Chapter 139 - 138: Outside and Inside the Door

Chapter 139: Chapter 138: Outside and Inside the Door

Dark Night Moon, 24th.

It was the same time as yesterday. Gaode once again arrived at the Rune Workshop on the third floor of the Gavin building.

Just like yesterday, he did not see his mentor, Jose O’Kenley. But this time, Gaode didn’t need to deliberately make a sound. From the small, closed-door room inside the workshop, that old and calm voice had already drifted out...

Wait, it didn’t seem as calm as yesterday. Gaode felt that the old man’s voice from the small room today carried a hint of suppressed excitement. He figured it was perhaps just an illusion.

"Read the materials on the table first. You can leave once you finish."

It was the exact same sentence as yesterday. Not a single word had changed. If this were a literary work, one might even suspect the author was being lazy and simply copy-pasting the previous text. But Gaode didn’t think that much of it. To him, he had merely received another directive. Listening in silence, he made his way to the workbench in the center of the Rune Workshop.

The workbench, which had been slightly messy yesterday, had been tidied up and was now much neater. The materials Jose wanted him to read were placed prominently right in the middle. Unlike yesterday, Gaode no longer had to rely on guesswork to search for what he was supposed to read.

"Rune Introduction."

The name was simple and easy to understand; at a glance, it was obviously about Runes. In Gaode’s view, this was what he should have been given to read yesterday—one should at least understand Runes before learning their basic rules. However, it didn’t really matter. After all, the Six Major Rune Rules were quite "simple" as well, so reading them a day early or a day late made little difference. The reversal in order was understandable.

The materials were still handwritten, exactly the same as yesterday’s introductory theory to Rune Science. Gaode opened the document. The first thing he saw was not the word "Rune":

"Everything in the world has a trajectory.

"The blowing wind has its own trajectory, flowing water has its own trajectory, the cracking earth has its own trajectory, and even the Magic Power that exists everywhere in the world has its own trajectory.

"These trajectories are elusive and irregular. However, when the wind blows along a certain specific trajectory one day, it becomes a devastating tornado; when water flows along a certain specific trajectory, it creates overwhelming monstrous waves; when the earth cracks along a certain specific trajectory, it brings about earth-shattering changes.

"We call these changes the power of Nature. The power of Nature is extremely mighty, but we have no way to obtain it... except through Magic Power.

"Do not doubt it. If Magic Power flows along a certain specific trajectory, it will only bring about even greater power. The question is, how do we control this mighty Magic Power?

"The earliest answer was Magic. Mages converted Magic Power into Mana within their bodies, and then controlled the trajectory of the flowing Mana through Magic Models, releasing Magic with various effects.

"But this is not the only solution. A Mage’s Mana is always limited, and this limited Mana dictates that the power of Nature a Mage can control is also limited.

"However, the power of Nature is infinite. Is there a way to utilize this infinite power of Nature?

"It is very simple. Build a bridge. Use knowledge and wisdom to build a bridge between humanity and Nature. In the primitive era of savagery, the ancient sages used their wisdom and knowledge to grasp the power of Nature bit by bit just like this.

"This wisdom and knowledge are what we now commonly refer to as Runes.

"Different design methods and different bridge-building materials will construct bridges with varying load-bearing capacities.

"Rune Masters are the bridge designers."

...

The word "Rune" had finally appeared in Gaode’s sight for the first time after an extremely long preamble. He remained silent and continued reading.

"The Magic Power between heaven and earth flows irregularly.

"What we call Runes are the bridges between Rune Masters and the world’s Magic Power. Once a Rune Master builds this bridge and grants passage, Magic Power can stir the winds, raise the waters, and shift the stars. The essence of a Rune is to fix the flow trajectory of Magic Power, making it travel along a predetermined path.

"Multiple basic Runes can form a Composite Rune, and multiple Composite Runes can form a Magic Array. And a Magic Array is the ultimate form of a Rune; it is a complete system.

"Basic Runes, in turn, are the cornerstones of Magic Arrays and the beginning of Rune Science.

"The total number of shared basic Runes in the world has exceeded eighty thousand, and new basic Runes are constantly being created. However, most of these basic Runes are obscure. The truly commonly used basic Runes number around thirty-seven hundred.

"A qualified Rune Master only needs to master between one thousand and two thousand basic Runes.

"This is because a combination of one thousand basic Runes can cover ninety percent of all needs, and a combination of two thousand basic Runes can cover ninety-nine percent of all needs."

This introduction gave Gaode an incredibly strong sense of déjà vu. He stopped to think seriously for a moment and finally realized what it was: wasn’t this exactly like the Chinese characters from his previous life?

The number of Chinese characters had exceeded one hundred thousand, but the truly commonly used ones numbered only about three thousand. One thousand common characters could cover over ninety percent of expression needs, and two thousand could cover ninety-nine percent. Furthermore, even with new things constantly being invented, these two thousand long-existing common characters could perfectly express them through various permutations and combinations. For example, the characters for "lightning" and "brain," which had existed for thousands of years, could be combined millennia later to describe a newly invented object like a "computer." Basic Runes shared this exact same concept.

With this connection, Gaode instantly grasped the importance of basic Runes. There was no doubt that in order to truly start learning Rune Science, just like needing to recognize characters before writing an article, one had to first master the common basic Runes.

Reading further down, it was indeed the case, though with a slight difference:

"Basic Runes are divided into eight levels, namely Level Zero basic Runes to Level Seven Runes.

