The rune expanded and gradually transformed into the head of a blazing salamander covered in ancient shamanic symbols.
A notification appeared.
[Prototype Totem Created.]
[Temporary Totem: Flame Salamander]
The flaming rune floated several meters into the air.
A giant phantom of the Flame Salamander emerged from it.
It opened its mouth and released several blazing walls of fire that swept across the battlefield.
The flames exploded among the charging orcs, forcing them back while setting the ground ablaze.
A few seconds later, the phantom vanished, and the temporary totem dissolved into particles of mana.
Ryan’s eyes lit up.
"So I really can create new temporary totems just by imagining them."
He smiled with satisfaction.
"Once I fully understand the rune structure, I should even be able to turn them into permanent blueprints."
That meant every successful experiment could permanently expand his collection of shamanic totems. The more monsters, elements, and magical creatures he studied, the larger his library of totems would become.
Ryan put those thoughts aside and focused on the battle.
The orcs had already noticed him.
Several Orc Warriors charged toward him with axes and clubs raised high.
Ryan gripped the Orc Shaman Staff with both hands.
"Ice Spirit."
Blizzy appeared beside him in a flash of blue light.
The little polar bear immediately gathered ice mana through its crystal antlers.
A moment later, several ice spikes shot out and struck the leading orcs, slowing their movements.
Ryan smiled.
"Good job."
He raised his staff again.
"Totem Creation."
A Wind Blade Totem formed in front of him.
The phantom of a giant hawk appeared for a brief moment before releasing dozens of compressed wind blades.
The attacks sliced through the charging orcs, leaving several of them dead.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Serpent silently moved behind another group.
It bit one orc after another, spreading poison through the entire formation.
The Orc Shaman Chief stood at the rear, constantly casting lightning, fire, and earth spells while occasionally creating temporary attack totems.
Ryan also joined the fight.
Instead of rushing into close combat immediately, he focused on using different kinds of totems throughout the battle.
As he created one temporary totem after another, he gradually began understanding how Totem Creation actually worked.
Simple totems that produced basic effects only took a second or two to form.
However, stronger totems with more complex abilities required much more time to create.
"It really is like casting magic," Ryan muttered.
"The more powerful the spell, the longer the casting time."
He nodded as another thought came to him.
"The same applies to Totem Creation."
"The stronger the effect I want, the more mana I have to supply and the longer I have to maintain the rune before the totem is completed."
Ryan realized that the talent wasn’t simply creating random items.
Instead, it was converting his imagination into reality through mana and runes.
The more detailed and complicated the effect, the more stable the rune had to be.
If he rushed the process, the totem would collapse before it was completed.
Fortunately, the Orc Shaman Chief and the Spirit Serpent were keeping the orcs occupied, giving Ryan plenty of time to experiment.
He began creating different temporary totems one after another.
Some released fireballs.
Some fired lightning bolts.
Others created walls of earth or sharp ice spikes.
A few even generated powerful gusts of wind that knocked several orcs off their feet.
Each successful creation taught Ryan something new about the structure of shamanic runes.
He slowly started noticing patterns between different elemental totems.
"The core rune stays the same."
"Only the elemental symbols and activation patterns change."
That discovery immediately gave him several new ideas.
"If I combine different rune patterns together..."
"I might be able to create completely new totems."
Ryan did not try it during the battle.
He simply memorized every rune he successfully created while continuing to eliminate the remaining orcs.
By the end of the fight, his understanding of Totem Creation had increased far more than he had expected.
Although his talent level had not changed, his own experience in using it had improved significantly, making him much more confident in creating stronger and more complex totems in the future.
By the time the battle ended, the entire orc village had fallen silent.
Ryan dismissed the remaining temporary totems before walking through the battlefield.
Just like before, glowing drops were scattered all over the ground.
Ryan smiled.
"Time to collect the loot."
He went from one corpse to another, storing everything inside his inventory.
Most of the drops were ordinary materials.
He collected stacks of orc meat, bones, hides, tusks, claws, monster cores, herbs, and several crafting materials used by shamans.
There were also many bags filled with gold and silver coins.
After collecting everything, the system displayed a summary.
Gold Coins: 128
Silver Coins: 346
Monster Cores: 41
Orc Meat: 860 kg
Orc Bones: 790 kg
Orc Hides: 56
Orc Tusks: 102
Spirit Herbs: 17
Poison Herbs: 24
Ryan then looked at the higher-quality loot.
Several pieces of equipment had dropped.
Orc Warrior Helmet (Uncommon)
Orc Warrior Armor (Uncommon)
Orc Hunter Boots (Uncommon)
"There are a few useful pieces this time."
Although none of them were upgrades for him, they would sell for a good price or could be kept for his family in the future.
Ryan then picked up the only skill book among the loot.
It had a dark red cover with the image of a massive axe engraved on the front.
He opened its description.
Skill Book: Brutal Swing (Rare)
Type: Physical Skill
Description:
Concentrates the user’s physical strength into a devastating horizontal swing, dealing massive damage to all enemies in its path and releasing a powerful shockwave that knocks back nearby targets.
Effects:
Deals 250% Physical Damage to the primary target.
Creates a shockwave that deals 120% Physical Damage to enemies within a 5-meter radius.
Knocks back enemies with lower Strength than the user.
Damage scales with the user’s Strength and the weapon’s weight.
Mana Cost: 60 MP
Cooldown: 30 Seconds