The Runic Alchemist

Damian already knew the layout of the city and was familiar with some of the shops that sold parchment and mana ink. He walked there first, noticing new and unique shops and products on the bustling streets. Toph trumpeted with excitement, blending into the noise of countless voices, but he soon grew tired and flopped onto Damian's shoulder.

Damian purchased as much high-quality material for runic circles as he could find. When he noticed mana stones of various elements selling at a decent price, he bought a good supply of each type. Fire, water, and air stones were the cheapest, while light stones were a bit pricier, and dark element mana stones—rare and expensive—were only shown to him after he'd made a significant purchase. He had already checked prices in other shops, and this one offered the best deal, though the materials were still far beyond what a typical beginner scribe or runesmith could afford. Creation was indeed costly. Nonetheless, Damian bought some extra stones to study them further.

He had to walk a bit farther to find a book shop, but eventually, he and Toph arrived at a particularly fancy-looking establishment. The staff consisted of several beautiful women, with only one other person being upstairs. This treehouse shop was more elegant than others on the street, suggesting either thriving business or a significant investment in appearances.

As he entered, Damian was warmly greeted by the staff. No one seemed to mind his age or Toph's cheerful chirping; instead, the women giggled at the sight of the proud little elephant. However, the shop's appearance wasn't the only reason he'd entered—he was more interested in the presence upstairs. A second-rank mage running a bookstore was not something you saw every day. Damian had encountered only a handful of second-rank mana signatures in the city, and they were usually knights or high-ranked mercenaries seen briefly on the streets. Most second-rankers held roles as knights or village, town lords, and those who did move among the crowds tended to be spies or assassins, avoiding attention. Damian did not want to engage with them; they likely had their own troubles best left alone.

"How may I help you?" a cheerful attendant with dimples asked, smiling.

"I'm looking for books on beasts, monsters, and magical creatures. Also, some advanced and higher-level spellbooks," Damian replied. The attendant's eyes widened a bit, but she maintained her professionalism and showed him a selection of books. He picked three that looked promising: an encyclopedia with hand-drawn images, one covering monster parts and their uses, and another with theories on evolution phases.

For the spellbooks, she led him to the back of the shop, where locked boxes displayed only the titles. He asked to look inside, but it wasn't allowed—probably to prevent copying the contents. Most were too expensive, so he chose one titled

'The Shadowed Rites'

.

He also bought some rune related theory and collection books.

Seeing a dark element spellbook openly sold was surprising, but Damian recalled some scholars arguing that darkness wasn't inherently evil, just the counterpart to light. In fact, many healing spells required both elements to function. This was unlike the chaos element, which civilians feared and labeled as truly evil.

'The Shadowed Rites'

had more dust on it than the other books, indicating how rarely dark element mages appeared. Anyone could use the element but rarely anyone had the affinity to build an arsenal of spells just containing dark element spells or research more on it. Damian on the other hand had mana sense which completely negated the early advantages of elemental affinity. What elemental affinity did for mana related skills of a mage or spellsword was something Damian could sense for all elemental and environmental mana with his excess use of World Shaper Hands. Drawing with mana had made his senses for anything related mana exceptionally sharp. Just this one effect of this skill was so rare and amazing, people would kill to get their hands on it.

Not that Damian could explain his process of obtaining it. You just had to invent or come up with scientifically accurate theories.. That was not something one could teach someone, it had to be one's own desire to create and understand the world and mana. Of course the fact that he saw mana and rules of physics as separate entities made it easier for him than it would be for others in this world.

He was in the middle of paying when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Everyone glanced over as a man in an old but expensive-looking mage robe appeared. He had a bit of stubble and custom-made glasses—it was not an easy thing to get in this day and age. Though glass items sold all over the five kingdoms, the knowledge and trade was controlled by the merchants and very few glasswork craftsmen were in practice for the public, mostly just worked for big noble houses which took the projects entirely for any big orders of glass making or custom orders such as glasses.

Needless to say only the rich could afford it. Damian was happy to see the knowledge of different lenses was not something unknown to this world. Though it was a hard task to find out who exactly came up with it, as with most weird things Damian suspected the empire was behind this as well.

"Oh my… Quite the selection," the man remarked looking at Damian's purchases, smiling as he extended a hand toward Damian. "A young mage, I see?"

"You have a fine collection," Damian replied, putting a smile on the man's face.

Damian was pleased that his bait had worked. Since entering the shop, he'd subtly released a small amount of mana—just enough for a good mage to notice, though invisible to mundanes. He was hoping this would draw the shop owner's attention, as he might gain access to some exclusive books usually reserved for VIP customers. By the looks of it, the shop owner typically dealt with clients of high standing; after all, making this much profit solely from books was no small feat.