The first thing Sylas saw was a key and a lock. What was odd about the key was that it was a blank, and its body looked particularly narrow and thin compared to the bulkiness of the lock.
Intuitively, Sylas understood, and soon enough, the information he had assimilated with confirmed it.
The first step in this trial of sorts was to form a Rune that could unlock this lock and make it to the next one.
Sylas observed the lock, and then looked at the key. His visualization then swallowed up the lock and he began to analyze it.
Soon, his expression became a bit weird… because he felt that the solution was too easy.
After some thought, he decided to follow through with it. It wasn’t like there was a penalty for being wrong. This world was his own personal tutor.
However, quickly, he found a problem.
‘How do I form a Rune?’
Until now, he had only ever taken Runes from the world around him. The one time he hadn’t, the Rune had come from the disk. But here, there were no such things. Even when he activated Enchanted Scholar, he couldn’t see the Rune he needed.
He realized then that he had to form the Rune he needed, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to do that.
‘Maybe?’
Sylas remembered the Visualized Conception of
He tried it, and soon, he felt his Charisma and Will moving in an odd way. He had never felt it so tangibly before.
Telekinesis was much more fluid and amorphous. But in comparison, this felt like chiseling stone, as though he was forcing his Will into a fine point and carving out what he wanted in the world.
He immediately felt a wave of fatigue, and he also realized that his Wisdom was actually holding him back. Usually, he could split his mind with ease. But right now, even if he wanted to, he couldn’t even look away from the Rune he was forming, let alone split his mind.
It took him an entire half minute to succeed, and the result left him cringing.
Not only was his mind fatigued, but the Rune he formed looked like a child’s scribble.
Earth’s Runes were broken and beaten, covered in chains and cracking. But they still had a majesty to them that felt so much greater than this.
This nameless Rune looked like a doodle rather than a law of the world.
What was more curious about this was that he felt the Gluttony Seed had moved while he took action. It was all so very odd.
Was this really meant to be so difficult?
Sylas took a breath and moved ahead, fusing the Rune to the key and trying to unlock the lock.
It slipped in, but when he tried to turn the key, it jammed.
Sylas frowned. With his visualization, he could see that the Rune was correct, but it was too jagged and broken to fit in properly. It was like a misaligned pattern, and even though he had gotten the solution correct, he might as well have slipped in the wrong key regardless.
After a moment, Sylas chose to use
He had only used up about 30% of his stamina. But since he was in the wilderness, he couldn’t afford to be too willful.
Once he had re-upped, he began to go again.
This time, the Rune was close, but still not good enough. It wasn’t until the third time that the key turned properly, but got jammed after about an eighth of a turn.
The fourth try, it spun properly. But just when it was about to unlock, Sylas pulled out and entered a state of meditation again.
He felt that he could have unlocked it that time, but he wasn’t satisfied. He could get it closer, more refined.
As he made a fifth attempt, he was beginning to get into the flow of it. It only took about ten seconds compared to his first 30-second attempt. And it only took up about 10% of his mental stamina as well.
He tried again and again, and then again.
As he did so, he even began to be capable of thinking of other things. It was odd… why was being more familiar with the Rune the equivalent of making it easier to draw as well? It felt like he was missing something.
Technically speaking, even if it took him longer to draw, it should take the same amount of Will to draw. Even if there was some change in the Wisdom it took up, it couldn’t be this drastic.
As Sylas focused, he realized what was happening.
The number of strokes.
The first time he drew the Rune, he had to press down, lift, correct, and then press down again and again. But by the fifth time, the number of times he had to “lift” and correct himself was fewer.
It was almost like piercing into a veil, but every time he retreated, finding the exact spot to continue became harder and harder.
In that case, rather than trying to form the Rune one step at a time, shouldn’t he instead think of it like a stamp? If he formed the Visualized Conception all at once, and then pressed it into reality, wouldn’t that be the fastest and most perfect method?
The trouble was that that was difficult. There was a reason that it wasn’t Sylas’ first choice, and he instead took this path of slow and steady instead.
If Runes were two-dimensional, it would be fine. But because they were three-dimensional, it was far more difficult. It was like memorizing a three-dimensional puzzle all at once and replicating it in a single instant.
But as he drew the Rune again and again, he became familiar with it enough that this was quickly becoming a more feasible option.
And then, on his eighth attempt, his Will suddenly pressed down like an envelope stamp, pressing down its intention into the world.
