After obtaining his Restrain rune, Arthur took out the other two artifacts that he obtained from the dragon. One of them was one he couldn't learn yet, called Replicate, and would allow him to make a copy of himself that had no physical body but looked otherwise the same.
Sadly, he couldn't learn that rune yet. At least, he managed to glean off the information of the hand mirror in his hand. His ability seemed to improve but there were other runes that he can't learn yet, like the flight rune that the runic jet used. There were also the many runes his fortress had.
These runes were in their epitome state, unlike the Restrain rune that was of a lower level that Arthur can learn. The last one, luckily, was something that Arthur could handle.
[Etherealized-Attack: Create an ethereal version of the weapon to increase your attack's strength.]
This was, in its essence, an advanced rune. However, the specificity of it made it enough for Arthur to learn. He had witnessed a similar skill before when he fought against the tamer in the trial, named Lian.
Thus, Arthur began another round of research. First of all, he had to understand what Ether was. This was a difficult subject for him as he had never studied anything . With his laptop in hand, he began to research a different topic.
To his amazement, Arthur found that Ether was an element like fire and water. Most scientists defined it as a sub-element of the Space-element, that was used to create teleportation portals.
The space element was nothing but the mana that could modify space. Thus, Ether is the space defined by mana to give a pseudo-object. There was, in fact, nothing in that space but the elemental mana makes it 'occupied.'
Arthur sighed in frustration as he tried to understand the concept behind these things. Mana was the deriving energy for the world's phenomena, but it was hidden away from normal people.
Many theorists proposed the possibility of mana being an intruder in this world. Others disagreed saying that didn't seem to be the case. Mana wasn't a necessary element for the world to work, but it cannot be, in any way, a disharmonious intruder.
Even still, mana was a peculiar topic for the common people who had not come in contact with it. They built their lives around the normalcy of technology since it was easier to distribute and manufacture than artifacts.
Arthur had to give up his research halfway through because of the lack of resources. Many books weren't available to the public and he would need to carry a certain identity to browse through.
That's why he needed to prepare differently for the college exam. He left the fortress again and headed to the capital. He returned to the tower where he resumed his farming of levels.
The sixth floor was different than the first five, as it was a lot harder. It focused more on the monsters' strength than their numbers.
As he walked in the corridor that looked like it came from an ancient castle, Arthur had an ill-forbidding. He stepped back just in time to dodge the incoming halberd. He glanced to the side and watched the armor that was standing a moment ago glowing with a dangerous light.
It wasn't an undead knight, but a puppet controlled by something stronger. Arthur waved his hand and mana spread to restrain the armor. Its strength was insufficient to break free and Arthur used his skill, Monster Claw, to dismember it.
'Shit, I should've used Shadow Swap.' Arthur realized that he had the chance to use it. He sighed and kept going in the corridor as more and more puppets started attacking him.
Nonetheless, this was still within Arthur's limits. He stormed through the castle until he reached the Lord's chambers, where a single skeleton stood there.
"Jaja, you've done well, challenger." The skeleton spoke and Arthur realized this was going to be harder than he imagined. He glanced at the skeleton's rib cage, which was covered by a robe, and found a single orb floating inside.
"A lich," Arthur muttered with a frown.
"They call me that these days. Before, I was his highness's favorite puppeteer." The lich's bones creaked as it moved. "Now, let's have another round of fun."
Arthur frowned at how human this lich sounded. He also mentioned that he was serving someone, who was it?
"Who is your master?" Arthur asked as he started using his mana. He amplified his body and prepared his skills.
"Hah, that's the first time someone asks. No, there were others. Most of them are dead now." The lich gave a hollow laugh. "If you keep challenging this world, you'll get to meet him. Now," The lich's mana exploded everywhere. "Die."
The mana that the lich used stuck to the walls and the ground as armored knights, dead bodies, and weapons appeared. All of them began attacking Arthur simultaneously. With a wave of his hand, Arthur used the Restrain rune on the first knight heading his way and then used a protection rune right after.
The knight fell to the ground and the weapons bounced off his barrier. After the five seconds were over, the barrier disappeared and Arthur rushed forward using his Release rune.
He appeared on top of the knight and kicked its chest plates. The strength of that attack made the armor fall apart but another was already coming toward Arthur.
The battle was arduous. Soon, it turned into a raging tornado. Arthur also used his shadow swap a few times to escape the attack.
"You're a peculiar one, challenger. Your mana seems infinite." The lich said in amazement. "Nonetheless, it's not enough." It clapped its hands as it began to gather mana.
A ferocious presence descended as the puppeteer unleashed another of its puppets. Arthur was waiting for this chance and he used his teleport rune for the first time. His hand transformed into a claw as he appeared behind the lich and clawed toward its orb.
"You!" The puppeteer was bewildered by the appearance of another ability and the orb inside of it broke apart and fell. Everything in the hall disappeared and Arthur appeared again in the ring of the beginning.
[You have leveled up.]
Despite the lich being weak on its own, its magical ability was powerful. Maybe that's why Arthur leveled up after taking it down. He fell to the ground exhausted after using so much of his mana.
'My stats are not enough.'
Arthur realized that he had been either killing undead creatures or hunting in the tower, neglecting the use of his absorb rune after his breakthrough. The undead gave him more mana while the tower made his level rise.
'I now have 10 stats points and 10 legacy points.' Arthur realized. He opened his legacy and used the ten stats point on his perception, raising it to 160.
"Another first place, challenger." The tower spoke to him. "Here's your prize." A golden ticket appeared. Arthur grabbed it but didn't put it away.
"I want to purchase an artifact with the tickets I gained until now." Arthur took out the five tickets he had and offered them. The tickets disappeared as the tower answered him.
"What do you wish to redeem?"
"A shapeshifting artifact."
"Artifacts are costly, especially the one you're asking for."
"I don't need an all-species shapeshifting artifact, but simply one that allows me to change my features."
"Very well, your tickets are enough for that." The tower answered and a coin appeared in front of Arthur. "Here's your reward, challenger."
"Does it change my features permanently?" Arthur asked wearily.
"No, it shall record your features now. You can always change back into your original face when you want to. However, it requires that you supply it with mana every day. Otherwise, your features will return."
"Okay, thank you," Arthur grabbed the coin. "I wish to leave now." His body then left the tower and appeared in front of its gate. He teleported right away before anyone can see him and headed back into the hotel.
As he sat in the room that Master Ronin had given him, Arthur examined the coin he had obtained. Sadly, he couldn't learn this rune either. However, he could still use the artifact to change his features.
He found the hotel's mirror as he grabbed the coin and headed there. He poured mana into the coin and looked at the mirror. Astonishingly, he could change what he looked like at will. Furthermore, the process was painless.
He began modeling his face. His hair changed into a white-blondish color. His eyes were dyed with a green shade and his nose became smaller.
"Cough, this is the perfect disguise." Arthur looked at himself in the mirror and coughed in embarrassment. He was handsome now, extremely so. His skin looked healthy and his eyes were more charming now. "Okay, this is not going to work." He sighed and started modeling it to downgrade his appearance.
After he was done, he looked a lot less charming. He had freckles over his face and his eyes were hollower. His hair and eye were still the same, blondish-white and green, but they were less attractive now.
He looked like an average nobleman with above-average features. As he looked in the mirror, Arthur grinned as excitement ran through him like an electric current.
He remembered how he watched videos of that flying city in the sky, renowned as the place that changed people's lives. Whoever got into Jerano would make a leap in strength to become a powerhouse.
"Jerano, here I come." This was the beginning of an exciting adventure.