Lord of the Sky City

"I just can’t live like this anymore."

With a long sigh, Rocky tried to calm himself and avoid thinking about the affairs of Thunderhawk City.

The current state of Thunderhawk City was simply deplorable, lacking in both clothing and food. Being the City Lord under such conditions, Rocky couldn’t feel the slightest joy of his position.

To change the plight of Thunderhawk City, there seemed to be only one method, and that was Mana Runes! If Rocky could learn Mana Runes and utilize them well, Thunderhawk City would surely be transformed.

The greatest use of Mana Runes was to provide unlimited mana to equipment, significantly enhancing the power of Mana Equipment. This was something Wen Seer specifically mentioned in his research notes, and he hoped to empower people to fight against demons with this method.

However, there was something Wen Seer didn’t anticipate, that shortly after his death, the project of Flying Armor he mentioned in his last words was developed successfully. It produced the Void Magic Armor, which was far more powerful than Mana Equipment!

If Wen Seer had known about this, he would have been extraordinarily excited, and with his intelligence, he would have immediately realized something—that the Mana Runes he invented were the perfect match for the Void Magic Armor!

Once the Magic Stone inside the Void Magic Armor was replaced with Mana Runes that had fewer restrictions and could provide more energy, the combat capability of the Void Magic Armor would instantly break through existing limits and reach heights unimaginable to anyone. It could even open a new door, allowing the Void Magic Armor to evolve again!

All of these possibilities were the future of Mana Runes and the future of Rocky. When he had mastered all of this, would he still worry about Thunderhawk City running out of food for the winter? Would he still fret over the Guard Corps not having equipment?

Certainly not!

By then, he would have become one of the most formidable individuals under this sky! Rocky firmly believed in this.

And to be awesome in the future, he had to work hard now, starting with learning how to draw runes.

So he quickly put his worries aside and focused all his attention on his studies.

Having calmed himself, Rocky took out a piece of equipment from the box full of them, a wrist guard, and then picked up a pen.

But the pen in his hand was no ordinary pen. It was the Magic Energy Pen, an important tool for inscribing Mana Runes, specially modified for this purpose.

The function of the Magic Energy Pen was to turn magic power into marks left on an item. To put it plainly, it used magic power as ink, and only with this Magic Energy Pen could one draw runes that would be considered Mana Runes.

After getting a hold of the Magic Energy Pen, Rocky activated his magic power and slowly drew a strange symbol on the wrist guard.

This strange symbol was a Mana Rune, more precisely, a First Level Mana Rune.

The principle of the Mana Runes was using magic power in the form of symbols to sustain energy. The crucial point was that the Rune had to be drawn without a single mistake in order to be effective; otherwise, it was just a useless symbol.

According to the research notes, a First Level Mana Rune was not too complicated, but even so, Rocky drew very slowly. This was not only because he was drawing for the first time but also because he knew he couldn’t rush in this matter. Otherwise, even a slight deviation would lead to a failed inscription.

But the more he thought about being careful, the less his hand seemed to obey him, and an inadvertent jitter caused the nearly completed rune to instantly vanish into nothing.

"Huff..."

Watching the half-finished rune disappear from the bracer, Rocky took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

In just a short amount of time, he was drenched in sweat. This was due to the tension of his first rune drawing and also because the task was much more difficult than he had imagined, nowhere near as simple as the notes made it seem.

As for the failure, it was something Rocky had anticipated. He wasn’t the least bit discouraged. It would have been surprising if he had succeeded on his first try.

Taking another deep breath to steady his hand, he began to draw the rune on the wrist guard once again...

As time ticked by, Rocky’s second attempt at drawing also failed quickly, followed by a third try, then the fourth, fifth, sixth. He kept trying over and over again, only to meet with failure repeatedly, as if stuck in an endless loop.

Through these numerous failures, Rocky gradually came to understand the difficulty of inscribing runes. It was a hundred times harder than he had ever imagined!

Regarding the methods of drawing First Level Runes, the research notes were very detailed, and they looked not too difficult. Rocky had memorized everything in a short amount of time, but it wasn’t until he started drawing them himself that he realized the difficulty was entirely different from what he had imagined.

Continuous failure even led him to reopen the research notes, wondering if he had remembered the methods incorrectly. The results proved his memory was fine; everything was difficult simply because creating a successful Mana Rune was really hard.

And it wasn’t until the evening that he finally stopped, not because he was tired or frustrated, but because his Magic Power had been completely drained.

The amount of Magic Power required to draw First Level Runes was minimal, after all, the Mana they could bear was also very limited, but still, his Magic Power was consumed in the repeated failures until he had no choice but to stop.

However, although the process was filled with failures, Rocky felt not the slightest bit discouraged when he stopped; on the contrary, he was quite pleased.

Because when he had used up all of his Magic Power, although he still had not managed to draw a successful Rune, at least he could now draw the Rune in one go. Perhaps the flaws in the details made the Rune he drew useless, but it was much better than his first attempt at drawing. This was progress!

With progress, there was hope!

So after he stopped, Rocky was actually very satisfied with his performance today, and he felt that if this momentum continued, he may well be able to draw a successful Rune very soon.

This anticipation filled him with confidence, and then he decided that tonight he had to get a good night’s sleep to recover his Magic Power and rejuvenate his spirit for continuing tomorrow.

"Liliya?"

Leaving the study, Rocky saw Liliya standing at the door, which surprised him, "Have you been waiting here for me the whole time?"

"Not waiting for you, protecting you."

Looking at him, Liliya spoke meticulously, "Although I am now also the captain of the Guard Corps, I am still your protector."

"You... you’ve worked hard..."

Liliya’s words warmed Rocky’s heart; clearly, not only was he busy working hard in Thunderhawk City, so were others.

"Your complexion... doesn’t look very good."

As Rocky was reflecting, Liliya looked at him with some concern.

To this, Rocky casually waved his hand, telling her not to worry, that he was only drained of Magic Power. But upon hearing this, Liliya nodded, "Perhaps that’s a good thing. Continuous use of Magic Power can greatly improve your control over it. If you keep this up, you’ll become a Level Two Mage very soon."

"Spare me, I just want to eat now."

Rocky really couldn’t stand Liliya’s habit of getting serious at the drop of a hat, so he quickly interrupted.

But he was truly getting hungry. When he was focusing all his attention on drawing Runes, he hadn’t felt it, but the moment he stopped, he was starving, especially since he hadn’t eaten all day.

"Dinner has already been prepared for you. I had someone place it in your bedroom."

"That’s great! You’re the most thoughtful!"

Giving Liliya a thumbs-up, Rocky hurried back to his bedroom.

Watching his famished retreat, Liliya sighed.

"Thoughtful..."

"It’s only because you’re someone who needs to be taken care of..."