The demonstration of the Fire Rune wasn't over yet. Perhaps simply watching the stones burn wasn't enough, so the master craftsman John brought out an iron basin filled with water.

Use pliers to clamp the stone and throw it into the water.

"Thump..."

The stones splashed water, and then Evan witnessed an incredible scene.

combustion.

The flames on the stones in the water did not go out; in fact, the intensity of the flames was exactly the same as those outside, without any weakening.

However, the water in the iron basin, due to continuous heating, already had bubbles rising from around the stones.

"See that? That's a permanent rune, which is arguably the most special kind."

Of course, these are also the things we use the least, because they're really hard to use in combat.

Permanent runes remain effective once activated, but supernatural powers, to a certain extent, also follow the law of conservation of energy; if no one injects energy into them, they will replenish what they have lost from other sources.

John explained that the Flame Rune annihilates matter to ensure the flames don't go out, and there's also a Bloodlust Rune that can be inscribed on a human body.

Once activated, the user can ignore the pollution on the Dark Erosion Beast, swallow its flesh and blood, and rapidly digest it to gain a continuous source of stamina.

Having gained the power of the Bloodlust Rune, theoretically, ordinary homeguards can have an increased survival rate.

The trade-off is that, without consuming flesh and blood, the rune will draw upon the user's own physical strength and even life force. As long as the rune is not destroyed, the effect will not stop.

In other words, to utilize the Bloodlust Rune, it must be inscribed before each battle begins and destroyed after the battle ends.

Inscribing runes on the human body places a significant burden and causes considerable harm. Repeatedly doing so may have even greater side effects on home defense.

There are also growth-accelerating runes, which allow plants within a certain range to grow ten times faster.

The consequence was that the soil fertility was consumed three times more than normal. During the first test, the management found that the small plot of land was barren and immediately sealed the growth rune, prohibiting anyone from using it at will.

"So most of these things are just a double-edged sword; they're useful, but it's hard for us to really make good use of them..."

"I can tell from your expression that you're thinking about whether you can inscribe the Fire Rune onto the enemy and burn them to death, right?"

John didn't wait for Evan to say anything and continued the previous topic.

"I don't have mind-reading abilities, but your expression and the look in your eyes helped me guess."

You know what, it wasn't just you; other craftsmen, and even I, had the same thought when I first learned about runes, but it's not realistic.

The runes are highly precise and not easily damaged after they are formed. However, if the outline of the inscription is even slightly crooked before it is formed, it will lose its effect.

"You said we can inscribe runes on the Dark Eclipse Beasts. Besides them remaining completely still and allowing us to inscribe them, is there any other possibility?"

Evan: ...

He understood that for the Fire Rune to have an effect on the Dark Erosion Beast, the Dark Erosion Beast must be suppressed and rendered unable to resist.

But they suppressed them all. If they had that ability, they could have just killed the Dark Erosion Beast directly. Why bother with the unnecessary inscription of runes?

The embers burn slowly, and it's anyone's guess how long it will take for a Dark Erosion Beast to burn. It's much easier to just kill it with a single sword strike.

In other words, materials like stone are cheap and easy to carve, so they are engraved with fire runes and used as torches for exploration teams.

"This is really..."