that time, Baiye had been Kuonji Alice's "neighbor" for over three years. His relationship with Aozaki Aoko—Alice's half-apprentice of over a year—wasn't bad either. So once he learned what was going on, he didn't stay out of it.
After investigating, the three confirmed the invader was none other than Aozaki Touko—Aoko's older sister—once raised from birth as the Aozaki heir, only to be stripped of the title several years prior. Following the trail Touko deliberately left behind, they tracked her down and finally confronted her in the old school building of Private Misaki High.
In the end—
Touko's assistant, a golden wolf she called "Beowulf," displayed absurd, rule-breaking power. Not only did it possess mystery that outright crushed modern magi, it also had a soul-materialized body with effectively endless mana and endless life, plus an infuriating number of transformation stages.
Even with Baiye's Hundred Martial Arts (Lv.7) stacked with 7 extra Strength for a 128× multiplier—plus the "unity of man and heaven" state that could draw on the momentum of the world itself, and even with Kuonji Alice's full-spectrum reinforcement on him—Baiye still wasn't a match for that wolf after multiple transformations.
Aozaki Aoko had no choice. She opened the Fifth Magic she'd kept sealed away for personal reasons—and won the battle.
Afterward, once Baiye learned about Touko's prior exploits before coming to Misaki—and after personally clashing with the golden wolf and confirming where he stood in the "mystery side" food chain—he left Misaki and began traveling, hunting for some opportunity to truly grasp mystery.
A year and change after he left, Aoko also set off on her "round-the-world" journey after graduating high school.
Unlike Baiye—who used "foreknowledge" to make enough money that travel funds were never an issue—Aoko, who held a deep grudge against Touko because of the Misaki incident, would simply go rob Touko whenever she ran short on money or resources.
The notebook in Baiye's hands was one such spoil.
Inside were Touko's notes—her insights recorded while reconstructing rune script.
Because she rebuilt rune magecraft's foundation—reviving what had largely been lost to history—Touko was awarded the highest rank of the Mage's Association: Grand.
The value of firsthand research notes from someone at that level was self-evident.
It was just that Aoko, as a magus, was wildly lopsided. So after she realized she'd hauled this thing out of Touko's workshop along with everything else, she mailed it to Kuonji Alice—who owned a standalone library at home.
After Alice finished copying it, she handed the original to Baiye the next time he visited.
Anyway—back to the present.
Baiye returned to the study with Aozaki Touko's notebook and read it once, then again, then a third time—quick skim, careful read, deep read.
Once everything was etched into his mind, he lifted his hand into the air and wrote with his finger like a pen, using mana as ink—forming characters that were inherently mystical, and whose meaning shifted depending on linkage, timing, and context.
Reinforce.
A long chain of runes floated in the air, then transformed into exactly the effect Baiye wanted.
As the rune-string sank into his body, Baiye could clearly feel improvements to strength, speed, stamina, recovery, and more. He paused in thought.
A complete system really was better than fumbling forward from a single beginner's book.
As for why this rune-based reinforcement still didn't trigger any response from the trait system…
Suspecting something, Baiye used his finger as a pen again—this time writing out, from start to finish, the entire rune set Touko had reconstructed.
You have obtained a new ability — [Rune Magecraft (Lv.0)].
Just as he thought.
With Rune Magecraft (Lv.0) newly acquired, Baiye swapped it into the AFK slot, replacing Unity of Heaven and Man (Purple).
Strictly speaking, it was more efficient to AFK-train talent traits—since their growth wasn't as easy as grinding ability proficiency, which you could raise just by practicing. But for the early levels, where the required proficiency wasn't high and could be capped quickly, Baiye felt it was still worthwhile to push an ability trait a few levels via AFK.
First, the "claim AFK proficiency to gain relevant experience" mechanic would build a clean foundation for the ability, making later improvement smoother.
Second, those early "extra Strength" points could multiply the ability by several times—sometimes even dozens.
"Runes?"
When Baiye finally pulled himself out of that hyper-focused research state, Morgan asked.
"Yes. Runes."
Baiye nodded.
"They're somewhat different from the runes I know."
Morgan lifted a hand and drew in the air as well—forming a rune-string whose effect was "reinforcement."
No testing required. Baiye could tell instantly: her reinforcement was stronger than what he'd drawn earlier.
That didn't feel wrong.
Aozaki Touko had reconstructed rune magecraft's foundation, and according to the notebook, her later research shifted toward decoding the primordial runes that vanished back in the Age of Gods.
But modern rune magecraft—despite being called a "revival"—was really just "from crippled" back to "usable."
If Touko's few years of research as a modern magus could be surpassed by Baiye—who'd barely stepped through the door—and surpass Morgan, a witch with Age of Gods depth and perspective? That would be the part that didn't make sense.
Baiye wasn't dwelling on that, though. What he cared about was something else.
"Runes aren't my main field," Morgan said, meeting his silent-but-pointed gaze. "But the system spread widely, so I've studied it a bit in my spare time. If you need it, I don't mind telling you what I know."
"That's enough."
Baiye stood and thanked her.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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