Chapter 38 – Advanced Rune Carving Level 1
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Hello, dear readers!
Here is chapter 38. The teacher will mostly explained about the overlying principles about Runes. If you think that I missed something or that something doesn't make sense, don't hesitate to tell me. I try to be as logical and objective as I can when it comes to the Universe building, but I can make mistakes.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter! :)
If you're interested, I'm writing another novel 'A simple bar in the Multiverse'. A new chapter will be available every Saturday at 7 p.m. EST.
The plot revolves around Lucas, an average guy who lucked out by finding (or being found) by a Magic Store which wants him to develop it to become the best in the Multiverse. He had to choose the type of store he wanted and as the title implied, he chose a bar. A cultivation bar.
The story will be mostly slice of life, since I noticed that it was the genre that I'm the best at. A novel focused on Action and Adventure would be impossible for me. That's life I guess. Anyway, the style of writing is also different from this novel, since it will be first person POV instead of third. There will be a lot more comedic undertones in it too. There will be so many more things in it, but I don't want to spoil too much. Check it out yourself ;)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the read! :)
Patreon announcement : If you feel like helping me sustain the pace of release for this novel, you can visit my patreon page and donate a bit of money. The first Tier starts at 1€ (Around 1.1$). From the second tier (2€ ) and up, there are advance chapters available for both of my novels. For example, Tiers 2 gives you access to 1 advance chapter for each novel.
May you all reach Immortality and the Peak of Cultivation!
Calm Wanderer
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Mortal Realm, Capital Planet of the Hoborg Empire, Main Continent, Cloudmount City, Immortal Pillar Academy.
As he was musing about how to start the lesson, a sudden thought made him freeze for a second. “Fuck! I forgot to tell them my name, didn't I?” He coughed to hide his embarrassment before he added. “By the way, my last name is Zinlar in case you need to know.” He kept his poker face and proceeded to start the lesson without any of the children noticing his 'faux-pas'.
“The first material we'll learn about is what is commonly called as crimson metal. It is, like its name implied, mostly used to forge fire related items.” As Zinlar started to explain to the students the properties of that specific metal, a holographic 3D image appeared in front of him, right at the center of the half circle made up by everyone's desks.
Thanks to its position, all of them could see the details of the ore. Along his explanation, the image kept turning at a even pace, allowing the children to study it from different perspectives. When the teacher pointed out some specific characteristics, the latter lit up on the moving light structure, helping them comprehend faster and in an easier manner the content of the lesson.
As time went by they moved on from one forging material to the next, without omitting any 'quirks' that those had. The burly Elf was observing the children while he was expounding on his subject, paying attention to the expressions of each of their faces. He was aware that despite the existence of a 'common way of teaching', each student differed and if he wanted to have most students succeed, he could not afford to take it easy and do what common teachers did, like simply reading his notes.
As a habit, he always looked at those little guys and try to guess what they were thinking from the expression appearing on their faces. Just like today, he could see a few like the golden haired kid who seemed both very interested, but also frustrated at the slow speed of his explanation. On the other hand, there was this little silver haired elf who seemed to be lost in his own world, probably thinking about anything but what he was currently saying. He definitely had to talk to him before he missed too much content, otherwise Zinlar was certain that the kid would fail the class.
Zinlar knew that he could not make everyone pay attention in class and study on their own. After all, one can not live someone else's life in their stead. But he still did his best to help as much as he could. And if the kid refused his help? Well, the man just had to let it go. [A/N: Let it go, Let it... *Bam* That moron is out. Carry on.] He had learned a long time ago that he was not an omnipotent God.
Anyway, as the lesson moved on, he re-explained himself in a different manner a few times, when he noticed that some seemed confused with the first explanation. Otherwise, he kept talking until he noticed that it was time for the lesson to end. He then said. “Alright kids! Class is over. I sent you the content of this lesson on your Holo-Bracelet, so I want you to revise what we talked about today. I also added a few resources you can use to learn everything in more depths, and you can also check what we'll learn during the course of this Level 1 class.”
Zinlar paused for a second before resuming. “If any of you has a question for me, don't hesitate to send me a message and I'll do my best to answer as quickly as I can. Also, I noticed that a few of you seemed a bit lost, so I'll send those student a message specifically to help them.”
The adult Elf clapped his hand once and added. “Alright, I'm done. I'll see you next week. Have fun for your next class. Haha.” He finished by waving at them while chuckling and left the classroom right after. As the room became silent following the teacher's departure, one of the girls who seemed to have some trouble following everything, said in a relieved tone. “I thought it would never end...” The boy at her side asked. “You didn't like the lesson?”
The girl, who had her forehead banging lightly on her desk repeatedly, as if to make the metaphorical headache disappear, replied. “On the contrary, it was very interesting. It's just that the amount of details we have to know for each material overwhelmed my poor delicate brain. It just felt like what I heard entered from one ear and went out from the other. Ugh!”
Hearing the way that the girl was complaining about the lesson, Guang Yang, along a few other started to chuckle. “Don't laugh at me, you guys. I just don't have a good memory. I can't help it.” She said while looking at the others with weak resentful eyes.
