The Runic Artist Chapter 23: Chapter 341 - The Right Tool

Read chapter 23 of The Runic Artist by Ellake on NovelPedia.

Nate stood in the centre of his workshop and painted new channels with Divine Energy onto his body. Each line shone in iridescent gold as he formed the lines that would merge his Art Imitates Life and Life Imitates Art Abilities into a single cohesive whole. For once, Kiri hadn’t pressed him on the name for the new skill. Artist’s Reality . In the corner of the room, Fili sat with Luci, the pair of them watching as he, barechested, painted another line slowly down his left side, carving tiny sigils into every single millimetre so that he looked more like a golden fractal than he did like a human man. “Why all the squiggles?” demanded Luci, feet kicking back and forth as they hung off the floor. The diminutive solar dragon had been in a mood ever since she returned from Verdania. Her victory had been a heavenly high, only to be matched by the lamentable low that followed when she found out that she could not, in fact, keep Verdania as a spoil of war. The Verdant Grove Sect had been pleased with the return of their world and had apparently showered Luci with shinies in the form of golden sap from thousand year old trees that matched the colour of her scales. The offering had somewhat mollified the dragonling, but she was still in a mood about being denied what she saw as her due. “They’re how I channel and form my abilities,” explained Nate. “Each Sigil represents a Concept, drawing on its power. The whorls are designed to allow for different pathways so that I can increase or decrease the mana and Divine Energy I use or even alter the way it manifests. Do you not form your abilities like this?” Luci shook her head vehemently. “Nuh uh! Ankhy says that the form of the ability isn’t as important as the intent. Mine are all planets. There’s the zoomy planet that’s all bright and zippy and moves about. Then there is the blobby planet. It’s yellow and can change shape. Then there is the comet that races around the place like a beam of light. And at the centre is a little me but in the shape of a star! It’s huge!” Nate nodded. He knew Kiri’s abilities weren’t carved into her own body with the same attention to detail as his own, but he’d never bothered to press her on the form they took. Then again, he’d also never modelled for others while carving abilities into his Divine Vessel. “That’s impressive Luci. Will you add a fifth ability or stick with four?” “Ankhy says I need an ability that draws on light to heal myself. But it’s hard! Planets don’t just come apart and go back together. And I am the star! How am I supposed to drink myself to heal myself! That’s just stupid! Ankhy is being stupid!” Nate tapped his lips in thought, the whorls of gold on his right hip continuing to form even as he split off a part of his mind to consider Luci’s problem. “What if it wasn’t drinking? What if you made a planet where the light from your star gave life? And every time you needed to borrow it, you could make your body that planet. That’s how you visualise it right?” Luci leaned forward, staring intently at Nate like she was trying to figure out if he was a crazy person. Then she burst up out of her seat and ran for the door! “I’m going to practise!” she screamed, right before she turned into light and zipped out through the gap under the workshop doors. “Would your idea work?” asked Fili, still in her seat. “I don’t know,” answered Nate, not wanting to shrug as golden fractals spiralled over his shoulders. He used Conceptual Sight’s farsight ability to stare at his own back from a metre away, the feeling somewhat unusual as he looked down at his own body. “But it seemed as good as any and, if Ankh’aris doesn’t like it he’ll let me know. Speaking of training, how is yours going?” Fili bit her lip. “Slower than I had hoped. I think Wulfgar is almost there and Jak’s not far behind. Gwen’s not even working on it, for obvious reasons, which means I am coming last. I’m supposed to be Quick, but it feels like I am the opposite.” “Quick isn’t a set spe