The following morning, the first thing he checked was his status to see how much Runic Energy he had regenerated and also if he'd lost any integrity in his knowledge about runes.
Name: Orion Vaelor
Exile Gear: Infinite Dream
Specialization: Creation
Origin Energy: 1,704.43 Units
Physique: 117.68
Matter Limit: 20 KG
Runic Energy: 43/117 Units [Grade II]
Slot I: Grade 1 Light (100%)
Slot II: Grade 1 Storm (100%)
Techniques: (Expand)
Knowledge:
Japanese Language (Integrity 100%)
Compendium of Elemental Runes (Integrity 100%)
Forty-three? That means the full thing takes around twenty-four hours to regenerate… Then again, considering that Runic Energy is essentially a mutated version of mental energy, and I didn't feel the slightest fatigue from consuming everything, I shouldn't mind too much. I can only hope it doesn't lower the recovery if I'm active instead of sleeping…
Although a little disappointed, he didn't let it get to him and quickly got ready for today. He was motivated to scavenge some diesel and finally finish that movie that he'd been deprived of.
I'm like a fucking dog… She threw me a bone and told me to work for her.
Orion decided that he wouldn't completely demean himself for the beautiful actress next door.
She's like a block of ice anyway, cold and numbing.
He quickly got ready for the day, and, for once, Mai was the one who knocked on his door, seemingly ready to go. While he was surprised, he acted cordially, offering her a glass of water, unlike her cold anti-welcome whenever he went into her apartment.
Even though she refused and chose to wait outside, it was the meaning behind the offer that counted to him.
Neither of them mentioned anything about the power issue and went on their way.
The rest of the day went by largely the same as before, as he went out with Rio and Yuuma to continue killing zombies. Since he was still hiding things about himself from them, he didn't show them any of his new runic abilities and continued using the katana.
This time, he kept in mind to look for diesel, but that ended up being a notoriously difficult ask. After half the day, he barely found a ten-litre container that he placed in a location where he could collect it on the way back. After a little while, he told Rio and Yuuma that he had something to do and ditched them for a while.
He quickly ran away at his full speed, hoping that they didn't have any way to track him. He was now fully aware of Rio and Yuuma's stats, and they were barely in the mid forties to early fifties, making it impossible for them to keep up with him at his full speed.
"Sakurajima-san, I'm going to sleep for about an hour, try to keep watch and don't let me die, okay?" He called out without any response. His words were more of a good luck charm if anything. He had no clue about Mai's stats, but he hoped that she was better than Rio and Yuuma and could still keep up with him.
With his lucky charm incantation—asking Mai to protect him—spoken, he closed his eyes and communicated with his gear.
Origin Energy: 3245.64 Units -> 745.64 Units
Appearing in the same classroom as the other dreams related to runes, he was given the standard welcome from the older teacher, who seemed to be in his early fifties.
"You wanna learn the Rune of Inspection, huh?"
"I do," he felt that it would be impolite to respond in any other way.
With that, the longest dream Orion had ever dreamt started. It started off with the same process as the other runes, having him draw it, imbue his runic energy into the stencil, and create the rune without any reference. Just that much took him almost a century to accomplish. And from what he understood, the Rune of Inspection was a simpler one.
Still, more than twenty-five years were remaining for the dream that cost him two thousand five hundred units of Origin Energy. He spent those twenty-five years in meditation. Trying to connect with an existing Aspected Rune of Inspection so that he would be able to duplicate it himself.
Finally, as the dream ended, he had acquired his first Aspected Rune. And it was a special one, very different from what he had expected.
Knowledge:
Japanese Language (Integrity 100%)
Compendium of Elemental Runes (Integrity 100%)
Rune of Inspection (Integrity 100%)
Once he woke up, he still had to consume ten units of origin energy to condense the rune in his soul, which he did immediately. Unlike the other runes, this one was very delicate, and he could directly feel the integrity of the knowledge he had spent a hundred and twenty-five years learning being reduced by the second. The good thing was that this one didn't take up any of the predefined slots and instead randomly floated in his mindscape. At the same time, it disappeared from the Knowledge tab of his status, telling him that it was a completely permanent thing.
He stood up and dusted himself off before noticing two dead zombies near him that hadn't been there before.
