Chapter 16: Achievement: First Rune Engraving
The Burrow
Ronald Bilius Weasley
July 8, 1989, Saturday
"Hey Ginny, Ron..."
"...what are you doing here?"
While Ron and Ginny continued their game, Fred and George came over to them.
They had probably seen them playing in the living room when they came downstairs for lunch. And because what they were playing had piqued their curiosity, they had come over.
"We're playing a game," Ginny said without turning her head.
"We can…"
"…see that."
"What we're wondering is…"
"…what is it you're playing?"
"It's a new game. Its name is... Uh, Ron, what's the name of this game?" Ginny asked. It hadn't occurred to her to ask the name of the game until now.
"Hmm... how about Wizard's Tower?" Ron said, pulling a block from the tower that might seem risky.
"Wizard's Tower? Why not Witch's Tower?" Ginny asked.
"... You're right, Ginny. That name wasn't very suitable. How about Magic Tower then? Nope. I don't like that. Hmm... aha. Maybe Hightower?" Ron said.
While magic was unusual and fascinating for Muggles, it was normal and commonplace in the wizarding world. Ron calling his game Magic Tower was like Muggles calling Jenga Mundane Tower.
Ron realized this as soon as it slipped out of his mouth. So, he immediately thought of another name. And he made a mental note to never add the word "magic" to the names of any products he would create in the future.
"I like Hightower," Ginny said. Then, turning to Fred and George, she added, "We are playing Hightower."
"Oh. Why do you decide…"
"…the name of the game…"
"…you're playing?"
"And why is…"
"…Ron, the one who decides the name?"
"Oh. Because Ron made this game," Ginny said with a smile, then turned back to the Hightower game in front of her and added, "Now don't talk to me. I don't want to knock the tower because of you."
After Ginny essentially told them to keep their mouths shut, Fred and George fell unusually silent, watching Ron and Ginny play Hightower.
After about ten minutes of playing, their mother's voice came from the kitchen. "Kids, dinner's ready. Come to the table."
Ron took his mother's call as a signal, pulled the block he was holding, and pressed down a little, causing the tower to fall. He had won the last two games, so he thought it would be a good idea to let Ginny win this one.
"Yay! I won!" Ginny said, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Hey, Ron, can you make one more game for us? We want to play Hightower too."
"Okay. But after lunch," Ron said.
"Fred, George, go tell your father that lunch is ready. He should be in his garage right now."
"Okay…"
"…Mum."
Fred and George said and headed towards the door.
Ron couldn't understand why they even had to do this together. Couldn't one of them just go?
'Whatever. Trying to understand the twins is a complete waste of time,' he thought, and waved his hand, making the fallen tower ready to play again.
Then he turned to Ginny and said, "Ginny, we're going to wash our hands first, okay?"
"Okay, Ron," Ginny said.
Then Ron and Ginny washed their hands, came back to the kitchen, and sat down at their places at the table.
Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already at their places at the table. And soon the twins also came back and took their places. Now, the only one missing was their father, Arthur Weasley.
And he also arrived a little later and took his place at the table.
Lunch passed without incident. Bill and Charlie asked him questions about the new game he had made, and Ron explained the logic and rules to them.
They seemed surprised that such a simple game could be made and that Ron had come up with it.
But apparently, they were slowly getting used to the new things Ron was coming up with, and they didn't make a big deal out of it.
After lunch, his mother, Molly Weasley, said to him, "Ron, sweetie, I'll leave the other books in your room, but this time there will be a lot of them, so I'll bring them in Bill's old trunk. And remember to use them carefully, okay?"
"Okay, Mum. Thanks," Ron said.
Then Ron told Ginny he needed to go to his room to study.
Ginny seemed a little upset that they couldn't continue playing, but Ron told her she could continue playing with the others.
He also gave her the task of explaining the rules of the game to the others. This lifted Ginny's spirits again, and she finally nodded seriously, promising Ron that she would explain the rules to everyone.
Then Ron, using transfiguration, made two more sets of Hightower blocks using the wood he had brought home with Ginny.
And then he quickly went up to his room. Upon arriving, he saw Bill's old trunk, which his mother had already left beside his bed. When he opened the trunk, he found all the Hogwarts books from the second year to the final year inside.
Even though they were old and a little worn, Ron knew they were still quite valuable to the Weasley family, at least for now.