"The first step for a Rune Master beginner: Master the six hundred and fifty-one common Level Zero basic Runes."

With that, the foreword section of the "Rune Introduction" concluded. The material that followed consisted of sample diagrams and structural explanations of common Level Zero basic Runes. However, the document didn’t list all six hundred and fifty-one of them; there were only ten.

Gaode instantly understood: these ten Level Zero basic Runes were his "homework for today." It was just like the "after-class exercises" in yesterday’s materials.

Additionally, next to the document sat a stack of blank basic Magic Paper, a standard Rune Pen, and a bottle of basic Magic Ink. This was the "stationery" Jose had prepared for Gaode.

The first Level Zero basic Rune introduced in the material was called "Gathering Magic (Level Zero)." Its function was quite simple—to gather the Magic Power between heaven and earth. Yet, this very simple function made the Gathering Magic (Level Zero) Rune an indispensable basic Rune in almost all Magic Arrays.

Moreover, its Rune diagram was not simple at all. Even though it was merely a so-called Level Zero basic Rune, it was extremely intricate. And there were no shortcuts. One could only rely on copying and memorizing it over and over again, eventually achieving complete comprehension and mastery.

Gaode didn’t spare even a second to fear the difficulty of the learning that was about to begin. His heart and spirit immediately focused entirely on the Gathering Magic (Level Zero) Rune diagram and its structural explanation in the "Rune Introduction," with room for nothing else.

The "Rune Introduction" was a handwritten document, evidently penned by Jose O’Kenley himself. As the academy’s Chief Rune Tutor, his grasp of Rune Science was undoubtedly incredibly solid. Therefore, the entire structural explanation of the Rune diagram was highly concise, yet clear and easy to understand. Gaode read it carefully, finishing his first pass in no time. Then, he closed the document and began to ponder and recall the details.

About thirty seconds later, Gaode opened the document again, rereading the parts that were unclear or hard to understand during his review and contemplation. This time, it took him less time than the first pass. Then, he closed it again to ponder and recall.

Twenty seconds later, he opened it once more and resumed reading.

After repeating this process seven or eight times, Gaode closed the document one final time. Upon reviewing it in his mind, his thoughts flowed smoothly, without the slightest blockage or hesitation. He used this exact same method for the Rune diagram itself.

In the quiet Rune Workshop, the only sound was the occasional RUSTLE of Gaode flipping through the pages of the document. When he closed the "Rune Introduction" for the last time, he didn’t open it again.

Taking a deep breath, Gaode picked up the Rune Pen, drew in enough Magic Ink, and then unrolled a sheet of Magic Paper to formally set his pen to it. Attempting to copy a Rune for the first time, Gaode held his breath, his gaze focused and serious. At the same time, the Mana in his body transmitted from his palm to the Rune Pen in his hand. Then, passing through the pen tip and mixing with the Magic Ink, it landed evenly and steadily on the Magic Paper.

When he first set the pen down, Gaode was still a bit cautious, worried about failing. But once the pen made contact, all the distracting thoughts in his mind instantly vanished. Only the Rune diagram and its corresponding structure remained in his heart and spirit. Gaode was now completely immersed in drawing the Gathering Magic (Level Zero) basic Rune.

There was a widely circulated saying among Mages: "Magic is a private domain open only to geniuses." But in the field of Rune Science, genius was merely the admission ticket. It required not only transcendent talent, but also exceptional Control Power, outstanding creativity, formidable Spiritual Power, excellent Memory, ample Concentration, and patience.

And, a bit of purity. When it came to the matter of "learning," Gaode had always been very pure.

Meanwhile, in the room separated by merely a single door, Jose, the mentor Gaode had yet to meet, set down the Rune Pen and Magic Paper in his hands. On the Magic Paper, a Rune diagram that would look like undecipherable gibberish to a layman—one infinitely more complex than the Gathering Magic (Level Zero) Rune diagram—was displayed like a work of art. The old man looked at the complicated Rune diagram before him and fell into deep thought.

This Rune diagram was not a conventional Magic Array attempt, but rather a test diagram aimed at deriving the "interference constant." It included a Robustness Value test accurate to four decimal places, regular Energy increment levels, and a series of complex Rune logarithms and interference logarithm variations.

These things were not easy to deal with. It required an astronomically massive amount of calculation, an extremely solid foundation in Rune Science, and an exceedingly high number of experiments. Even Jose O’Kenley, who had been immersed in the field of Rune Science and had single-handedly deduced the Six Major Rune Rules—or more accurately, 5.5 major basic rules—felt a headache over it at first.

Just thinking about the massive number of experiments required made him feel as if he didn’t even know where to begin. He even doubted whether he could complete these experiments and derive the "interference constant" in the final moments of his life. But he understood that this "interference constant" determined whether the Six Major Rune Rules held true and hid the most essential secrets of Rune arrangements.

Therefore, after steadying his mind, Jose once again picked up the ordinary pen and paper set aside to record data.

This path had just begun. Whether he could reach the end was another matter. He just needed to keep moving forward. When it came to "Runes," he had always been very pure.

...

One was an old man, an expert who had been immersed in the field of Rune Science for hundreds of years. The other was a youth, a layman who had been exposed to the field of Rune Science for only a single day.

These two people, who were worlds apart in age, status, and knowledge, were now "sharing a room" and striving for the same goal. The distance between them was merely a single door.