CHAPTER 180: RUNE COMBINATION - END OF VOLUME 2

[Hidden Cave – Elven Continent]

Shall we try then...?

He looked at the potion resting in his hand, its thick red liquid glowing faintly in the darkness, as if warning him of what was to come. Still, he didn’t hesitate. Before anything else, he opened his status window to take one final look.

**

[Attributes]

Strength – 377

Agility – 377

Vitality – 377

Intelligence – 377

Stamina – 377

Charm – 377

Mana – 377

**

"Just twenty-three more stat points... I really hope this damn thing can give me what I need."

He exhaled softly and began removing his clothes, knowing how dangerous the next few minutes would be. The last thing he needed was for his garments to get in the way. Once he was done, he stared at the potion once more, then brought it to his lips.

Without a second thought, he gulped it down in one go.

The taste was sharp and metallic, burning slightly as it slid down his throat. He clenched his fists and waited.

At first, nothing happened. The cave remained still and silent, the faint sounds of water droplets echoing softly off the stone walls.

But then, just as he started to question the potion’s effectiveness, it hit.

At first, it was just a strange tightness in his chest. Then, it exploded. It felt as if a berserk bull had awakened inside his body, crashing through his veins and rampaging through his insides with no restraint. It wasn’t just pressure—it was like something had been unleashed that didn’t belong inside a human form.

From deep within, the sound of cracking bones began to echo outward.

Crack!!

Crack!!!

Crack!!!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Ash’s scream tore through the enclosed space, his voice raw and wild with agony. It was fortunate that he had activated a noise-blocking artifact beforehand, otherwise even the birds above the surface would have scattered in fear.

His body began to convulse violently. Every muscle twisted unnaturally, as if someone were pulling them in opposite directions. It felt like his organs were being crushed one by one, squeezed in a grip so tight it forced the air from his lungs.

He hadn’t felt something like this in a very long time. Not since his worst battles. Not since the moments he thought he might actually die.

His skin turned red, glowing with internal heat. Steam began rising in waves from his body, and every vein beneath his skin became sharp and visible, outlined like glowing threads of fire. Despite the severity of the damage, the Rune of Life did not activate. It remained still, as if waiting, as if watching what would happen.

His golden-tinted bones cracked sharply, twisted into unnatural angles. His blood boiled within, surging violently as it tried to escape the pressure. Parts of his skin peeled and melted, unable to withstand the internal chaos.

This wasn’t growth. This was destruction.

For more than ten minutes, Ash was caught in that hell. Every second stretched like a lifetime, filled with nothing but suffering.

By the time it ended, his body was a wreck. He looked less like a human and more like a broken construct, a creature destroyed from the inside out. Skin peeled. Bones fractured. Blood pooled around him.

And then, in the silence that followed, the Rune of Life finally responded.

A soft green glow began to rise from his chest. Slowly at first, then spreading across his entire body like the light of dawn cutting through a storm. His wounds began to heal rapidly. Muscles reformed. Flesh closed. Bones mended themselves and shifted back into place.

His height increased slightly, just enough to notice. His silvery hair turned whiter, almost like frost touched by moonlight.

His skin, already pale, took on an even more ethereal quality, as though he had been sculpted from marble. Yet all of it was stained red, covered in layers of dried blood that clung stubbornly to his skin.

Time passed in silence, save for the soft humming of mana as it worked within him.

Almost three hours later, his body finally moved.

Blink!! Blink!!

His eyes opened slowly. The rocky ceiling above was the first thing he noticed.

Right... I lost consciousness after drinking the potion.

His thoughts came sluggishly, as if rising from the depths of murky water. He took a deep breath and tried to push himself up, but his body refused to move properly.

He collapsed back onto the cold stone floor with a soft grunt.

What is going on? My limbs feel like they’ve lost all their strength. I can’t even lift my hand properly.

He stared up at the ceiling in frustration.

"Were these the side effects? I don’t remember the World Tree ever mentioning anything like this."

He sighed, resigned to the aftermath.

"Looks like I’ll have to wait until I recover some stamina.../."

