Chapter 14

014 A Pleasant Surprise

Afterward, Wu Wei browsed through the other shops in the trading market on his way to the academy-run runic shop.

The academy-run runic shop had many welfare perks for student-customers. Not only was the price lower, but the quality of the goods was also generally satisfactory.

As Wu Wei needed runes now, the first place that came to mind was naturally the academy’s runic shop.

“I need to take a look at Level 10 summoning runes!”

Once he entered the rune shop, Wu Wei went straight to the counter.

The salesperson in the shop was obviously a part-time student as well. She was a good-looking young lady with a pleasant personality.

And this was more evident than usual.

In the past, when Wu Wei came, she would only wear a polite and professional smile, but when she saw Wu Wei today, her smile was extremely lovely.

She enthusiastically brought Wu Wei to the Level-10 Summoning Rune shelf.

“The Level 10 summoning runes are all here!”

“Is this all?”

Wu Wei looked at the shelf in front of him that was obviously smaller than the other shelves. Then, he noticed that the shelf was not very stocked up, causing him to frown slightly.

“As you know, customer, summoning runes are not produced as much as other runes, so the quantity is low. However, the quality will still be good. There are even [Uncommon] summoning runes among them!

For example, this Goblin Warrior is pretty good. It’s an [Uncommon] summoning rune that only costs 198 runic stones!”

Although the young lady promoted passionately, Wu Wei did not have much enthusiasm for the Goblin Warrior.

On the one hand, he felt that this summon would not be as good as his Yellow Turban Strongman. On the other hand, the price of 198 runic stones was too costly. Right now, he only had about 60 runic stones to spare.

However, since the lady took the initiative to hand it over for examination, Wu Wei subconsciously picked it up.

At the same time that Wu Wei took the rune, the attribute window appeared in front of Wu Wei’s eyes.

..

Rune:

Level:

Quality:

(1 Advancement Condition Known)

Description: Mm… other than the fact that this Goblin Warrior does not have very impressive combat strength and is prone to committing dishonorable actions such as running away in cowardice once in a while, he’s not that bad!

..

Upon seeing the text on the window, Wu Wei’s eyes narrowed.

Focusing on ‘1 Advancement Condition Known’, Wu Wei subconsciously clicked on it, and a line of words appeared.

..

Condition 1: 1x Goblin Warrior Rune (Incomplete)

..

This line of text almost caused Wu Wei to burst out in excitement.

Frankly speaking, although he had successfully advanced Yellow to a Yellow Turban Strongman, he still did not have much confidence in his ‘cheat’.

He had not known if this ‘cheat’ could be used on other runes. After all, he hadn’t seen such signs on other runes before.

But today, Wu Wei confirmed that his ‘cheat’ could be used on other runes for the first time.

As long as he could meet the advancement conditions, like with Yellow, he would definitely be able to level other summoning runes, such as the one in his hand.

However, other concerns also popped up in Wu Wei’s head.

“Why is there only one condition? Does it mean I cannot copy the conditions I unlocked for Yellow?

Or is it just a matter of compatibility?”

Wu Wei decided he could only put it to this test to find an answer.

Right now, Wu Wei was eager to confirm if other summoning runes, besides this Goblin Warrior, could also be advanced.

With this thought in mind, Wu Wei asked his young lady to pass him the summoning runes one by one for examination.

The young lady was not surprised by Wu Wei’s request. After all, the inscription of runes could be said to be a matter of fate. There were frequently such hesitant Runemasters who made similar requests.

Therefore, Wu Wei’s request was not out of the ordinary. The only thing was that he requested a larger quantity.

Of course, the lady would not bother going the extra mile, whatever the request was if it were an ordinary customer.

However, since she found Wu Wei’s face very agreeable when she took a closer look, she accommodated and began assisting him.

In no time, Wu Wei had inspected all thirteen Level 10 runes on the shelf.

His conclusion was that all of the runes could be upgraded.

When he had held each rune, he could see if there were any ‘Advancement Condition(s) Known.’

The sole difference was in the number of conditions. It ranged from 1 to 3.

Of course, for Wu Wei, the number of revealed conditions was not important. What was important was that, to him, the grade of the rune itself bore little significance.

Because no matter what grade it was, he would be able to raise it.

He now enjoyed the luxury of a cost-efficient method for acquiring higher-grade runes!

And because of this, Wu Wei could instead focus on the summon’s actual utility!

Having examined all the summoning runes, Wu Wei began to ponder. He was making a serious consideration over his second core rune.

‘Yellow is a Yellow Turban Strongman. He will definitely continue to be the close-combat type.’

‘In that regard, I think he will be good enough. After all, I can’t have both summons on the frontlines. I should prioritize my own safety as well.’

‘Mm… besides… it seems like I’ll continue to remain solo from now on, so this is what I should focus on.’

‘For my second core rune, it will be optimal to choose a summoning rune that provides support and defense!’

Having reached this conclusion, Wu Wei recalled the attributes of the 13 runes he had inspected.

Out of the 13 summoning runes, other than the Goblin Warrior, all of them were common grade runes, but this was not a problem for Wu Wei could upgrade them.

Of the remaining 12 runes, however, there wasn’t really anything special.

The best one that matched what Wu Wei wanted was the [Lesser Treant Rune].

..

Rune:

Level:

Quality:

(3 Known Advancement Conditions)

Price:

Description: It’s a Treant Rune; what else is there to explain?

..

Its attributes were extremely ordinary – or rather, way too ordinary. To put it bluntly, they were trash.

Wu Wei was considering the Treant Rune partly because it came with three known advancement conditions.

Other than the condition involving the [Boar Slaughtering Slash], it could use the others. Hence, Wu Wei would only need to find one more – a fourth condition – to raise it to [Uncommon]-grade. Then, it would definitely become much stronger.

Its defense was not bad, on top of having some usefulness in healing, so Wu Wei felt that it was quite suitable for his current level.

However, it was just a feeling.

Picking a second core rune was a matter of great importance. Hence Wu Wei would not make a decision right away.

Moreover, Wu Wei felt that although it was fine, he would not be satisfied with just this.

“Well, guess I’ll look around again. I don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret!”