Despite being a bit shy towards people he did not know, Guang Yang decided to make an effort toward making new friends. After all, he was aware that not everyone would be like Angelo and treat him nicely from the get go. Sometimes, it had to come from him if he wanted to meet new people. At least, that was what his uncle Nung told him when the both of them talked about that particular topic during their 'journey' from the mansion to the school.
Taking a deep breath, he said. “I'm sure that as your cultivation improves, your memory will do the same.” Hearing the cute boy trying to cheer her up made her smile which prompted her to say. “I'm sure you're right. I'll just have to suffer for a while I guess. Hehe.” Everyone chuckled at her answer, which pushed everyone else to talk to each other. It seemed that the proverbial Ice had been broken and all the similar age students [A/N: As in they look the same age. Yang is obviously younger, but they don't know that] started to become closer.
While everyone was talking to each other, Yang thought. “Great, Yang. It seemed that talking to new people on my own is not too hard. A bit stressful at first, but nothing I can't do. Keep up the good work!” As he felt calmer, his clammy hands started to dry up, without anyone around noticing his body's state in the first place. He sighed discreetly in relief.
With his newly calm mind, he proceeded to discuss with others about mundane things, like school, life, etc. Even cartoons were included. Although he was not a 'connoisseur', since he had been training a lot lately and thus did not have that much free time, but he still took some time during the week to watch some interesting cartoons, series and movies with his family. Of course, as the number was still limited for now, he had a bit of trouble with following some conversations about the 'latest episode' or 'latest release'.
As the others noticed his lack of 'culture', a few laughed, but others just gave him the names of the ones they were talking about. Especially the previous despairing girl who seemed to be a very extrovert person. She reminded him of Angelo with the whole dramatic acting that she seemed to enjoy performing.
Fortunately, after listening to Angelo for a long time the previous day, he started to become numb to that kind of shenanigan. It saved him from facepalming every 10 seconds, so it was a win in his book. As the time passed by, a blond-haired woman entered the room and took Zinlar's previous position, signifying that she was their teacher for the Advanced Rune Carving/Etching Level 1.
The woman was from the Human species, quite tall at around 1m80 (around 5ft9) and a powerful aura emanating from her. The latter felt similar to their previous teacher in terms of power, but it also felt very different in terms of 'characteristics'. Yang had trouble with defining it. The best he could describe it was something like a massive river, where it is both 'massive' and 'flexible' at the same time.
Despite his confusion, the young fox stayed silent, like the others in the classroom, he decided to wait until the new teacher introduced herself. As if to answer his demand, the woman started to talk, a small smile on her face. “Hello, everyone and welcome to your first lesson of Advanced Rune Carving Level 1. My surname is Shui, and you can call me Miss Shui or Teacher Shui. It's up to you.”
Once everyone returned her salutation, she continued with a small but playful smile. “Since all of you chose this elective class, I'm guessing that all of you have, at the very least, a few notions about what this course is about. Anyone?” As soon as she finished talking, one of the boys who made fun of Guang Yang for his lack of 'culture' declared in a confident voice. “It's about carving rune!”
When she heard the stupid remark, Shui internally facepalmed and replied out loud in a sarcastic tone. “I see we have a funny guy in our class...” As she was talking, her smile turned dangerous, which made some shivers run down the boy's spine. “Now, if you want to become a comedian, you're free to leave my class anytime, and I promise that I won't stop you. However, if you're interested in learning about 'carving runes' as you put it, then you'd better be serious about it.”
As she finished scolding the young boy, she turned toward the rest of the student and added. “It goes for all of you too. Although I don't mind a bit of banter from time to time, I want all of you to understand how lucky all of you are to be able to learn in this academy and enjoy the treasure trove of knowledge that you have access to. Remember that cultivation is a race against time. Many cultivators are stuck at bottlenecks, not because they lack talents or affinities, but because their potential dried out due to them wasting too much time during their lives.”
“Of course, nothing is absolute in life. After all, some strong cultivators at the end of their lifespan are lucky enough to find life changing encounters which allowed them to breakthrough to a higher Level or even Rank. But those are the exceptions and relying on luck is a recipe for disasters. It would be the same as going to a casino and bet your life savings thinking that you will definitely win. That would be idiotic.”
Seeing that the children seemed to be convinced by her speech, she sighed discreetly. She did not enjoy being the 'strict teacher', but she was aware that kids needed to have boundaries. Unlike adults, they tended to push until they were told to stop, and the sooner those boundaries were established, the easier it would be for her as a teacher. Once they knew what could and could not do, she would be able to relax a bit more. “As my mentor told me many years ago: 'Being a teacher is easy, but being a GOOD teacher is hard'. *Sigh* I miss the old man. I should contact him later to see how he is.” She thought with some melancholy.
Shaking her head slightly to regain her focus, she started talking again, with what seemed to be her habitual small playful smile. “Anyway, let's return to the topic at hand. Rune Carving. Also known as Rune Etching. You can use both term since they are pretty similar. So what is a Rune, or Runes in general?”
Instead of waiting for an answer, she continued. “A Rune is a magic construct. It is composed of a few things. First, a frame, carved into a material/Item usually with a special carving knife. The tool can be different without affecting the Rune, however, just like every profession have their specialized tools, this one is the most precise for carving Runes.”
