Chapter 188: Studying the Rune

The next few days passed uneventfully. Arthur spent his time studying the Restrain rune and reading any articles he can find. His progress picked up the pace once he began studying the science behind the rune. However, what he could find online was insufficient to guide him through the secrets of the world. 

That's why once his rune got to 80%, his progress began slowing. That's when Arthur began examining the artifact's effects through using it. However, he needed some people to use it on. 

"You want to Restrain me?" Zas looked at him with wide eyes when Arthur asked him. "I'm not into that play, sorry." And he ran away like that. 

Arthur cursed for the misunderstanding but he still needed someone to help him. When he asked Ivy, who was working on her cooking skills for some reason, she brought up a valid point. 

"If the rune can't work on people with strength above 200, then it's useless to try it on me and the others." 

Arthur couldn't help but agree. It would prove of little benefit for him to see the rune break over and over again. Luckily, Ivy suggested something. 

"Ruby and Hua are the ones with the least amount of Strength above a hundred. Maybe they can hold back a bit and make it easier for you to research? Hua is fearsome when it comes to controlling techniques." Ivy said as she played with her hair that has grown below her ears recently. 

So, Arthur headed for his best option. That was Ruby. He was still avoiding Hua because she was growing bolder by the day. 

At times, she sat with him in his workshop as he worked on artifacts. He tried to shoo her away, but she simply said that the rest of the fortress had no furniture. Arthur couldn't argue against that despite knowing that Idris was bringing new things every day.

Because of how much time he spent with her, Arthur had also started learning things about the mysterious woman. First of all, she read books in a language he didn't understand. From the covers of those books, they were mostly romance. 

She also didn't train, not even a little bit. Arthur was the same since his training was his studying, but she was different. She simply lazed around all day. 

To be fair, she did train her ability. The chair she sat on was floating while being surrounded by books, snacks, and various other objects that she might need. 

Arthur had trouble getting used to someone flying above his head at the beginning, but he got used to it after a while. Unexpectedly, Hua was focused on her books. She only spoke to him a few times and all of them were laid with temptation. 

Those were the reasons that Arthur didn't want to ask Hua for help, so he asked Ruby. She looked at him silently as if she had heard him wrong when he asked her. 

"Restrain me?" Ruby asked with a frown. "Are you out of your mind? Why would I willingly agree to that." 

Arthur was taken aback by the reaction and apologized quickly. He realized that not everyone was as understanding as Ivy, so he needs to take notice of people's boundaries. 

"Do you want me to help you, Newbie?" After his return to the fortress, Reece asked. 

He has been away somewhere training in the wilderness because of his ability. When Arthur asked why Reece couldn't train from the fortress, he said that his ability needed certain conditions to work. 

"Really? Are you willing to do that?" Arthur asked with amazement. Reece pulled back his pink hair as he showed his teeth. 

"Anything for my junior!" 

"Thank you!" Arthur took out the artifact and used it on Reece. 

"Wait, why are you so in a hurry!" Reece's eyes turned around as he tried to dodge but the whip touched him and his body went stiff. 

Arthur realized that he had no idea of Reece's stats, but it seemed the rune was taking effect well. Reece fell to the ground after he tried to walk because Arthur restrained his legs. 

Arthur studied the rune's effect as he saw the mana gather around Reece's legs and the air was compressed into a thick rope. As he looked at it, he heard a weird noise and turned to Reece. 

"Why are you so rough, junior…" Reece said, panting. Arthur looked at him silently and stopped using the rune. He then started walking away, ignoring Reece's existence altogether. 

As he returned to his workshop, he found Hua already there, lazing on her comfy chair while floating around. He sighed and sat on his chair in front of his table as he decided to reexamine the runic lines again.

"Is everything alright?" Hua closed her book and asked. When Arthur didn't answer, she floated closer making the chair's leg hit Arthur in the head. 

"Can you not? I'm trying to focus here." Arthur furrowed his brows as he scowled at her. 

"Hmmm…" She looked at him with a disinterested face as she hummed. She looked at the whip in front of him and then turned back to him. "Ivy said you need some help in your research." 

"I don't need to anymore," Arthur said while bringing his face down to the artifact. He began analyzing the runic lines and what each one did when Hua's face appeared close to his cheek. "What?" Arthur pulled away. 

"It doesn't seem like you don't need help," Hua said as she flicked her finger. The whip floated away before Arthur could react and landed in her hands. "Do you want to Restrain me?" She asked with a smile. 

"No." Arthur felt uncomfortable. 

"I'll let you if you ask me nicely." She said as she leaned her cheek on the whip. Arthur sighed before stretching out his palm. 

"Give it back. Please stop trying to seduce me, I'm not interested." Arthur said flatly and he saw Hua's face fall. 

"Hm…" She hummed again as Arthur saw her pour mana into the artifact, activating it. Unexpecting such a reaction, Arthur was stunned as Hua whipped in his direction. 

There was a ping of pain as the whip sliced through his flesh. All of sudden, Arthur felt a rope tie itself around his hands. The surrounding air was also being vacuumed by the whip's mana and Arthur fell off his chair, restrained. 

"Oh, this is a nice artifact," Hua said with amazement as she descended. She stretched her leg and jumped off her chair as she walked closer to Arthur. "It's useful for packaging." She smiled as she lifted Arthur's chin and looked at him. 

Arthur's attention was undirected to Hua, but the whip. He looked at the runic lines glowing when he tried to break the restrain. The moment he was restrained, he understood how it worked. 

The mana left the whip's tip in a hollow cylindrical shape and the controller was able to control an imaginary rope of mana. The mana then began compressing air rapidly from the surrounding to create an unbreakable rope for anyone below 200 points of strength. 

"It's similar to elemental runes." Arthur's eyes widened in amazement. However, his disregard made Hua's anger flare up as she grabbed his cheek and turned her eyes toward her.

"Am I that undesirable?" 

Unexpectedly, her question wasn't what Arthur expected. He looked at her silently before sighing. With a tug, he broke the restrain and stood up. Hua was stunned as she looked at him standing up. She stood up as well and looked at him. 

"That's not the case at all." Arthur walked over and looked down. He was a lot taller than her and she looked at him with a straight back. "It just that we have stripped a lot of things of their meaning, let's not do the same for these." 

He took the whip from her hand and left the workshop. Hua stood there and didn't do anything else. Arthur heard her issue a sound as if she wanted to say something, but didn't in the end. 

Arthur returned to his room and realized that there was some blood on his shirt. He lamented how many shirts he was losing and took it off. As he looked at his wound in the mirror, he heard a knock on the door. 

Arthur opened the door and found Hua standing there. She glanced at his body and especially his wound before pushing a vile of liquid toward him. 

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely before hurrying away. Arthur glanced at the potion and her short stature as he smiled. 

'I guess she's not that conceited.' Arthur felt the healing power coming from the potion and took off the vile. Sadly, he couldn't learn the runes of these potions because of how complex their creation was. 

After pouring it on his wound, the wound disappeared without a trace. In the end, there was only a faint shadow of what had happened between the two. 

After that, Hua stopped harassing him. Furthermore, he got his rune's percentage to 95% thanks to her, so he didn't treat her any differently. After another day of running around and trying the artifact with Ivy's help, Arthur finally obtained the rune.