After meeting the Third Prince, Noel returned to his room. He didn't know whether the Third Prince was still observing him or not, but in any case, he wouldn't be able to find the one who monitored him.
Hence, Noel simply laid down on his back, staring at the ceiling. They had talked about a few things, but Noel also managed to hide some things from the Third Prince.
While closing his eyes, he thought, 'I already learned about the variety of runes. However, the runes themselves are divided into five main categories. The first one is the popular method that people know, the Rune Enchantment. As for the other four, they're Rune Engineering, Rune Spell, Rune Body, and Rune Array.
'They're the next four levels of Rune Mastery. Rune Engineering seems to be able to program a certain movement into an object, while the Rune Spell is basically a normal rune but embedded on something so that normal people can use it just by pouring Spiritual Energy. The Rune Body is something I might get.
'By painting the runes on my body, I can utilize those runes whenever I need them. Though, I don't really recommend painting all sorts of runes since it'll burden the body.
'As for the Rune Array, it's basically combining the four types of runes. I don't know much about it, so I'm not going to think much about it right now.
'I'm more curious about the reason why my ancestor only popularized the Rune Enchantment system. Well, if I take a look at the other four, I can kind of understand why... This knowledge could become a weapon that would destroy the four kingdoms instead of helping the people.
'For now, I don't plan to upgrade the Rune Mastery. Although I have received a few Rune Skills after upgrading the Rune Mastery, it's not enough. I have to learn the rest of the runes if I want to use them.
'I guess this is another goal for me. I just have to make sure no one gets this Rune System for the time being, considering it has a lot of potential, and the one who gets it will gain a huge advantage over others.
'And I'm still wondering how Anna could learn the runes...'
Noel became silent after that thought. Anna had been too mysterious. His current strength came from the system. On the other hand, Anna shouldn't have the system with her. That was why he kept wondering where her mysterious strength came from.
'Sometimes, she was mature like she was a lot older. Sometimes, she was childish... just acting like her age. Does she have a split personality or something?'
Noel couldn't get the answer. So, he decided to drop the topic as well.
'Then, all that's left is...' Noel asked Ardagan inwardly, 'Can you open the shop?'
A blue screen appeared in front of him. He looked like he was staring at the ceiling, but actually, he was observing the items added to the shop.
After the training session with Dimitri, he finally got a shop update. Although he didn't know why Ardagan gave him the upgrade after completing the task, he knew Ardagan was helping him grow.
So, he didn't question Ardagan and just felt thankful for the upgrade. This was Ardagan's power after all, not his.
[Shop]
Available Points: 120 HP
1 Skill Point (2 HP)
Water Bottle (1 HP)
Water Gallon (2 HP)
Water Tank (3 HP)
Random Rune Scroll (30 HP)
Random Upgrade Scroll (30 HP)
He had seen a lot of new items from the scroll. However, there were three things Noel paid a lot of attention to. The first one was the water.
Ardagan seemed to be offering a lot of water to him. Whenever he asked about it, Ardagan only told him that water was essential to humans. There was nothing such as not enough water.
Since he was so adamant about it, Noel could only accept the answer and move on to the second thing, the Random Rune Scroll.
He was confused because Ardagan offered him something random. Of course, he could see the merits and demerits of this item.
On the one hand, Noel could learn a rune from the system and upgrade it with the Skill Points. His training speed would be significantly faster compared to learning it from the knowledge in his head alone.
On the other hand, it cost a lot of Honor Points. He knew the importance of the item. But it was random. If his luck was bad, he would get something he didn't need. If his luck was good, he might get an extremely powerful rune that was hard to master. He only had to use the Skill Points to upgrade it.
This randomness was something Noel frowned upon since it was basically a gamble.
The same applied to the next item, the Upgrade Scroll. It would upgrade one of his skills randomly. If he could upgrade the Undying Fire, which required a lot of Skill Points to upgrade, it would be worth it.
However, he had a lot of skills, so he was sure they would end up getting upgraded instead. So, Noel put this off for the time being.
This was the Shop Upgrade. It certainly gave him a lot of opportunity if he played it right, but he had to sacrifice a bit to get them.
'In any case, I still have two more months before meeting Anna again. I'm also planning to reach Spirit Master in six months since I've consolidated my foundation enough.
'All I need to do right now is to act normal and drop the Third Prince's suspicion. During that time, I'll use it to absorb as many Demon Crystals as possible.
'After that, the next phase of my plan can finally start together with the Third Prince's request. I have to get closer to him if I want to investigate him.'
Noel let out a long sigh, knowing he had so many things to do.
This was just the beginning of his journey.
