Forged Destiny [Book 8: Ch. 1, Ch. 2]

"You have a meeting with Ozpin?"

"Something like that. He's letting me take another look in the Vault."

[...]

"I'll also be taking a look at all the Runes in there."

[...]

I saw the attempt to change the topic for what it was and activated my Runesight. Though nothing immediately changed, colours did become a little more muted. It was like looking through a thin piece of dark fabric; I could see everything just as clearly as before, but with slightly less clarity.

The Runes, however. Oh, how they shone.

"T-The Vault is practically glowing," I said, shielding my eyes as I tried to get used to it. "There's ao many Runes in here."

"Is it too strong? I could have the equipment brought to you one piece at a time."

"No, no. It's fine. It just surprised me." Squinting past the bright light, I looked again and breathed a sigh of relief at the fact it wasn't so dazzling. "That's better. As for how it looks, it's bright. It's just the Runes that shine, but some of them are brighter. Much brighter."

"More power involved?" Ozpin asked.

"Maybe. I'd need to get a closer look to know what they do. All the information is merging together in my head." It felt like I was trying to read twenty books at once, and all I was getting was a jumble of words and understanding that left my head pounding.

[...]

I held my hands up like shields on either side of my eyes, blocking out all the other Runes from my peripheral vision. In the end, I had to lean even closer to the spear to make sure it was the only Rune I could see, but when I did, the meaning of the Rune became startlingly clear.

"Rupture. Bleed. Puncture."

"Some kind of enhancement to its thrusting capabilities? Or perhaps an effect that increases the bleeding left behind – or the size of the wound."

"That's what I'm getting."

[...]

We repeated the process for a host of new weapons, armour and more, taking down the Runes whenever they came. Many were unusual or highly specific, the Gods of Randomness leaving weapons with bizarre effects from Dungeons or Grimm. Some, like the Cold Steel Rune I'd taken from my previous armour – taken now by Raven – had elemental effects. Some were stat-boosting.

The more useful ones to me were the ones that offered survivability. While elemental attacks were nice and all, it wasn't like the Greycloaks were any more susceptible to flaming attacks than they were, say, having their heads cut off. If Pyrrha's sword connected with your throat, it didn't matter if it fired out electricity or chocolate pudding. Enhancing her to be faster or stronger would give her a better shot at making that connection.

—Forged Destiny [Book 8: Ch. 1]



"Yeah. Looks like it." Nora had bent over and was walking backwards, inspecting my sword. "I don't see a Rune on it."

"There isn't one."

"I'll pose the obvious question," Ren said, not bothering to say what the question was.

"I couldn't decide what Rune to use."

"Didn't Oobleck give you a whole book of them?"

"He did, and I'm still going through it." It was the closest thing I had to homework right now. "But that's the problem. Before, I always had so few Runes that deciding what to use was easy. Dexterity was my worst Stat and I couldn't hit beans without it. Now, with all these new Runes?"

"The perils of choice," Ren said, chuckling. "Give a man a choice between two options and he'll make his decision. Give him a hundred and he'll be paralysed by indecision."

"Pretty much. I'm spoiled for choice right now."

—Forged Destiny [Book 8: Ch. 2]