Lucian rubbed his chin thoughtfully, digesting Ranni's words about the Great Runes.
As a native of this world, even a demigod like her could not escape the disadvantage of limited knowledge. Some truths were known only to him—a traveler from beyond.
For instance: the Primordial Meteor that fused with the Crucible, and the first true Elden Ring.
It was only after that original Ring shattered that the concept of "Great Runes" came to be. Every law and ring thereafter was merely a reconstruction, pieced together from the fragments of those first laws.
He shifted the subject. "What about the current holders of the Great Runes? What do you know of them?"
Ranni listed them one by one; "My mother holdeth one, as do both my brothers. Thou thyself dost bear one. The twin kindred of the Haligtree each possess their own. The so-called Grace Given Lord, likewise. And the Black Blade."
She paused, her eyes narrowing. "…No, there is yet another. The Omen King, who did appear upon the battlefield. The one thou slewest at Stormveil's gate—that was but a single projection of him."
"According to my brother Radahn, though cursed as an Omen, he too doth bear a Great Rune."
Lucian nodded slightly.
Ranni and the others did not know that the Grace Given Lord and the Omen King were one and the same. It was no wonder they had mistaken them for two separate beings.
In truth, Morgott and Mohg—the omen-born twins, already played significant roles in the game's lore. Even if Ranni's intelligence was imperfect, Lucian could still piece together likely abilities from the knowledge he possessed.
What he truly wished to know was about the Haligtree twins.
Malenia's Great Rune could be inferred from the game. But her brother, Miquella, was shrouded in mystery, mentioned only in scattered texts. Lucian knew almost nothing of him.
When he pressed the question, Ranni shook her head.
"I have dealt with them both, yet never so far as to trade the secrets of our runes. Still, Miquella is one to be regarded with wariness. Take heed."
"In the Shattering, I did sense in him an intent to deceive, mayhap to betray. Even toward my brother Radahn, his manner was… strange. And then he vanished outright, slipping from the field of war, to hide where none might know, and to plot what none might guess."
Lucian knew the truth. Miquella had been stolen away by Mohg, dragged to the Mohgwyn Dynasty. If that was the case, perhaps he needn't worry… and yet, the unease clung to him all the same, a warning he could not name.
He thought long and hard but found no reason for the feeling.
Ranni, meanwhile, decided to share more. She spoke of her brothers' runes.
Rykard, who sought the power of the Great Serpent, was devoured by it instead, reduced to a cannibalistic horror. Radahn, stricken by Scarlet Rot, was driven into madness, his mind broken beyond repair.
There was no saving either of them. Since she had already resolved to one day slay her brothers, Ranni now chose to reveal their secrets to Lucian. To withhold knowledge that might help him strike Radahn down would be foolish.
Her voice was tinged with regret, but steady.
"As for their Great Runes… they are the source of near all I know."
"The Golden Order, in its wholeness, held dominion over life and death, and over the cycle of rebirth. I have heard tell of Tarnished beyond the Lands Between, resurrected by blessings drawn from that law.
"My brothers' Great Runes each embody a portion of such power: Radahn's governs life itself, whilst Rykard's binds all to the Erdtree's cycle of return."
She began with Radahn.
"His rune bestows inexhaustible vitality, near-endless stamina and sorcery, and a body of colossal stature. When unsealed, its effect is cruelly simple: so long as the bearer's will to live endures, the rune mends their wounds."
"To what degree… dependeth upon the strength of that will."
She sighed heavily.
"My brother's will is of iron. When the Omen King ambushed him, piercing his chest through, he rose the next instant, whole again, and fought on as though untouched. They battled to a stalemate, neither able to claim victory."
"Yet even the mightiest Great Rune cannot mend the Scarlet Rot. It gnaws still at his mind. Were it not for the rune's power, he would have perished long ago."
Lucian frowned deeply. "With such a power, how can he possibly be slain? He lingers on the battlefield only because he refuses to die. If he still wills to live, then killing him is near impossible."
Ranni shook her head.
"No Great Rune is without its price. Even as thy own blessing devours runes, Radahn's cannot endure unending. His refusal to die hath already strained its limits."
"When the stars fill the sky, and the Festival of Combat begins… that shall be the proof of his rune's waning."
Lucian exhaled in relief. At least there was an end to it.
"And your other brother? Rykard?"
Ranni told him plainly.
"Rykard's rune greatly increased his sorcery, strengthened his physical might, and multiplied his magical reserves."