Status.

***

[Attributes]

Strength – 400

Agility – 400

Vitality – 400

Intelligence – 400

Stamina – 400

Charm – 400

Mana – 400

--

Nice, my stats are finally maxed out for this rank. I now just need to connect another Rune to the Tree in my Soul Space. Once that’s done, I’ll be able to advance to the next rank...

But the question is, which Rune should I use...?

Ash closed his eyes for a moment, letting his thoughts wander as he sat in silence. The decision felt important, but he couldn’t find any particular logic pointing him in one direction. After thinking about it for nearly ten minutes, he made his choice.

He decided to go with the Rune of Concealment. There was no deep reasoning behind it. No complex strategy or foresight. He just felt like choosing it. That was all.

Now that I’m about to enter my Soul Space for the second time, I should also take this opportunity to change the anchor of my Runic magic. Instead of my core, I believe linking it directly to the Tree inside my Soul will offer far better control and efficiency.

This wasn’t just a random thought. It made sense. If the Runic spells were drawn through the Tree in his Soul Space, their connection to the Runes would become more stable and powerful. However, Ash knew there were limits.

After all, without fully comprehending the Runes themselves, spell creation became a long and sometimes frustrating process.

It wasn’t as simple as imagining something and making it real. The theory that existed in his mind might not always align with the nature of the Rune. Sometimes, the concept required to form a particular spell might be completely missing, simply because he didn’t possess the Rune that represented that specific truth.

Even if I manage to picture a spell clearly in my head, there’s always a chance it won’t work. The reason is simple—the Rune might not agree with the logic, or the concept might not exist within the set of Runes I’ve bonded with or my imaginative theory is wrong.

Of course, if I had a deeper understanding behind each Rune, it would make everything much easier. But for now, that kind of comprehension is still far beyond my reach.

He slowly inhaled and exhaled, letting the tension ease out of his shoulders. Then, with calm focus, he directed his attention to the center of his forehead—his glabella. His breath slowed, and his mind began to empty.

Within a few seconds of steady concentration, a pull emerged from within. It wasn’t forceful, but it was unmistakable. His consciousness began to drift, gently pulled inward.

It was like sinking beneath still water.

***

After entering his Soul Space, Ash found himself standing directly in front of the massive black tree once again. The sky above stretched endlessly, painted in a calm shade of blue, as if frozen in time.

But the water below, covering the ground like a mirror, was black and murky. It didn’t reflect the sky. It didn’t shine. It looked heavy and cold, almost like it was hiding something beneath its still surface.

Those chaotic memories floated near the surface, polluting everything with their presence. As for his true memories, the ones that were completely his, they were hidden far beneath the darkness.

Letting out a long breath through his nose, Ash lowered himself onto the ground in front of the tree. He didn’t waste time.

With calm focus, he began to repeat the entire process he always followed when creating spells. One by one, he reviewed the theories and concepts in his mind and began storing them into the tree. Although the process was long and draining, there was no other way.

Luckily, with his sharp memory, it didn’t take him too long. In Soul Space, time moved differently.

Around one whole day passed, and by the end of it, he had successfully encrypted every spell theory he had created into the tree. He left nothing behind.

The only thing still left was testing those spells in reality—but that could wait. He didn’t need to do it now.

Once that was done, Ash turned his focus to the next step. He called out to the Rune of Concealment within his mind and willed it to fuse with the tree’s trunk. The moment he did, something shifted.

As if it had been waiting for that command, the symbols that floated around the tree like a slow-moving barrier suddenly began to react. They shimmered faintly and drifted down, moving toward the thick black bark of the tree.

One by one, those symbols began to merge into the surface, like drops of water being absorbed by dry earth.

The moment the Rune completely fused, the tree began to glow softly, and this time Ash could see everything clearly. There was no bright light.

Lines of dark grey light started to spread across the trunk. They moved like veins, carrying some kind of quiet energy across the tree. The tree already had silver and white veins.

And then the leaves bloomed.

Some of the branches began to bloom with new leaves—dark grey in color, shaped differently from the others. The older ones also became more vibrant, their colors deepening as if the Rune had awakened something in them.

