Extra's Path To Demon King-Chapter 48: Rune Engravings

So, with a checklist in mind, he started working on writing down the 24 basic rune symbols on the mana papers. But his first attempt left him baffled. Every time he started to write those symbols, the splitting headache came back stronger than ever.

He also needed to be absolutely focused while doing it, great willpower was required since his mind simply wanted to let go. Having a focused will power while engraving the rune symbols is what is called Runic direction. He also had to keep in mind to put proper amounts of mana into the rune engraving pen in the process. It was extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Axel did not lack willpower or focus, but what he lacked was harmony. Runic Direction, Energy, and Runic language all three needed to achieve a harmony upon the completion of the engraving. His first try was a profound failure.

He could engrave half of the symbol until a small explosion happened, and the librarian warned about the backlash. The explosion injured him slightly. But it wasn’t like a normal explosion. It was more of a mana explosion. After all, runes are at their core is energy, in one of their purest forms.

Which made it worse. Axel’s small body started twitching, the mana flow inside of him was going haywire, an unbearable gut-wrenching pain filled his entire body, and he felt like his blood vessels were bursting out.

Thankfully, he had potions that could get him out of that situation. He gulped down 2 potions, which stopped the raging mana in his body. It also healed his internal and external injuries.

But the potions could not heal his mind, the headache wasn’t the issue. But it was something different. It was as if the process itself consumed a certain amount of his will that could not be recovered. His thinking became slow, his mind felt empty. An existential emptyness loomed over him.

But the thought of his helpless, unconscious little brother, who was in the hospital in a coma, awakened his willpower with even greater fervor than before. Without a single second of rest, he started working on it again. Explosions after explosions occurred within the engraving room. But Axel did not stop, he gulped down one potion after another.

His mind suffered, his body suffered. Except for sleeping, eating, and showering while taking a minimal amount of rest, all he did was continue to work on the runes. Only after 3 days of continuous effort did his first engraving become a success. On the first success, he felt a change within him; the mana flow within his body seemed to have become faster, but only slightly.

Axel was ecstatic nonetheless. He didn’t bother to go and tell the librarian, he knew what kind of reaction the old man would have. He would probably say that he had broken another massive record. Which he did not give a fuck about. Axel noticed the rune seemed to only last for 5 minutes. Then it disappeared.

He hoped that the next try would be easier, his hope was crushed. Surprisingly, 4 more days passed. Yet, he was unable to engrave another rune in that time. Which made him perplexed considering he did nothing but just try and engrave runes all the day long.

Axel’s mood worsened considerably. His stash of mana potions was also close to finished. With no choice, he decided to go out and meet the librarian again to ask for suggestions. Maybe get some more books. The old librarian and he moved into a separate room as always.

Many other acolytes’ eyed him strangely. But they did not know that he was already an acolyte since the ring given his master seems to hide his level quite well. He asked librarian Leroy about all of his problems. As expected, the old man was stunned beyond belief, hearing that he had already engraved his first rune but he was failing in engraving his second symbol.

The old man asked, "Have you tried engraving the same symbol again, after the first success?"

Axel was stupefied by the statement, as he answered, "Uh, well, no. Should I not try and write all the symbols one after another?"

The old man laughed and said, "There are some things you need to figure out on your own; everyone has to find their own way of balance, while engraving the runes."

"Also, you should come out more, try and connect with your peers, or mix with others a bit. Too much isolation is not good. Every week, there is a free class led by some of the high-ranking mages. All acolytes and even you can attend it."

"You should watch those lectures and socialize a bit. It would be helpful for you, trust me," suggested the librarian. After some more small talk, Axel went on his way back. But someone stopped him midway, it was a red-haired female acolyte.

She looked to be about 16-17 years old, She was quite beautiful. There was a slight arrogance in her demeanor that was hard to conceal. But she, for some unknown reason, asked him in a polite tone,

"Hello! I am Rank 2 Acolyte Emma, may I ask who you are?"

Thankfully, no one else was paying attention to them, so Axel didn’t mind being polite to her as well. "Hello, I am Ashborn. Training to become an acolyte."

She nodded and seemed to already know that as she asked what she wanted, "Are you really the disciple of the Vice Tower master?"

Axel was a bit taken aback by the sudden question, but he still answered, "The vice tower master hasn’t accepted me as his disciple yet, but he most likely will, after he comes back."

"Oh, you seem to be awfully sure about that," asked Emma curiously.

"I am not, I think it would depend on my progress and how well I do in the runic magic in general," revealed Axel humbly. The girl gave a beautiful smile at that answer that would melt the heart of any man. But it did not affect him much. He did not know the purpose behind her questions.

It was better for him to do his own thing. Thankfully, he wouldn’t even be able to do anything in that 9-year-old’s body, even if he wanted to, fortunately. He shook his head and got rid of all the unnecessary thoughts in his mind.

The girl asked him again, "You must be quite talented if the vice tower master is considering taking you in as a disciple."

"No, not at all. I am simply trying my best. Nothing more and nothing less," stated Axel humbly. free𝑤ebnovel.com

The girl chuckled and said, "Let me give you a friendly advise, The sooner you are able to advance, the more the world recognizes your achievement, the stronger you become compared to other’s in your same stage. Well, see you around Ashborn. I hope we can be friends in the future."

Axel became confused as he replied with a polite smile, "Of course."

He was confused in his mind. Was the girl simply curious about his status? Well, it was normal for many others to be curious about him. But basically no one asked him that. Most of the Acolytes or mages were too busy with their own trainings or studies to care about him.

Her advice also left him confused.

Most of them did not know about his monstrous talent or his identity of being the vice tower master’s disciple. Some who had suspicions seemed to keep their distance, probably the librarian’s work to keep it a secret. The librarian treated him like a secret weapon for the competition, which would be held after 3-5 years at most.

Back in his room, he started the engraving practice again without wasting any more time. He started with the same symbol he had successfully engraved the first time. Unsurprisingly, he failed. Drinking potions, his attempts continued. After failing a few times, he eventually succeeded. This time, Axel paid attention to the ratio of each of the elements.

Like how much willpower he needed to have while drawing the rune, how much mana he needed to put in. How well he was drawing the symbol, all needed to have a certain composition to finally take form and not explode. The ratio, composition, and balance together create the runic form.

He remembered those particular and minute details very well this as he continued to draw the same symbol again and again. Axel failed a few times then succeeded again. Like this the process of success and failure repeated countless times through a few days.

Eventually, he cracked the code. From then on, when engraving that same symbol, he did not fail anymore, no matter how many times he did it. Which caused another small improvement in his existence.

Axel moved on to the next symbol as the process repeated. Failure, failure, failure, success.

The second symbol only took him 3 days to master. The process continued to shorten with each symbol he mastered. Each of the symbols had distinct meaning in them. Most of the basic symbols represented various elements.

There would be traces or effects of that element, whenever he properly did the engravings. Axel, in just one month, had mastered writing all 24 basic symbols since the start of his engraving training.

Unfortunately, he did not go to any of the lectures that the old librarian suggested or go out to have a breather. When Axel had completed mastery of writing 10 different symbols without failure, he felt a greater control over the mana flowing through his body. He could instinctively feel the ability to fill his mana core with mana.