Moments later, the iron gate of the air raid shelter slowly creaked open with a harsh grinding noise. Behind it stood a giant nearly 2.5 meters tall. He wore a simple black shirt, his body devoid of any mechanical enhancements, yet his muscles bulged like balloons. A closer look revealed that he wore ring-like magitek terminals on the index and middle fingers of both hands.

Yvette glanced at him a bit more closely, raising an eyebrow slightly.

—Normal people wouldn’t need four magitek terminals unless they had a special requirement for them, such as being used as tools for storing magical formulas.

Instantly, the term “Cyber Mage” came to Yvette’s mind. Unlike her own identity as a pseudo-Cyber Mage, this man was presumably the real deal, likely associated with Blacktower Pharmaceuticals’ “Active Rune Group,” and he may have even used “Rune Elixirs” to enhance his physical body.

Strictly speaking, he should be classified as a Biochemical Mage or a Mutation Mage…

“I am the person in charge here; my associates call me ‘Welding Gun.’ Beautiful Mage Miss, what is your name?” The hulking figure spoke with a surprisingly cultured tone, hinting at a somewhat refined education despite his rough appearance.

“Yvette Sien,” Yvette replied, using the name she had chosen; after all, this was a dream, and it was just a pseudonym. She did not feel like crafting another.

“Miss Sien, I’ve heard from my men that you wish to engage in trade here?”

“Yes.”

“Then please come in, and let’s talk.”

With a calm “Mm,” Yvette stepped into the shelter. Although she appeared to be a delicate young girl devoid of any physical strength, the composure surrounding her prompted Welding Gun to look at her with renewed respect.

—On this planet, strength could be obtained through monetary means, but presence and inner demeanor relied on time and experience. This girl neither displayed arrogance nor anxiety, making him question her true age.

She must have injected some “eternal youth” Rune Elixir; her real age could even be in her forties or fifties… he thought, maintaining his vigilance.

Following Welding Gun, they entered the air raid shelter, traversing a crude underground corridor riddled with bullet holes, moving toward the bustling underground market that grew louder as they approached.

The heated gun barrels gleamed blue at the stalls, and the hum of Thunderblade vibrated in the air. Although these were all outdated rune weapons, they were more than adequate for ordinary folks, typically ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands in price.

Additionally, in the corners of the bustling hall filled with coarse language, even more dangerous addictive substances were being traded. Rosalyn looked over curiously, but the filthy, covetous gazes directed her way made her quickly compose her face, imitating her teacher’s nonchalance.

Welding Gun led them to a “meeting room” constructed out of blast-proof steel plates—an iron cage.

Inside the cage on a couch, he ignored the raucous environment and silently poured three cups of coffee, pushing two toward the pair, stating, “You two are new to the Blackwater Zone?”

The coffee cups emitted a white mist, mingling with a bitter almond scent due to some additives. Yvette signaled Rosalyn not to touch it and nodded slightly, “Yes.”

“Then what are you two looking for?”

“I wish to purchase a safe new identity ID card and a bootleg copy of professional rune knowledge books.” Yvette stated calmly, “Additionally, I would like to acquire a stall here to sell some of my original ‘restricted formula’ or accept commissions related to rune compilation.”

“Your request…”

Welding Gun suddenly laughed as if he had heard something amusing. He raised his coffee and took a sip, saying, “I can get you an ID card, but a bootleg book?” Then he wiped the coffee from the corner of his mouth, scoffing, “Last year, a gang stole and printed introductory rune knowledge textbooks from Blacktower Middle School and tried selling them. Within a month, they all vanished; now nobody knows where their bodies are.”

Yvette’s calm face briefly revealed a trace of surprise. Through her readings of pre-apocalyptic materials, she understood that the original civilization took combating piracy very seriously, but it sounded even more severe than she had imagined now.

Rosalyn was also shocked as she exclaimed, “It’s that serious? Why?”

“Because it violates the company’s intellectual property rights; those are their cash cows—they can’t leave them unprotected…” Welding Gun observed Yvette’s reaction and narrowed his eyes, “Miss Mage, you didn’t know that?”

Yvette shot him a glance, her expression devoid of emotion, as still as a dead lake; yet, for some reason, Welding Gun felt a chill run down his spine, and the doubts he had about her identity as a Cyber Mage evaporated.

What he didn’t know was that Yvette was internally sighing fervently.

Last night, when she had been shopping online, her intention had been to buy a patented book titled “Elemental Replenishment Technology” from one of the major corporations, “Ashen Chemical,” to address issues related to energy storage in reality.

When she saw the price—a staggering 500,000 credit points for an electronic book—she had gone blank and unconsciously thought back to her previous life, wondering if she could find a way to procure a bootleg copy.

Now she learned that while illegal weapons could be traded in the black market, books related to rune knowledge were entirely off the table. This forced her to seek legal purchasing routes. Not knowing how long it might take to save up that amount was quite a disappointment.

“However, Miss Mage, your asset is rather rare, and perhaps I can offer you some trading possibilities, how about it? Many gangs would certainly be interested.”

Welding Gun shifted topics, leaning forward with a grin, “It’s common knowledge that this gray market takes a 20% cut; I’ll only charge you 10%. Isn’t that generous? After verification, I can help connect you.”

“Deal.”

