Chapter 166 - Runic Inscriptions

"Those two pills can both cure Rachel's illness. Of the two, only one is needed." Leon explained.

"Really!? That's great news!" Ignis happily exclaimed, before his brows scrunched together in confusion. "But why is there two, if only one is needed? What's the issue?"

His daughter's illness had been one of his biggest concern. A person who easily becomes incapacitated at the mere sight of blood was no different to a cripple. It would be very difficult such a person to survive in the harsh world they live in. While this might not have been a problem previously with the protection of the Duke and Duchess, it was clear that their strengths were now inadequate.

"These pills each represent a soft and hard method to curing Rachel. The Forgetting Nightmare Pill wipes away her bad memories and experience, while the Reminiscent Trial Pill send her into and endless cycle of reliving those experience until she overcomes them by her own will. I may be the doctor, but as to which pill to take, the choice is not mine to make…"

Leon continued to explain the usage of the pills and the potential risks involved in ingesting them. Although the risk is low, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. The Forgetting Nightmare Pill could result in Rachel becoming a different person, for better or for worse, the result was unclear, while the Reminiscent Trial Pill could put her to eternal sleep if she's never able to overcome her trauma.

"En, this is indeed a difficult choice to make. I'm afraid I am unable to decide for my daughter. Ultimately, the choice is hers to make. We'll continue our discussion after meeting up with your fiancée and mother-in-law." Ignis stated.

"Alright."

Leon followed the Duke up several floors. On the seventh floor, Amelia and Rachel did not notice them entering. They each held a chisel in hand and inscribed complex lines on a metal sheet with great focus.

Looking around, Leon noticed the entire floor were filled with piles of such engravings lying about. They looked like the runes that one would find on the levitation stones. It appeared to him that the seventh floor was dedicated to researching the levitation stone.

Picking up a piece of engraving, he could not find any fault with it. The runic lines were perfectly carved and connected, forming the complete image of a rune. Although Leon didn't understand runic inscriptions, he could still recognize the runes when he sees one.

However, the runic piece was just lying about on the floor among many others like scraps. Such skillfully inscribed runes were treated like garbage with no value. The discovery filled Leon with an inexplicable feeling of doubt. With such attainments, why haven't they created the levitation stones yet?

Leon and Duke waited patiently for them to finish their work. Half an hour quietly passed, before Amelia and Rachel completed their runic inscriptions. It was another skillfully inscribed runic inscription with unknown effects, but the two showed disappointment expression upon its completion.

"Not good. It's another failure. There's nothing special about it." Rachel tossed the inscribe metal sheet into the pile of other failed products.

"We can only replicate the look and not the effects. It's completely lifeless. What are we missing?" Amelia pondered with a frown.

Realization dawned on Leon as he knew exactly what they were missing. All the inscribed sheets had the form but lacked the essence. He shook his head with a chuckle. Indeed, if runic inscriptions were so simple, the Lancasters would have already become master artificers, capable of producing spirit artifacts instead of just high-grade ordinary weapons.

His light chuckle made the mother and daughter frown. Who had the galls to laugh at them? Turning around, they were immediately surprised.

"Eh? Leon? When did you get here?" Rachel exclaimed. She was not expecting Leon's visit and was caught unprepared.

During the time they had not seen each other, she had time to reflect on her own feelings and realized she and Leon did not share any strong feelings. Leon was her only good friend from the opposite sex. As such, she wasn't repulsed by him, but what she felt for Leon wasn't love. Thus, she became awkward and decided to avoid him.

Previously, she was against her arranged marriage because she did not want to marry some unknown prince. As a young lady, she was naturally curious about love. Although she wanted to fall in love and experience it, it was under the notion that it was unadulterated and natural.

"We just got here." Leon said with a light smile. There was no need to mention the half-an-hour wait and make the other party feel bad.

"Haih… They say when daughters married outside, they only have eyes on their husband and forget all about their own father." Ignis sighed when his daughter did not greet him.

"W-What nonsense are you saying, father!? I'm not married yet." Rachel responded bashfully, before greeting guiltily. "Father, you're also here."

"What brings you to our workshop, Leon?" Amelia asked. She had not seen this son-in-law of hers for a while. She wondered if he brought gifts with his visit today.

"Let me explain." Ignis said. "Leon has brought us the cure for our daughter. However, there are two cure and there's a small risk involved…"

Ignis began explaining the details to his wife and daughter of what he had learnt from Leon regarding the two cures. His memory was very good and did not miss anything.

After listening, all eyes were trained on Rachel. Her life, her choice. They patiently waited for her answer and did not pressure her nor injected their own opinions.

"I… I need some time to think about it." Rachel said. She could not come up with an answer immediately. It was too abrupt, and she wasn't prepared for it.

"Actually… this isn't a matter that needs to be rushed. There's no need to make a choice immediately. Given time, I should be able to come up with a better cure with milder effects and less risk." Leon said. He wasn't lying in order to lighten the mood.

The Forgetting Nightmare Pill and the Reminiscent Trial Pill weren't the only cures. The profundity of alchemy was boundless. There were naturally many methods to curing traumas, but they either required long period of treatment or a high requirement for spirit herbs.

"Let's put this matter aside for now." Ignis waved hand, before asking, "Is the levitation stone research not going well?"

Amelia nodded and said, "Same results as usual."

They had only been able to study the surface of the levitation stones. They were unable to delve deeper and study its interior. They once tried to dismantle a levitation stone for the purpose of studying its inner workings, but the levitation stone exploded into scraps when they attempted to take it apart.

From the scraps, they only knew it was made from a complex combination of alloys. They did not try to dismantle the levitation stones again and could only focus on the runes. There were only so many levitation stones they could work with.

Leon thought it was just a matter of time before they figured out the problem. However, he should give them a push. Runic inscriptions could benefit the development of the kingdom.

"Steam engines cannot function without its water just as people cannot live without blood. Don't you think these engravings need some sort of power to fuel it?"

He thought his words would bring them inspirations, but he was surprised when all he received was the shaking of heads.

"We had that thought before. In fact, we are sure of it, but when we infuse our energy into it, nothing happens. Not even the slightest reaction outside of the norm. It simply glows red from all the fiery energy we feed it."

"This…" Amelia's words caused Leon to lapse into silence briefly, before he asked doubtfully, "Did you infuse your energy into the metal sheet or the runic lines you inscribed?"

When the words were uttered, Amelia and Rachel were froze on the spot as if they had been struck by lightning. At the same time, Ignis directly picked up of the tossed-aside sheet and infused his energy into the runic lines. His actions spark a different reaction. However, it didn't activate the rune inscription effect, but simply exploded with black smoke rising like when a circuit gets toasted from being overloaded.

The black smoke painted the Duke's face black as he directs a questioning gaze at Leon and caused the latter to scratch his head awkwardly.

Why look at him like that? You can't blame me for that. I'm only providing suggestions, not some expert in runic inscriptions.

"Maybe… too much energy was infused into the runic lines, causing it to overload?"

The Duke picked up another piece and infused less energy this time. Unfortunately, the runic lines similarly exploded. The Duke's black forehead was filled with creases.

Leon's lips twitched at the sight.. He wasn't sure what was going on either. Maybe it was still too much?