Chapter 635 Runecrafted
Karl stared at the potion for a little longer. He was going to modify it. He could apologize to the Archbishop later if it didn't work.
Or maybe run away with Lord Nacht. Whichever seemed safer at the time.
Fortunately, the runes were simple for what he wanted to do. So, he moved the potion to Remi's space and carefully portioned a little bit into another beaker. One third of maximum power flow for three times the duration was one complex compound rune that attached smoothly to the Power Surge rune. Karl took that as a sign that he had done something right, and carefully modified all the runes in the smaller vial.
As the last one was completed, Karl got a notification.
{[Vial of Overlord Potion] Part 1 of 3}
Interesting.
So, he made two more, and watched as he got the notification two more times. Then, he carefully mixed them into one larger potion bottle, though still half the size of the original.
{Runic Overlord Potion}
Chance of Success 4%+5%
Chance of Partial Success 40% +5%
Chance of Failure 54% -10%
Chance of Critical Failure 2%
{Warning: Runic Potions are incompatible with some species.}
Karl considered that for a moment. It didn't say what species, so this might either be flat out better, or totally useless to the GDN if it didn't work on humans.
He opened his eyes and realized that everyone around him was sitting and eating dinner as the sun went down.
"How long was I out of it? I lost track of time." He asked.
"About six hours?" Tessa guessed, and Overlord Drath nodded in agreement. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Well, at least I have something to show for it. Here, the modified potion. It should have a five percent better chance of both one and three Rank increases, with ten percent less failure chance as a result. However, the system says that some species can't use it, and I have no idea what ones." Karl informed the Bishop.
The ancient dragon nodded. "Yes, it was thoroughly satisfying. Now I have a new Bishop for the Black Dragon."
"Who is going to hold a grudge." Karl added.
"Irrelevant. She's from here in the city, and I will be headed home once my business is done."
The Archbishop came over with a smile. "Is it true? The potion's effectiveness could be increased?"
Karl nodded. "Not the effectiveness, exactly. But the chance of success increased by five percent for both stages of success. Now the base success rate is over fifty percent before modifiers and luck."
"A week well spent, then. Come with me, we need to discuss this in private."
Karl didn't even have time to react before Nacht was shoving him through a portal, followed by the two Totem Rank leaders, and the unconscious Bishop.
"Start from the beginning. What did you do to my potion? At your Rank, you shouldn't have even been able to mix in a single ingredient without it fading." The Archbishop began.
"I actually didn't add ingredients, or remake the potion itself.
There are magical runes in the potion, but they were incomplete. No, that's not the right word. They were unregulated. I added a runic phrase to slow the effect. That way, the users were less likely to explode, as my friend Remi so eloquently put it." Karl explained, then drew the rune in the air with his finger.
The Archbishop took him to a large oak desk and sat him in the plush leather chair in front of golden writing tools and a stack of paper. He had pens, pencils with various cores, paint brushes and various paints and inks to choose from.
But he wasn't making a skill book, it was just a rune, so he chose a small paint brush and plain black ink, which the Archbishop appeared to have ground from an ink stone and not purchased as a liquid.
"This is the part I added, and this is the compound rune that I formed." He explained a few seconds later.
Nacht leaned over the desk. "Oh, I see. And you said that this additional part was already in the potion?" Both Karl and the Archbishop nodded in unison, and the Archbishop gestured towards a wall full of runic writing.
"It's one of the power runes for holy items of all sorts. This potion is my own creation, but my Runecrafting skills are limited. I know the language fairly well, but I don't have it as a System Skill."
Karl considered that, then pulled a jar of silver ink and a stack of paper over.
"We might be able to fix that. I have the skill, and a skill for creating Skill Books. Let's see how this goes." He suggested.
Lord Nacht laughed, and the Archbishop sighed, then gestured at the book case. "I already considered that. But I won't turn down a spare copy."
Karl saw that there was a [Runecrafting] book on the shelf, but it was ancient and damaged. Not an active Skill Book.