Ron quickly activated the Library's Scan feature and scanned all the books, adding them to the Library. Although the current Hogwarts curriculum books were available in the library, the curriculum books from previous years could be different.
Also, different editions of the same books could contain different information. And Ron had no intention of ignoring any information that came his way.
After finishing scanning the library, Ron put the first-year books he had previously borrowed into his trunk, closed it, and moved it to a safe place in the corner of his room.
After all, he no longer needed these books; their presence in his room was merely for show. If his mother asked, he could say he kept them in the trunk to protect them from damage and only took them out when using them.
Having taken care of that, Ron lay down on his bed and, following a mental command, found himself in Workshop Town.
Ron immediately went to the Rune Carving Workshop.
Upon entering, he received the usual notification about the workshop's benefits, but Ron had seen them so often that he almost didn't notice them anymore.
Ron's reason for being here was to complete another Achievement. This would give him access to some of the resources he needed to carry out his plans.
Actually, he could have already completed this achievement if he wanted to. All he had to do was successfully carve a rune and then activate it.
But even though he had done this countless times using the virtual materials provided by the workshop, he hadn't felt the need to do it with real material.
The main reason was that Ron hadn't yet needed the reward for this achievement. And spending time on things he didn't need felt like a waste.
For some reason, thanks to the Library and Workshop, even though he had 100 times as much time as other people while he was sleeping, Ron still felt he didn't have enough time for all his plans and projects.
Ron took a piece of wood from his inventory and transmuted it into a wooden plate. He then transmuted another piece of wood into a wooden bracelet.
Next, using the virtual rune-engraving tools provided by the workshop, he first engraved two runes on the bottom of the wooden plate and then one on the wooden bracelet.
Ron had no intention of creating something complex or useful. To achieve the Achievement, it was enough for him to create something functional using rune engraving.
After completing the rune engraving, Ron put the bracelet on his wrist and activated the rune by sending magic into it, then activated the runes on the wooden plate.
Now, a wooden plate stood before him, about one meter and thirty centimetres above the ground.
Ron walked a few meters away. And, exactly as he intended, the plate slowly followed him. That's exactly what he did. A plate suspended at a fixed height in the air, following the person wearing the bracelet.
As for what it would be used for... Ron had no idea. Perhaps it could be used at banquets or other events.
-Ding
[Congratulations, Master Ronald. You have completed an Achievement: First Rune Engraving.]
[You can claim your reward by going to the Achievements feature and clicking on the achievement card you've completed.]
And just as Ron had wished, Alfred's voice echoed in Ron's ears.
Ron immediately went to the Achievements section in the System interface, found the golden First Rune Engraving achievement among the completed Basic Achievements, and mentally clicked on it.
[Your reward is all mundane books and written texts found in the mundane world. Would you like to claim your reward now, Master Ronald?]
"Yes," said Ron.
[Your reward has been added to the Library, Master Ronald.]
The reward Ron received for this achievement was exactly as Alfred had described: All the books and written texts containing knowledge currently in the world. Of course, only mundane ones, meaning those not related to magic.
Frankly, if Ron had seen this achievement's wizarding world version, he would most likely have stopped his other projects and focused on completing that achievement.
Unfortunately, there was no achievement on his existing achievement list that posed such a reward.
It seemed he needed to obtain the information and books related to the Wizarding World himself. But frankly, with the Library's scan function, this wasn't too difficult. He just needed to spend some time where the books were located.
On the other hand, when Ron reviewed his list of achievements, he saw that there were very few he could have achieved before Hogwarts.
Many of the achievements seemed tied to Hogwarts, such as being Number One Student at the First-Year Final Exams, becoming a Prefect, and joining the House Quidditch Team.
There were also achievements unrelated to Hogwarts, but to accomplish them, Ron would first need to become a Hogwarts student.
But Ron knew this reward was something many researchers and academics worldwide couldn't even dream of. However, he was only determined to focus on what he needed at the moment.
Ron quickly went from the Workshop Town to the Library section, called up the Material Search Panel, and used the filtering feature to find the books he wanted.
After selecting some books, Ron called them up. Then a study desk with a chair and the books he had called up reappeared in front of him.
Ron quickly sat down in the chair and pulled the first book towards him. The title on the cover was "A First Look at Software and Programming."
End of Chapter 16.