"When unsealed, it linked to the Erdtree's cycle of return—a complex effect, ill-suited to war. Yet he perverted its power for forbidden rites, creating the man-serpents who now garrison Volcano Manor.
"He had sought to claim the Great Serpent's might for himself, to shed his flesh and be reborn with its power bound to his will. But he failed. The serpent consumed him wholly, his will shattered in the struggle."
"Now… his rune too is warped by that corruption."
Lucian recorded every word carefully. This was knowledge absent from the game itself—details he could not afford to forget.
The nature of a Great Rune's power seemed to depend not only on its origin but also on its bearer's nature.
Radahn, both general and gravity's greatest sorcerer, had a rune perfectly suited to him: health, stamina, sorcery, all at once. Rykard, weaker in raw strength but a hybrid of blade and sorcery, gained increases to both, though his ambitions twisted the result into monstrosity.
Morgott's rune granted the greatest vitality of all, surely tied to his birth as a cursed child of the Crucible.
Lucian was forced to admit: the runes were far beyond his initial imagination. Their unsealed forms were overwhelming. There was no such thing as a weak one.
Even Godrick's rune, which gave balanced strength to every attribute, might pale in comparison to the raw potency of a single-stat rune in the hands of a demigod. But how high did those numbers go? He could only speculate.
When Ranni had shared all she knew, she handed him a strange object—a stone disk covered in intricate runic carvings.
The more Lucian stared, the more familiar its shape seemed, though he could not place where he had seen it before.
"Take this as well. Place within it what thou wilt. All that lies stored in this cavern is thine to command."
So this was his now—the entire stockpile.
It dawned on him at once. This was no ordinary disk. Was it not the great stone plates found before the sealed gaols? Ranni had somehow shrunk one into a portable form.
"Thou mayst store items within it." she warned. "Yet the space is limited, and it may hold no living being."
"I must return to my tower. There are matters that demand my attention."
Lucian understood. It could not carry siege engines or vast spoils. Still, it was his first true "space ring" in the Lands Between. He had searched before, but never even heard rumor of such a thing.
As expected, the demigods walked on a different plane. Their wealth, their reach, their power—all beyond ordinary beings' grasp.
Ranni departed soon after, returning to Caria Manor to reorganize her intelligence and plan her next moves. Lucian's presence had given her confidence; she could now press her schemes more boldly.
And besides, she was tired. The doll body she wore could not sustain her soul for long without rest.
Lucian remained in the cavern alone, lips curling at the sight of his newfound fortune. He could not help but chuckle. So this was what it felt like to be kept by a rich woman.
His thanks to Lady Ranni were profound indeed.
The cavern brimmed with supplies, the most precious among them smithing stones. From rank 1 to 8, they were all here—though the early stones were few, while the mid-tier, rank 4 to 6, were plentiful.
It made sense. Soldiers in war consumed vast numbers of lesser stones, constantly reforging arms that were broken in battle. The stronger warriors survived more often, needing fewer stones. Thus the mid-tiers, left unused, became abundant.
Radahn and Rykard's conquests across the Altus Plateau had surely helped as well, seizing mines and confiscating stores. Now all of it had fallen into Lucian's hands.
Stormveil's warehouses already overflowed with rank 1 to 4 stones. These new 5s and 6s would allow him to greatly expand the armament of his forces.
Somber Smithing Stones were rarer still, usually dug from the depths only once in long ages. And yet Ranni's cache held complete sets up to rank 6, and even two rank 7s. Enough to refine multiple special arms to great heights.
Other supplies proved less enticing. Most were items Stormveil's smiths could fashion themselves.
But the scrolls and tomes—those made Lucian's heart leap.
Sorceries of every school were gathered here, even Frozen Armament and Glintstone Icecrag. Carian royal sorceries like Carian Retaliation and Carian Phalanx were present as well.
As for incantations, they were a bloody collection, clearly scavenged from fallen foes. Yet among them, he found the dragon incantation tomes he had long sought, granting him access at last to the lightning of dragons.
There were also classics of the Erdtree's faith, including the famed buff Golden Vow.
All told, his harvest was beyond generous. His personal strength and the power of his army would rise greatly.
But he doubted there would be another such windfall. This cavern must have held all of Ranni's remaining supplies.
Packing what he needed, Lucian left the cavern behind, heading toward her tower.
Just then, a soft voice stirred by his ear.
"Lucian… afterward… will you come to the grace?"
It was Melina.