[hider=A few nights later...]
Renar sat in Candaeln's extensive library, several tomes scattered on a table before him as he scrawled with quill and parchment. 

[color=ff5000][b]"Worthless."[/b][/color] He murmured under his breath, crossing out his latest attempt as he moved further down the sheet. The knight turned to one of the old books he'd been perusing, flipping through several pages before landing on something that seemed to appeal to him. After a few more repeats of the same process in other books, he picked his quill back up and returned to scribbling something down, it not being legible without an observer drawing closer.

[b]"Strategizing your way into a victory against Dame Lilia?"[/b]

In the gloom of a library at twilight, Serenity emerged from a neighbouring aisle of ancient tomes, her form illuminated by the lantern she carried. Her other arms were ladened with books as well, some bearing familiar titles. Treatises on martial arts, observations of duels between the masters, and scrolls on histories so far back as to have become mythology.

She didn't sit at Renar's table though. Goddess knew that Serenity preferred seclusion when it came to her own study.

[color=ff5000][b]"Not quite."[/b][/color] Renar said easily in response, glancing up briefly just to confirm Serenity wasn't accompanied by anyone he'd rather not talk to at the moment. Fortunately, it seemed she was perusing the library's contents on her lonesome as well. Even with that, Renar debated briefly to himself on how much he should tell her. Then again, it was entirely possible she would recognize what he was doing, making the point moot.

[color=ff5000][b]"It's come to my attention that I'm rather lacking in magical weaponry. I'd had a brief chat with the castle smith this afternoon about the matter. He'll inscribe runes into my weaponry for me, but I'm to study the designs myself for what I want. Unfortunate that this sort of thing was never within the purview of my education. Now I'm stuck cramming years' worth of runic systems into my head."[/b][/color]

[b]"Hm."[/b]

The flaxen-haired knight neither set her own books down, nor did she leave. As far as she was concerned, there was little need for her to explain anything unprompted, with regards to the theory of runic ensorcellments and arcane armaments. Plenty of examples existed in both history and the present, from the blessed blades of the Reonite paladins to the ancestral weapons hoisted within the tombs of the duchal houses. One didn't have to stay at a tavern long before tales of storm-cleaving axes and demon-burning longswords began slipping past the lips of bards and manchildren.

There was a touch of curiousity though. [b]"Why learn? The smith knows more than you would, no matter how much you read."[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"I at least need to know what I want. There's little point in leaving it all up to him, and that dwarf doesn't have the time to sit me down and explain what there is in the first place."[/b][/color] Renar shot back, glancing between two separate runes in different books each. Hm. Based on what he'd learned, overlaying these would...cause a catastrophic explosion. Damnation. Back to the drawing board it was. 

[color=ff5000][b]"Besides, I'm not one to let someone else choose a magical weapon for me at their whim. Time I spend here now on this means a weapon that suits myself better in the end."[/b][/color]

[b]"Start with what you want, and move backwards from there. Little point in learning everything when you only need a few things."[/b]

But she couldn't fault him for simply wanting to learn either. One of the great variables in combat was whether or not your opponent possessed magical artifacts. Though some were foolish enough to make it obvious from the get-go, others possessed a greater sense of subterfuge and cowardice, holding back an effect until it could be leveraged for maximal gain. If one could form an educated guess, based off of a glance upon the inscriptions within a blade, that certainly helped stave off death.

On the other hand though, an [i]amateur's[/i] knowledge was just as likely to harm as it was to help. And the Mage's College was just a short walk away...

Ah, Renar and his secrets.

[color=ff5000][b]"Oh?"[/b][/color] Renar quirked an eyebrow at Serenity's words. More accurately, the ease of which she'd given out advice on this topic. It'd be too much to hope for, but just maybe...

[color=ff5000][b]"Could it be that the Arcedeen family education included knowledge of runic script and symbols? By all means, I'll accept advice if it gets me to my goals quicker."[/b][/color] That, and he didn't quite have much else in the way of options. His lack of magical talent meant the Mage's College would laugh him out the door, even being an Iron Rose. And frankly, he wouldn't blame them. In their position, he wouldn't take a chance on a magical blunt of a knight without sufficient amounts of bribery or political pull that he didn't quite have access to yet.

She set her books down upon the table.

[b]"And what are those goals?"[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"I should think it would be obvious."[/b][/color] Renar riposted, his expression unruffled. [color=ff5000][b]"You've seen us out in the training yard with Lady Lilia. After the Demonbreaker, it's obvious that our rate of improvement isn't fast enough without more drastic measures. After all, I intend to [i]survive[/i] to reap the benefits of being a knight of the Iron Rose."[/b][/color] Not to mention his blood-boiling dream the other night. Would that Edwin rotted in the darkness forevermore. 

Serenity rolled her eyes. "If you wish to survive, do you wish to do so with a magical shield? Ensorcelled armor? Boots? Do you wish to run through the air? Be hidden from sight? Mimic the barriers of wizards and witches?"

The lantern flickered, shadows distorting in the firelight.

[b]"Your goals are obvious. Now make them concrete."[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"Something not so obvious at first. There's little point in having tricks that the enemy will see from a mile away."[/b][/color] Renar took a moment to consider, one hand scratching his chin. 

