PART 1
Mai had slept so heavily that she didn't remember her dream. After a lovely long morning bath, she felt fresh and ready for whatever the new day brought beyond what she already knew.
Master Kjeld had promised to teach her the process of making runes. What she had done with Liam's quill was only the basics and was not considered genuine runes. It was a method only used for exercises. The quill was soul-bound to the Rune Master, and Liam's quill should have pushed Mai away. But it didn't.
No one was supposed to know that Master Kjeld was training a woman in runes since women couldn't become a Rune Master. So Mai's new identity was that of a man. Her new name was Martin, which she didn't like, but Master Kjeld had already used it for her application to the Rune Master certificate.
"At least he could have asked me first." she muttered, tasting something sour.
She had once known a Martin, but they were not good memories, and now she was forced to bear the same name.
She cast a glance at Blue, who was dipping his head into a small pond in the garden while shaking off many leaves. She ordered him not to make trouble and warned him there would be consequences if he didn't listen to her. He responded with a low growl as he dipped some of his branches into the water and shook off more leaves.
Mai furrowed her brow at the sight and said, "Aren't you afraid of withering if you shake off too much?"
She massaged her temple and murmured, "I'd rather have a dog than a strange bush I can't even understand. It hasn't even sprouted blueberries yet."
She pointed to the door and said in a stern tone, "If you're sterile, then the door is over there."
Mai met Liam in the hallway, and shortly after, all the men were gathered at the entrance, waiting for Master Kjeld. She was relieved that the building was not segregated by gender as it would have been in ancient times.
Master Kjeld appeared, and they went to a large blacksmith's shop located on a street nearby. There was a heavy smell of fire and melting metals, while the air was very hot. The garden was large and rectangular, with various types of fire pits, furnaces in different shapes and materials where the fire crackled loudly and sparks flew. There was a tall, thin clay furnace Mai recognized from movies, and a curved one that resembled an oven for baking food. Throughout the area, men of different ages were busy working on various things. It hissed and bubbled as a man placed a silver sword into a thick silver liquid, emitting thick, bright smoke and steam that rose to the sky and vanished. At the front of the garden was a white, circular stone-paved area with small stones all around forming a perfect circle. Beside them were wooden stools. There was a wooden crate on the grass where Mai sensed books of different colors, and she spotted a black book that resembled the one she had seen the mages from Lind's group carrying.
"Are those spell books, master?" she asked, running to the crate and bending down to sniff it. It smelled of old books, which was refreshing compared to the smell of metal.
"Some are spell books. Some are rune books." replied Master Kjeld, approaching with the group, and sat down.
The men took out their quills and ink, and they began to draw. But this time, it was thick vertical lines resembling waves stacked against each other.
Master Kjeld brought out a stack of books and distributed them to the men. Beside Mai, he placed a large stack that she studied with her eyes. He sat on a chair on the other side of the circle opposite her and looked at her.
"I won't inquire about your background, but the fact that you can touch another person's quill without experiencing a side effect tells me you have an unusual amount of mana in your body. So let's start from the beginning. Have you noticed anything special on your journey with us?"
Mai thought carefully and remembered tattoos, the women who used them, the core in her body, and the magic. There was also the ceremony. There were too many things, so she crossed out what she didn't think he would want to hear. In the end, she only had tattoos, mana, and spirits.
She chose to focus on spirits and said, "I noticed that the ceremony was important."
Master Kjeld nodded and said, "We worship the gods. The spirits are the energy in the world. With it, mana is formed. With mana, we create magic. There are three important things in the world: spirits, cultivation, and Rune Masters. Liam, tell us why Rune Masters are important for the world."
"We are known as messengers of the gods. We are chosen by the gods to become Rune Masters. We receive extra mana that makes our bodies unique." replied Liam, who was busy drawing thick horizontal waves.
Mai furrowed her brow and asked, "I thought mages here had the most mana in their bodies. This is an eye-opener for me."
"We don't use the term 'mages.' It's called a Spirit Novice, Spirit Medium, Spirit Master, and Spirit God. A Spirit Master has an unusually high amount of mana, especially those in the Spirit God Stage. You are in the White Stage, which is a Spirit Novice, so you have a long way to go. To cast certain spells, you must have reached a certain cultivation stage, but Rune Masters are not bound by that rule, which makes us special. It's all about how much mana you have in you. It's a profession that everyone strives for if they can't cultivate." said Master Kjeld, pointing to the books.
"Take a black book with a red logo of three vertical flames and a golden book with three vertical sun rays."
Mai quickly found a black book with a wavy red logo resembling flames and a golden book that looked like golden dust shimmering in the sunlight. He asked her to open the first page of both books. In the black one, there was a script she could read, but she didn't know how to pronounce the words. Below were many small flames in a circle.
She furrowed her brow and asked, "I feel like I can read it, but I'm afraid of pronouncing the words wrong. What does it say?"
"It says ' illdh Dhahnhsh,' which means Fire Dance in the language of the gods. All spells must be pronounced in the ancient language, or they won't work. It's a rule. The white book with a golden hand has an alphabet with words and phrases you can practice, but it's not a requirement. It's only for people who want to use spells." replied Master Kjeld.
Mai quickly found the white book with a golden fist and opened it. There was a rectangular black box with an alphabet consisting of letters resembling Danish, which she spoke, but there were many 'H's that confused her. How did one pronounce a double H?
"Err... Was the god drunk when he made the language?" she asked, furrowing her brow.
Liam suddenly drew a crooked line, stopped, and looked at her.
"The language is called Almighty, and the alphabet is called Ahhh with 4 H's. It is said that when God gave language to humanity, he spread his palms and said Ahhh, so that's why it's called Ahhh." replied Master Kjeld, causing Liam to cough, and he took out a new piece of paper and started over.
A tight smile spread across Mai's lips, and she commented, "He must indeed be almighty to create a language like that. He sounds more like someone who took a leak."
She quickly folded her hands in front of her and muttered, "Forgive me, Father."
"One must be 20 years old to qualify as a Rune Master, and after an exam, one is officially one. We are not bound by the world's rules and do not accept money as payment." said Master Kjeld, making her reconsider the Rune Master profession.
"How do you survive then? Is it non-profit?" she asked, biting her lip.
He revealed that they accepted valuable things in return, and it was a rule that they could not accept money, so there would be no one in the world offering them money. He suddenly walked away and returned with a golden chisel, used for stonemasons, and a black square wooden box. Inside was an ink set with a quill with a large white feather.
"There are two ways to make runes. You draw with the quill or use a chisel, but that belongs to the past and takes too long. Rune Masters have an ink set and a tool. In my case, it's my hammer." explained Master Kjeld.
Mai touched the feather, which felt soft, and she laid out the ink set on the stone in front of her.
"The quill comes from the Heavenly Crane, ink comes from the Silk Squid, the Inkwell comes from the Steel Turtle, and the paper comes from the Jade Silk Worm. We carry the quill around our necks, in our pockets, or physically on us like a tattoo. Rune Masters have a unique system that only we can see." said Master Kjeld, suddenly looking at Liam, who revealed that the Rune Master system was a text.