“The next part is the Runic Ink. It is made of many different ingredients, such as blood from certain mana beasts, or some mana plants' extracts. Every recipe is different, and each has different efficacy. That is why most Runic masters join strong powers. They have to do it if they want strong recipes and the expensive materials needed to practice their arts.” She touched her chin to think for a few seconds about how to explain the use of the Ink before adding.
“As for its use, it helps attracts and retain mana, Law fragments and what some call 'order'. The so-called 'order' is simply what your will imprints on the Rune. For example, if I create an Item with the Runes of Mana and Absorb, I would then need to specify what I wanted them to do. I could order it to become a mana storage, but I also could order it to become a weapon to absorb an enemy's mana. It all depends on what your 'order'.”
Before she could go on, one of the girls raised her hand to ask a question. As Shui nodded, the former asked. “Does it mean that we can 'order' the runes to do multiple things?” To which the teacher replied. “No. A set of Runes will only have one 'order', whether it is vague or very specific. However, there is a way to circumvent that problem. Can anyone guess what it is?” She asked, amused.
Guang Yang raised his hand and started to talk when she nodded her head towards him. “We can carve another set?” Although he seemed a bit unsure, that was the most logical answer that came him at the moment. “Bingo! Although, there are also some restrictions to that. After all, if there wasn't any, you would only need one item to do anything, and be done with it.”
As the children were engrossed in her explanation, she continued. “So, what are those restrictions? Slots! Each Item has a number of slots available depending on its quality. What I call slots are simply the number of Rune sets one can carve on an item without it exploding in your face.”
One of the children muttered. “Wait! They can explode?!” That made the teacher chuckled before she replied. “Of course. Mana is energy and when energy goes haywire, it tends to have... 'explosive' results. Don't think for a second that carving Runes is easy and free of risk. If you don't have the right protection formations while you proceed to carve a Rune set, you risk injury or even death. Many before you were killed because they stupidly thought that they didn't need any safety measures.... Idiots...” She mumbled the last word under her breath, so no one heard her.
She decided not to waste her brain-cells on those dead morons and instead resumed her explanation. “To go back to Slots, you need to know the different quality 'levels' of Items. There are four, and all very matter of facts. There are Low, Mid, High and Peak quality. The number of Slots available are respectively 1, 2, 3 and 4. Pretty simple to remember, to be honest.”
They all nodded in agreement, even the former 'Don't have a good memory' girl. “Okay, so we talked about what is a Rune and what is a Slot. Now, you also need to know about compatibility. That part is a bit ambivalent, since it depends mostly on how good of a Rune master you are. To help you picture it better, it's similar to the merging of different materials in Blacksmithing. The more different the Rune sets' functions are towards each other or towards the material, and the harder it is to make them work in concert. An example would be two Rune sets with one amplifying the Law of Fire's strength and the other doing the same to the Law of Water with the material being a metal with the affinity for the Law of Lightning. Since they conflict, it's very hard to make them work together.”
“Remember also, that the strength of the Rune set will be limited by the material's strength and the Level of the Runic Ink. A Level 1 material can only power a Rune Set up to Peak Level 1 power. But if the Rune Master is lacking, a Peak Level 1 Item may have Rune Sets equal to only Early Level 1 power. I know it sounds complicated, but it's actually quite logical. Since I like making metaphors, I'll give you another one. Mmhh... It would be like a recent Holo-Bracelet with a very old operating system (OS). The latter would limit the former's capabilities by a lot.”
For each main points, Shui went into details with many examples to make sure that everyone understood everything. Although they did not even see one Rune during the entire lesson, they nonetheless understood the overlying principles of Rune Carving, which would help them organize their knowledge more efficiently in the future. After a few decades of being a teacher, the woman knew what worked and what did not when teaching about her subject. It was not foolproof, but it was the best she found.
As the teacher finished her explanation, she declared the lesson over and dismissed the class before leaving on her own.
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Patreon announcement : If you feel like helping me sustain the pace of release for this novel, you can visit my patreon page and donate a bit of money. The first Tier starts at 1€ (Around 1.1$). From the second tier (2€ ) and up, there are advance chapters available for both of my novels. For example, Tiers 2 gives you access to 1 advance chapter for each novel.
If you enjoyed the chapter, don't hesitate to comment! ;)
Also, if you like the novel, and if you feel like it, you can also leave good reviews, ratings, click on follow and/or favorite (I feel like a youtuber now^^). It can make a big difference in visibility. Thanks a lot for those who have already done it!
Also, every constructive criticisms will be taken into consideration if I find them relevant.
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Might I suggest you space this lessons a bit more with some other content.
Because with the scenes with his master and now the school, it is starting to feel like the last bunch of chapters have been more of a disguised info dump than actual story progression.
Though it could just be me. . .
I understand your concern. Those explanations chapters are not my favorite, but since I had to introduce the different systems (Cultivation and this time Rune Carving), I couldn't find another way that made sense in my mind. But from what I planned, it should the last info dense chapter for a long while, so at least there is that.