The entire tree grew taller and thicker. Its branches stretched higher into the sky, and its roots seemed to dig deeper into the water below. The energy inside the Soul Space shifted.

Outside of his Soul Space, his real body began to glow. A faint aura surrounded him for a few seconds before fading away. That was it.

Ash had reached Adept Rank.

There was no huge power surge. No sudden boost in strength.

For most people, ranking up meant removal of impurity from their mana core and a purging of filth and dirtiness in their body. That process alone gave a huge jump in strength and clarity. But Ash was different.

His mana core had already been refined. There were no impurities left in his body. Everything that could be cleansed had already been purified through pain and force. There was nothing left to remove. So his breakthrough was silent. Almost like a formality.

Ash stretched his neck a little and took a deep breath.

"Status."

***

[Status]

Name – Ash Burn

Race – Human

Age – 15

Class – Magic Swordsman (Unique)

Rank – Adept (D- Rank) – (0%)

Affinity

– Lightning, Life, Death, Space

---

[Attributes]

Strength – 401

Agility – 401

Vitality – 401

Intelligence – 401

Stamina – 401

Charm – 401

Mana – 401

---

[Traits]

- Codex of Creation (Adept)

- Primordial Core (Incomplete) (Rank- ???)

***

He was truly happy with the progress he had made so far. Not only had he gained three chances to create skills, but the Codex of Creation had also unlocked its third ability.

And to his surprise, that ability turned out to be something he had secretly wished for. He hadn’t spoken it aloud, hadn’t expected it to come true this easily, but somehow, he got exactly what he had been hoping for.

**

‣ Rune Combination:Allows the user to combine two or more Runes to form a skill.

**

Although the description was short and didn’t go into too much detail, Ash didn’t mind at all. It was exactly what he had been waiting for. This single ability alone had opened up an entirely new path for him—one filled with endless possibilities and room to grow.

Now, he would be able to create skills that were far more unique, more versatile, and even more suited to his fighting style. He didn’t have to limit himself to the nature of a single Rune anymore.

He could blend them. Weave them together. Shape new effects that no one else could predict.

He felt a sense of quiet satisfaction, knowing that the path ahead now looked much wider than before.

With everything complete, Ash felt that he was ready. His preparations were done. There was no reason to stay here any longer.

He was more than ready to return to the academy.

Just wait a few more hours, Elysia...

I’m bringing you here soon.

END OF VOLUME 2 - POWER UP

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A/N: Hello dear readers!!

First of all, thank you so much for all the support you’ve shown me till now. I genuinely mean it from the bottom of my heart. Your encouragement, kind comments, collections, and votes have kept me going even during the days when I felt like doing nothing at all. So please, continue supporting me just like you always have—it means more to me than I can ever express.

Honestly, I just wanted to say thank you. Nothing major. No announcements or hype. Just a simple and heartfelt thank you from me to all of you who’ve stuck around.

Also, I know I haven’t exactly been keeping my promises when it comes to uploading Chapters based on the number of power stones, collections, or reviews. I sincerely apologize for that. I truly wanted to follow through on it, but over time, I came to a bit of a realization. My daily schedule has become really packed. Once I account for college classes, studying, eating, sleeping, and the usual exhaustion, by the time I sit down to write, there’s almost no time left.

So instead of trying to force myself to write extra Chapters when my schedule just doesn’t allow it, I’ve decided to remove that condition entirely. It feels more honest and less stressful that way. But don’t worry—I haven’t forgotten the excitement of a mass release. In fact, I’ll still be doing one, just not based on the earlier promises. I can’t give you a fixed date for it yet, but it will definitely happen soon.

And when it does, it won’t just be filled with filler or normal everyday scenes—I plan to drop it when the tension is high, when the plot is at its peak, and when I know it’ll hit harder. I want the experience to be worth the wait.

That’s all I wanted to share for now. Once again, thank you so much for continuing to support me. You guys truly keep this story alive.

Love you all, and please take care of yourselves too!! 💙