[color=ff5000][b]"The smith likely won't take more than one order from myself at a time, considering he's plenty of other work to do for the Roses. So let's start with something that either expands my arsenal or makes what I have more effective. I've been looking into the runes of keen striking and haste. That, or something a tad more esoteric. If I'm looking at some of these correctly, it'd be feasible to combine the runes of activated light and sound to disrupt the enemy, correct? But that also bears the risk of friendly fire, of course."[/b][/color]

[b]"Keen strikes are good. Haste only helps if your mind can keep up. And light and sound..."[/b] Serenity let out a laugh. [b]"If you don't bind it to a thrown weapon, it wouldn't end at simple friendly fire. At best, you'd end up deafening yourself."[/b]

At worst, you'd be fighting undead, so that would be [i]all[/i] that it would do.

[color=ff5000][b]"Fair points. The latter was more of a pipe dream, anyway. I use the occasional throwing knife, but having to retrieve a specific one in the midst of or after a battle would be needlessly tedious. Keen strikes with a minor haste effect, then? I'm certain my mind will be able to keep up with a stronger effect once I've done more training, but that's of no comfort in the immediate future."[/b][/color]

[b]"A rune of Returning would help with retrieval and add a second vector of attack."[/b] Talented knife-throwers could accomplish that with skill alone, but they exclusively accomplished that with curving trajectories. A dagger that flew forwads and then backwards though, was something far less expected. [b]"Your proposal is otherwise fine, yes."[/b] Unimaginative, but not every weapon needed to be legendary.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

[b]"Though I had expected you to desire something more along the lines of enchanted pockets, filled with infinite sand."[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"Have I mentioned that actually [i]worked[/i] on Lady Lilia? I'm almost disappointed by that."[/b][/color] Renar smirked ruefully before shaking his head. [color=ff5000][b]"Storage capacity would be appreciated, but I'll make do with what I have. It's not as if there isn't plenty of dirt to go around. In any case, I'd prefer not to be reliant upon any one gimmick."[/b][/color] 

The bastard flipped through the tomes until he found the runes he sought. [color=ff5000][b]"Your consultation has been appreciated, though I'd hope I'm not holding up your own research too much. I don't suppose you'd deign to share what you were looking for tonight?"[/b][/color]

[b]"Ah, right."[/b] Serenity snapped her fingers. [b]"Get a rune of Durability too. Doesn't matter how powerful your enhancements are if a sufficiently precise strike can chip the inscriptions and destroy the entire system."[/b]

Of course, even if Renar had forgotten it, she doubted that old dwarven master would simply exclude it. Such things were standard, perhaps even expected. Any immortal-slaying Paladin would have the bare minimum, after all, of a weapon that would not break no matter what duress it endured.

[b]"And it's on the spine. I'm studying more styles and techniques."[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"Understood."[/b][/color] Renar nodded, jotting the appropriate runes down on his diagram for later. Keen Strikes, Minor Haste, and Durability. More would be pushing the stability of the runic matrix on a mundane weapon. Three would have to do for now. [color=ff5000][b]"My thanks. You've saved me no doubt hours of trouble."[/b][/color] He stood up, starting to stack the tomes to return to their shelves. 

[color=ff5000][b]"Techniques, eh? I'd noticed you've started to accumulate trophies of your own. Working them into your repertoire?"[/b][/color]

[b]"Yes."[/b]

It was a memory that carried both pride and hatred that snagged upon her mind. Recent insults, no matter how grand the achievement and result, nevertheless stuck so easily to one's mind.

[b]"Did I ever tell you that Damian's a piss poor duelist?"[/b]

...Who? Renar stretched his mind to days back when Serenity and Gerard had discussed the battle in the tombs with himself and Fionn. The only ones there of note had been the Demonbreaker, the witch that got away, and...ah. The vampire. That narrowed it down. 

[color=ff5000][b]"Yes, I'd suppose borderline-immortality allows one to get away with mediocrity in certain areas. Though I share your seeming offense. Hundreds of years to spend and not striving for mastery in anything you do? Truly, age is wasted on the long-lived."[/b][/color] He definitely wasn't insinuating displeasure with certain others. Not at all. 

[b]"Human history outlives the immortal soul, and unlike immortality, knowledge is attainable within a lifespan."[/b]

She was slipping into old habits again.

[b]"That is to say, next time I face him, I'll outduel him with a common sword and take his head."[/b] A smirk. [b]"And I'll do it without having lost my arm first."[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"Hah."[/b][/color] Renar smirked back, taking the stack of tomes into his arms. [color=ff5000][b]"I wish for your success, then. It'd certainly be something to see, at least. I'll certainly strive to do similar, myself. To our mutual victories, then?"[/b][/color]

[b]"Nothing in this room to toast with, but I'm expecting to be the first you cross blades with after you get your new weapon."[/b]

Fire burned, within lantern and within the lioness's gaze.

[b]"And you know what I feel about wishes, Renar. Cut that crap."[/b]

[color=ff5000][b]"By all means, make me, if you can."[/b][/color] He riposted, striding off to return his books to their proper places.
[/hider]