The Runic Alchemist

Once the spell was complete, Damian used the mana threads to manipulate the spell, bringing the long sides of the invisible box as close as possible. When they could no longer move closer, he activated two additional runic magic circles for the wormhole spell with his hands, keeping the size just enough to match the box's smaller side so as not to waste more mana than necessary.

One wormhole he placed at the top of the inside of the invisible box, while the other was positioned at the bottom.

These wormholes were special, created specifically for this task, with their parameters altered. The top wormhole's exit was just outside the invisible box, only inches apart, while the bottom one's exit was near Damian's hand. It wasn't a vertical circle, but a horizontal one, like a dark hole hovering just above the floor.

The purpose of this configuration was to use the horizontal wormhole entrance to fill the invisible box with water from the bottom wormhole. The wormhole didn't allow air or water to pass unless something with sufficient mass pushed through it. Air didn't qualify, nor did individual water droplets—only a continuous body of water could cross the wormhole.

Once the water did pass through, the exit, being horizontal, would allow the water to be pulled down by gravity, holding the body of water in place in the effects of gravity—at least, theoretically it should.

The wormhole at the top was designed to expel all the air, pushed out by the rising pressure of the water. Damian had theorized that air was the reason the box wasn't closing properly, and now, he had a chance to test his theory. Surprisingly, he nailed it on his very first try.

Slowly but surely, the water's surface rose within the invisible box (with Paul holding the water rune parchments that Damian had activated), pushing the air out completely. Then, after removing the top wormhole, Damian used mana threads to shift the position of the horizontal wormhole's exit, letting gravity take over to empty the water and create an air-free vacuum inside the invisible box.

There were still a few drops of water remaining, but compared to the air, it was negligible. Now, he could finally test his theory.

Damian quickly used the mana threads powering the box to alter its runic structure, bringing the two long sides closer together—and guess what? It worked! The long sides finally merged, with the water droplets spread across the compressed surface, making the once-invisible box now visible to the naked eye.

Paul and Kyle had seen water just hovering on air in perfect box size, with purple wormholes and were doubly confused and equally intrigued, till finally they saw the perfect slab of invisible walls, finger thick, that stood before them hovering in the air responding to Damian's manipulation of it's position and exclaimed, as if he was putting on a show for them.

The theory had proven correct. Now, Damian just needed to figure out a permanent solution. Surely this had leveled up his [Being of Truth] skill; perhaps he should ask for a status tool later to see his updated status—it had been a while since he last looked at it. For the next two and a half hours, Damian experimented with the spell, testing its limits and mana consumption.

It was sturdier than he had anticipated. The two layers acted as one, shielding against many attacks. Only a high-ranked second rank fighter or an exceptionally strong pugilist could break it with normal attacks. A special spell or a powerful technique would be required to bypass this shield otherwise.

The two initially confused and then amazed guards were now fired up, helping Damian test the shield further. But Damian couldn't afford such a lengthy process every time he wanted to summon the shield. He would need to think more about how to streamline it.

For now, he shelved the idea and moved on to the next item on his list: executing some of his older ideas, which he had put aside due to the limited budget for his research. Many wild ideas constantly ran through his head, but the one he needed most right now was a golem spell.

With enough parchments, he could combine them to create an enormous runic circle capable of absorbing vast amounts of mana from the surroundings and summoning an incredible golem. The runic circle for an earth golem used dirt to construct the golem's body, but this was weak.

While others might not have noticed, Damian had—the runic circle for dirt golems attracted dirt directly beneath it or from its immediate surroundings. But how did spell differentiate between what was defined as dirt particles, stone, or iron particles? Maybe dirt was just the lightest and reacted the most earliest..?

What if, by powering the spell enough, Damian could force it to construct a solid body while preventing dirt particles from entering the circle? The spell would be forced to use materials in its immediate surroundings—in this case, whatever Damian could place inside his invisible box.

Of course, even the lowest-quality dirt golem required an entire parchment just to form its body. Even after combining ten parchments, Damian doubted it would provide enough mana to construct a good wooden or iron golem. He would need to create an enormous runic circle for any significant results.

Keeping such a project secret would be impossible—most likely, the two guards accompanying him were periodically reporting everything he did to their superiors.

Despite that Damian just let himself go wild and began sewing together the largest parchment he had ever attempted. They already thought of him as a powerful individual; one more spell wouldn't change much. Right now, he needed to do everything in his power to stay alive long enough for the Bonecrusher to arrive so that he and the commander could find a solution to their problem in peace.

The Ashenvale army coming marching through the Wraith's passage had everyone in the camp on edge. All doing their parts in the preparation of the upcoming prolonged battle to defend their home.

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