Chapter 87
The study was smaller than Lucas expected—a cozy room on the second floor of the palace, filled with shelves of scrolls and the faint scent of old paper. Morning light streamed through a single window, illuminating dust motes that danced in the air like tiny spirits.
Ashley sat behind a wooden desk, already waiting for him. A tea set rested between two cushions on the floor nearby, steam rising gently from the pot.
"You're early," she said, a hint of approval in her voice.
"You're earlier." Lucas bowed slightly before removing his shoes and sitting on the cushion across from her. "I thought teachers liked to keep students waiting."
Ashley chuckled, pouring tea into two cups. "I'm not most teachers, and you're not most students." She pushed a cup toward him. "Drink. Then we begin."
Lucas obeyed, savoring the warmth. The tea was light, floral—nothing like the strong brews he made for himself during late research nights.
"Runes," Ashley began, setting down her cup. "Practical application and limitations. Tell me what you know first."
Lucas considered the question. "Runes are written symbols that tap into fundamental laws. Unlike spells, which use your mana to create an effect, runes use the symbol itself to command reality—if written correctly. The limitation is understanding. We only know eighty-four runes, and even those, we don't fully comprehend."
"Good." Ashley nodded. "Now, show me your practical work."
Lucas reached into his storage scroll and withdrew several sheets of paper, each covered in carefully drawn symbols. He spread them across the low table between them.
Ashley leaned forward, studying each one with sharp pink eyes. Her expression remained neutral for the first three sheets. On the fourth, her eyebrow twitched.
"You've been practicing."
"Every night."
She picked up the fifth sheet, examining a complex rune sequence Lucas had attempted—a combination meant to amplify mana absorption. Her finger traced the lines slowly.
"Here." She pointed to a curved intersection. "And here. See how the flow narrows at this point? The rune wants to move energy, but you've created a bottleneck. In theory, this would work. In practice, it would heat up and crack whatever surface it's written on."
Lucas leaned closer, studying the spot. "I didn't notice that."
"Most wouldn't." Ashley set the paper down and met his eyes. "That's your strength, Lucas—you notice what others miss. But it's also your weakness. You see the pieces so clearly that sometimes you forget to check if they fit together."
He frowned, considering her words. "That's... actually helpful."
"I'm full of surprises." She smiled and refilled their cups. "Now, let me show you something."
She pulled a blank sheet toward her and dipped a brush in ink. With steady, practiced movements, she drew a single rune—one Lucas recognized as the symbol for "containment."
"Watch," she said.
Ashley placed her palm over the rune and pushed a thread of mana into it. The symbol glowed briefly, then stabilized. She removed her hand, and the glow remained, soft and steady.
"This rune is now storing exactly enough mana to activate itself three more times. Anyone who knows the release sequence can use it, regardless of their own mana reserves." She tapped the paper. "Limitation? It can only store what the writer puts in. And if the storage limit is exceeded..." She made an exploding gesture with her hands.
Lucas's eyes lit up. "That's brilliant. You could prepare runes in advance—trap them, use them as emergency reserves—"
"Exactly." Ashley leaned back, pleased with his reaction. "The practical application of runes isn't just about what they do in the moment. It's about what they can do over time. A well-placed rune can outlast the cultivator who made it by centuries."
"Like the barriers around Hidden Cities."
"Like the barriers around everything worth protecting." Ashley's voice softened slightly. "My ancestors used runes to build this kingdom's foundation. Not with swords or armies, but with ink and understanding."
Lucas studied her face, catching something beneath the words. "You're proud of them."
"I never met them." She looked toward the window, where the garden stretched green and peaceful. "My mother died when I was young. My grandmother taught me everything—runes, seals, how to read people, how to survive. She said our family's strength wasn't in our mana cores or our combat skills. It was in our minds."
"What happened to her?"
Ashley was quiet for a moment. "She died protecting me. When I was eighteen, someone tried to remove our family from the throne. The old way—assassins in the night." She picked up her tea, though she didn't drink. "Grandmother held them off long enough for the guards to arrive. Took three arrows meant for my heart."
Lucas said nothing. He understood that kind of silence—the space where words couldn't reach.
"She taught me until her last breath," Ashley continued, her voice steady. "Made me promise to be better than her, Stronger, Wiser." She finally met his eyes again. "I'm still trying."
"That's all any of us can do," Lucas said quietly.
Ashley studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "Finish your tea. We have more to cover, and I won't have you falling asleep halfway through."
Day Two
Lucas arrived to find the study transformed. The desk had been pushed against the wall, and the floor was covered in large sheets of paper—dozens of them, each bearing a different rune.
Ashley stood in the center, arms crossed, looking like a general surveying a battlefield.
"Today," she announced, "we play a game."
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "A game?"
"Rune matching." She gestured to the papers. "Each sheet has one rune. I'll call out a function—protection, amplification, concealment, destruction—and you have to step on the correct rune before I count to three. Miss, and you owe me an answer to any question I ask."
"That seems... unfair."
"Life is unfair, this is practice." She smiled sweetly. "Ready?"
Before Lucas could respond, she called out: "Absorption! One—"
Lucas's eyes scanned the papers, found the absorption rune, and stepped on it.
"—two. Hmm, Lucky guess."
"It wasn't luck."
"We'll see." Ashley's smile widened. "Sealing! One—"
Lucas moved to the sealing rune.
"—two—three. Acceptable." She walked a slow circle around him. "You memorize quickly. Most students take weeks to recognize runes at this speed."
She called out rune after rune, and Lucas responded each time—stepping, sometimes leaping, once sliding across the paper in an undignified sprawl that made Ashley laugh out loud.
"Again," she said, not unkindly. "Reinforcement."
Lucas found the rune and stood on it, breathing slightly harder.
"Good." Ashley clapped her hands once. "Now, the real test. I'll call a combination—two functions together. You need to stand where both runes touch."
Lucas looked at the scattered papers. Some overlapped, others had gaps. This would require not just recognition, but spatial awareness.