Lord of the Sky City

With a loud bang, Rocky was blasted away from the doorway, slamming hard against the wall of the corridor. Dizzy and disoriented, he felt completely bewildered.

"Who let you in!"

As Rocky's vision sparkled with stars, he saw Orton rush towards him, blurily, and help him up off the ground.

"You little rascal, didn't you know I was conducting an experiment? Are you hurt?"

Orton grumbled and checked Rocky all over. Once he confirmed that the explosion hadn't injured him, he said nothing more and fiercely punched him on the head, immediately conjuring a galaxy of stars before Rocky's eyes.

"You brat, already a Third Level Mage, and you can't even cast a magic shield?"

"How was I supposed to know what you were doing!"

Shaking his head vigorously, it took a while for Rocky to recover from his dizziness, after which he cast an aggrieved glance at Orton.

It was a month ago when Orton had personally taught him a method to practice his magic power. After over a month of practice, Rocky had indeed become a Third Level Mage and could actually cast a magic shield. But how could he have predicted that visiting Orton would require an active magic shield!

"Tsk! You don't know anything! What experiment doesn't have risks?"

Orton glanced at Rocky scornfully, dragged him into the research lab that had just exploded, and pointing to the disheveled room, said, "Hurry up and clean this up. I have another experiment to do!"

Looking at the chaotic lab, Rocky paused for a moment before he sighed resignedly and began to help tidy up.

Ordinarily, this sort of task would be fit for a maid, but since Orton's research involved runes, outsiders couldn't be privy to it. So, in fact, he was the only person in the research facility. Under normal circumstances, Orton would handle such tasks himself, but Rocky was just unlucky enough to have arrived at the time, and as the City Lord, he had no choice but to act as a laborer.

"Teacher, what are you researching that caused another explosion?"

As he lifted a fallen experimental table off the ground, Rocky asked curiously. Despite the considerable noise and impact of the explosion, it hadn't actually caused much damage to the lab. Although the tables had been knocked over, they weren't destroyed.

"I'm improving the runes."

"Improve what?"

"Improvement! Did the explosion deafen you?"

Orton glared at Rocky and said indignantly.

Rocky certainly wasn't deaf; he just couldn't believe Orton could actually be improving runes! So after a brief moment of shock, he quickly asked:

"Teacher, have you already mastered all the runes?"

In Rocky's view, improving runes wasn't impossible, but the prerequisite was to have completely mastered them. This was what surprised him. It hadn't been very long; how could Orton have already mastered all the runes?

"Of course not."

To this, Orton shook his head and replied, "I can only draw up to Fifth-level Runes at the moment. The highest, level six runes, I haven't fully researched yet, but this doesn't affect anything because I've already learned the entire structure of the rune system."

"That amazing?"

"Amazing my foot! Stinky boy, Winsell's research notes have detailed records about this, have you not looked carefully at them?"

Orton hammered Rocky's head with his fist, voicing his exasperation, and Rocky could only stick out his tongue apologetically.

Indeed, Winsell's research notes did contain detailed accounts on this matter, but for Rocky, this content might as well have been an arcane tome, so he hadn't examined it closely; clearly, though, Orton had gone through them.

Afterward, Orton continued, "Actually, in the last part of the notes, Winsell had made it very clear. Although he invented runes and established a whole system, due to limited time, he couldn't perfect it. In fact, there is still great potential for the development of mana runes, and the improvements I was talking about start from this aspect."

"So... did it work?"

Truth be told, Orton's explanation seemed easy to understand, but Rocky still didn't quite get it and simply asked directly for the results.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But when he asked this, Orton showed a look of distress and drew a rune in the air with magic power.

Drawing runes in the air with magic power was a skill Rocky had once seen in the Magic Energy Images left by Winsell. This ability alone was enough to demonstrate that Orton's research on runes had reached a considerable height; otherwise, it would not have been so effortless.

Also, the rune Orton drew was quite different. What he drew this time was merely a first-level rune, but its color was extraordinary, a crystal clear snow-white. Rocky had never seen a rune of this color before.

"Teacher, this rune...?"

"This is an elemental rune."

Looking at his own creation, Orton explained, "As everyone knows, mana is essentially magic power, and since magic power can have elemental attributes, mana can also possess attributes. Winsell had mentioned this in his research notes, but due to his limited time and energy, he only proposed a possible hypothesis and didn't actually research it."

"The improvement I made to the runes follows the trail left by our predecessor. That is, giving runes their own attributes. For example, this rune has been infused with ice attribute magic power by me. Once activated, it can emit the power of the ice attribute."

As he spoke, Orton activated the rune he had drawn, and as the rune activated, a visible chill emanated from it!

At this sight, Rocky's eyes widened in amazement, then filled with curiosity, he approached the ice attribute rune and waved his hand around it, indeed feeling a touch of coldness!

How incredible!

Feeling the faint chill at his fingertips, Rocky became excited. He hadn't expected Orton to have such ingenuity, not only daring to improve the runes but also succeeding!

"Teacher! Congratulations, your improvement has taken rune development a huge step forward!" Read latest chapters on empire

Regaining his composure, Rocky quickly congratulated Orton. He wasn't just flattering; he was sincerely congratulating Orton.

Unfortunately, no sooner had he spoken than Orton shook his head, not only erasing the rune but also speaking dejectedly, "What's there to congratulate? This rune is practically useless. After gaining an attribute, the rune itself can no longer provide magic power. In other words, this rune is just for show, with no practical utility.

Moreover, with my current ability, I can only draw first-level elemental runes and nothing higher."

With that, Orton sighed, a gesture of deep disappointment.

But this reaction of his was simply him being too hard on himself. In fact, this innovation in runes was already top-notch magical technology in today's magic energy realm! Note, it's not top-notch rune technology, but top-notch magic energy technology!