Eager to get the chance to earn money quickly, Yvette didn’t mind the commission; Welding Gun’s discount seemed sincere, as it appeared that a Mage’s connections were likely more valuable, especially since she could provide original restricted formulas that hinted at a high level of skill.

Of course, Welding Gun was also a Cyber Mage, but his grasp of runes was merely at an entry-level; being able to release others’ formulas was impressive enough, but creating his own was beyond his imagination. Even cleaning up a minor detail regarding a formula made him too nervous to attempt it for fear of accidentally creating a bug that could blow him up.

It was safe to say that there were indeed disparities among Mages.

…

The commissions for rune compilation wouldn’t appear out of nowhere. Yvette understood that she needed to present something tangible to prove her capabilities.

Therefore, for her initial sale, she chose to provide an original restricted formula—deriving from private creations that hadn’t been reviewed by the authorities.

The formula was called “Arcane Wind Blade·YH47254,” the technique she had used yesterday to eliminate those three thugs. The “YH” represented “Ish City Blackwater Zone,” while “47254” indicated the rune count. This naming convention effectively avoided name duplication.

“Arcane Wind Blade?” Welding Gun raised an eyebrow, skeptical, “Sounds rather ordinary—what’s so special about it?”

As he led them into a larger room than the previous meeting space.

This room was somewhat larger, with peeling walls revealing dark red brick. In the corner stood an old machine, its shell yellowed, resembling something soaked in time for a century.

However, this wasn’t just any plastic shell; it was “Fungal Plastic,” invented by “Rin Duro Biologics” that developed the magic vine, crafted from organic synthetic materials where the primary ingredient was a secretion from a type of magic-consuming fungus—functioning nearly as well as plastic.

“There’s nothing particularly special; I made a few optimizations, and its performance should be quite good.” Yvette’s gaze landed on the machinery.

—A formula simulation machine, designed for deducing magical effects—similar to a “bake test” in the magical field, allowing for comprehensive rating of a spell’s various performance indicators.

While she had read about its existence in professional books at Abyss Base, this was the first time she encountered such a genuine machine, stirring an emotion akin to preparing for a crucial examination.

—Having played with rune design for centuries, it would be her first time in a hardcore scoring scenario, and she felt a wave of nervousness wash over her.

Especially since her “Arcane Wind Blade” wasn’t optimized as thoroughly as her techniques for Frost Bullet, Flame Dance, Wind Control, and Thunderstorm—this could lead to slightly lower test scores.

After all, she was entirely self-taught and hadn’t undergone systematic training; she worried that she wouldn’t score low because of this… Not in front of her disciple, please don’t embarrass me…

She thought, maintaining a neutral expression.

“Well then, Miss Sien, please check the machine first,” Welding Gun reminded her.

This was a precautionary step to prevent the basic operations of the rune group from being stolen, confirming whether the “stealth mode” was activated. Of course, even if it was on, alterations could still be made, but the challenge would be tough, and the risk of copyright infringement made ordinary gangs too anxious to dare.

Yvette nodded, placing her hand on the touchpad to perform a thorough examination of the machine’s systems. After confirming everything was in order, she activated the test mode, input the rune group, and awaited the machine’s simulation results.

“It’s starting up!” Rosalyn exclaimed in surprise as the machine vibrated, displaying a line of text on the screen—

【Rune Quality Testing…】

“Rune quality, what’s that?” Rosalyn asked, unable to read it, but likely due to the high illiteracy rate; the machine Welding Gun had was equipped with a voice broadcast feature.

Before Yvette could respond, Welding Gun chuckled and explained to Rosalyn, “This is an indicator used to check the redundancy in a formula.”

“Redundancy?”

“Yes, in the arrangement of magical runes, there are often ‘junk runes’ that don’t serve a purpose and can affect the efficiency of spellcasting. For instance, magic that could be cast in three seconds might take three and a half due to these redundant runes.”

“The larger formulas typically have more junk runes… and the rune quality measurement finds the ratio of these junk runes, comparing it to similar specifications of magic for quantifiable reference.” The most update n0vels are published on ⓝovelFire.net

“Why do junk runes exist?” Rosalyn pondered.

“There are many reasons,” Welding Gun shrugged. “It could be due to repeated modifications during testing leading to residues; it might also be the compiler’s laziness, not wanting to optimize; even sometimes deleting excess parts from a formula can create problems, forcing one to keep them.”

“Ah, I see…”

“And the quantification method is pretty straightforward; it calculates the redundancy rate and does a horizontal comparison ranking against similar specifications. The resulting rankings are clear: the top 5% is S-class, the top 10% is A-class, the top 20% is B-class, and so on—the bottom 10% is J-class.”

While Welding Gun was explaining, the first indicator of the “bake test” was nearing its conclusion.

Moments later, after the test concluded, a large “S” appeared on the screen.

“Wow, I’ve never heard an S-class announcement before…”

Behind them, voices of shock could be heard as several guards at the door peeked in curiously.

Welding Gun was taken aback as well.

“Rune Quality” was the least weighted performance indicator within the comprehensive scores, but achieving an S-class rating was still a significant accomplishment; it signified that the compiler was either a remarkable genius or simply a meticulous perfectionist willing to dedicate much time.

Glancing at Yvette’s shining silver hair, clean features, and the black-and-white minimalist attire, Welding Gun concluded that the latter was a more probable scenario.