"I knew you were watching, Mai," he smiled with a pleased expression, but a chill immediately went down his spine, and he imagined Mai pressing the tip of her sword on the back of his head. "Sakurajima-san…" He gulped cautiously, and the chill disappeared.
What a troublesome woman. But for her to be able to keep up with my current physical stats while I was actively trying to ditch those two… Getting closer to her is going to pay off in endless dividends in the future. Now, if I could just inspect her and see if she is actually a native or not… Later. My priority is to identify Rio right now.
With the new rune active and working, he glanced at his status one last time before departing.
Name: Orion Vaelor
Exile Gear: Infinite Dream
Specialization: Creation
Origin Energy: 745.64 Units
Physique: 117.68
Matter Limit: 20 KG
Runic Energy: 97/117 Units [Grade II]
Aspected Runes: [Grade 1 Inspection]
Slot I: Grade 1 Light (100%)
Slot II: Grade 1 Storm (100%)
Techniques: (Expand)
Knowledge: (Expand)
Aspected Runes had no efficiency percentage because they worked on a more extreme system. Either the rune was made perfectly, or it wouldn't be made at all, in which case, the shard of the rune's respective aspect wouldn't accept it at all and dissipate.
With that, he made his way back to Rio and Yuuma, who were just chilling on the roof of a small shop, waiting for him. Thoughtfully, they didn't ask him any questions beyond Rio suggestively teasing him.
"If I knew you'd need so long to calm your raging libido by yourself, I would've come with you to help," she whispered in his ear as Yuuma scouted their way ahead.
"I'll keep it in mind and invite you next time," he said with a polite smile, and continued on ahead, grumbling inwardly.
Sorry, Mom. I might have to put my dick in crazy… That Inspection Rune is nothing like I'd expected. I've been lied to by the gear.
Despite his inward complaints, he understood that there was no such thing as remote inspection. The Tower of Chaos was a behemoth with its eldritch tentacles spanning the infinite multiverse. Their system was a culmination of countless tests done over countless years. There was a simpler remote inspection rune that could be used, but it wasn't an Aspected Rune, and couldn't actually inspect someone else's system panel. For that, the Aspected Rune of Inspection was required. And this rune worked on the principle of subordinate marks. If he wanted to inspect something, he had to first imbue the subordinate inspection mark on it. That mark would allow him to inspect everything about a person or item without any limitations of distance. That both limited it and made it a lot more versatile than the basic inspect ability to see someone's stats.
Still, for Orion's current purposes, he needed Rio to accept the subordinate inspection mark before he could get any sort of useful information about her.
After seeing the almost insane capabilities of this inspect mark, his first thought had actually been about Mai, on how if he imbued her with this mark, he might be able to track her. But then he remembered his gear's answer about needing a primordial rune to bypass her stealth. He understood that even if Mai accepted the mark, the moment she wanted to disappear, he would probably forget that she even had the mark in the first place. While disappointing, it didn't dishearten him. This rune would help him perfectly achieve his goals, if only with some caveats that needed him to modify his plans.
Once again, the three of them continued farming zombies up until an hour before sunset, at which point they returned to Rio's villa to relax for a bit. Orion kept the ten-litre diesel container in mind and collected it on the way back.
After resting for a while and eating some snacks, they decided to leave. Rio once again offered for Orion to stay for dinner. Unlike the previous day, today he agreed, surprising her to the point that she was stunned for a few seconds.
"I'll walk you out, let's go," Orion said to Mai as she nodded and followed him to the yard outside. "Here's the diesel I promised to get you. I couldn't find any more, but I'll continue looking for more tomorrow."
She nodded. "Sorry."
"What for?" Orion's eyes went wide with surprise.
"For last night," she said. "It was wrong for me not to talk to you first."
"It's fine, I'm used to such passive-aggressive behavior from those around me," he said, waving his arm indifferently. "But I appreciate that you are willing to address this. Not everyone has that in them."
"I'm not a passive-aggressive person," she said without any emotion in her voice.
"If you say so," he shrugged. "I'm going to heed your advice and see how things go."
She nodded and, for the first time since meeting him, she actually bade him farewell before disappearing. "Good night."
Orion was left with a happy and almost awestruck smile on his face when she left.
"Like a dog with a bone…" he said to himself, fully self-aware about his behaviour. But even that failed to wipe the grin from his face. "All right, time for this dog to have his fill."
***
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