Chapter 162: The Vast and Complex Runes · Ceremony
“Have you all become this leisurely?” I looked at a group of people lounging around the villa’s living room.
“What can we do? Classes are paused during the new student competition, and with no classes, we can only watch the matches!” Hong Chanyi cheerfully made way for me to enter, “We couldn’t get tickets, so we can only cheer for you here in front of the TV!”
“Anyway, congratulations to Sister Xiao Han for successfully advancing! Oh ho~”
“Sister Xiao Han, congratulations.” Yu Yatian also stood up to congratulate me from the side.
“You’re all here.” I took a quick glance, and with me, there were five people in total, “Don’t you have any activities of your own? I thought someone would go to the arena; there’s so much good stuff there, even spellbooks for sale.”
“Huh? Spellbooks for sale? Really? I haven’t even touched a spellbook till now; what do they look like?”
“Well, that’s natural. Haven’t you really gone to join the fun? Dongli Yiren, what about you?” I lay back on the sofa and then looked at the two who hadn’t spoken.
“Me?” Dongli Yiren was initially taken aback by my mention, then spoke a little timidly, “No, it’s just full of people. I wouldn’t go to a crowded place.”
“Okay, I saw someone earlier today who looked a lot like you, wearing the same outfit; what a coincidence.” I told Dongli Yiren, as she had always been wary of the senior who brought her over.
So it made sense that she wouldn’t want to join the fun.
The TV still showed a replay of the exciting match, since the live broadcast ended when I finished my competition.
However, at this moment, the girls didn’t seem interested in the footage on the television. With someone like Hong Chanyi around, their topic shifted to me.
None of them were class leaders, which means their current progress is basically at zero, still in the theoretical stage, and they didn’t have many channels for resource acquisition.
After some understanding, I realized that they didn’t even have spellbooks, so when they heard there were spellbooks for sale, they naturally became excited.
But when it came to the price… that didn’t sound pleasant, and I could clearly see their disappointment.
Thus, there’s a reason why “a penny can defeat a hero.”
After satisfying their curiosity, I returned to my bedroom, as I couldn’t keep wasting time. I came back early to study runes.
“Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go upstairs first?”
“Mm, Sister Xiao Han, you have your own things to attend to, we won’t disturb you.” Hong Chanyi could naturally see what I wanted to do at that moment. After years of being a sycophant, her ability to read the room was quite precise.
So after a simple goodbye, I walked towards my room.
Once I left, the others downstairs seemed to fall into silence.
Until Yu Yatian spoke up.
“Sister Xiao Han has completely left us behind.”
“Xiao Yu, that’s not quite right. Sister Xiao Han is ahead of us by so much; what does that represent? We could be getting close to the top first! We can avoid a lot of detours in the future. Strong leads to strong, right, Yiren?”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“It has a lot to do with you, okay? Don’t you want to cling to a strong backer? Sister Xiao Han now holds a status comparable to this year’s number one, Tan Han! Do you know what that means?”
“I don’t understand, nor do I want to. Tan Han is just a lucky one piled up with resources; can’t you see that? The so-called extraordinary power is essentially two things: energy and the means to use energy, ultimately just resources.”
“Tsk, Yiren, you see through it so well. What are you trying to do? Resources also need to be fought for! If it weren’t for our class leader being Sister Xiao Han, I would’ve wanted to compete as well. Currently, only the class leader qualifies to lead, the level of resource allocation is truly enviable.”
“And at the moment I can’t compete with Sister Xiao Han, so I can only wait for her to cover for me.”
“By the way, Xiao Yu, Sister Xiao Han said that joining clubs also gives opportunities to acquire magic sources and spellbooks. How about we join a club? Should we ask Sister Xiao Han what club she joined? We can tag along!”
“No thanks, I’ve already joined a club.” Yu Yatian shook her head in refusal.
“Ah? What? You joined a club behind our backs? Which one? I want to join too! What are the benefits?” Hong Chanyi bounced up immediately at hearing this, as if feeling betrayed.
“That might be difficult. If you want to join, you can go ahead. I joined the Sacred Light Society, which is formed by followers of the Holy Light Angel, and the admission requirement is to become an ascetic.” Yu Yatian explained.
“Ah? The Witch Academy allows such clubs to exist? Isn’t that assisting… uh, let’s just say that’s the point.”
“The Witch Academy is an inclusive academy. At least what I’ve seen with my own eyes and heard with my ears tells me this.”
“Alright then, then have you obtained any benefits? Spellbooks or magic sources?” Hong Chanyi still pressed on.
“None, I didn’t join this club for benefits; I joined to walk with like-minded people and not feel lonely.”
“I don’t get you ascetics.” Hong Chanyi looked at her with a speechless expression, “By the way, Sister Xiao Han said there are spellbooks for sale at the arena. Why don’t we pool some money to take a look? Yiren, aren’t you going to check it out? Oh right, didn’t you go out this morning? Didn’t you see any spellbooks for sale?”
“I didn’t pay attention to that.”
“Hey, hey, we’ll help you keep it a secret from Sister Xiao Han that you didn’t go out; can’t you at least show some response? What did you do this morning?”
“I didn’t do anything! None of your business! I’m going back to my room.” Dongli Yiren got fed up and stood up, preparing to leave.
“Hey? I was just joking, don’t go～ Hey? Fine, fine, then… Qiuling, do you have money?”
“I don’t have money, but I have a spellbook now, so I don’t need anything, thanks.” Guan Qiuling, who had been silent, softly spoke up.
“What! You didn’t say a word and you have a spellbook! Show me! What’s the effect?!”
“No.”
“Be good～ Qiuling, let us see it～”
“Don’t be like that…” Faced with Hong Chanyi’s stubbornness, Guan Qiuling also couldn’t take it anymore and made a move.
“Hey?”
Hong Chanyi stared at the energy glow emanating from Guan Qiuling’s hand, initially stunned, but quickly realized what effect this spell had.
At that moment, a rope appeared around Hong Chanyi’s limbs, binding her rapidly. Before she could respond, she fell onto the sofa.
“Hey? What is this?!”
“This, isn’t this the spell you wanted to see? This spell can only be cast on people, so… you should just stay quiet here for a bit.” Guan Qiuling’s tone was weak, but she still delivered the harsh words.
“Hey? Wait! Help me get free!” Hong Chanyi, noticing Guan Qiuling leaving, urgently called out.
“Uh… Xiao Yu, Yu Yatian, can you help me get free?” Seeing Guan Qiuling not responding, she quickly turned to Yu Yatian for help.
“Sorry, this is the spell’s effect. Control spells are not so easy to escape from. Sorry, I may be a bit powerless.”
Yu Yatian glanced at Hong Chanyi but didn’t step forward to help.
“Yu Yatian! You’re an ascetic, how can you just watch me in trouble?!”
“Is it really that serious? C’mon, if you struggle, it should consume the spell’s duration.”
Before Yu Yatian left, she kindly turned off the TV since no one was watching it, saving energy.
In the end, Hong Chanyi was just left hanging there.
…
Returning to my dormitory, I also opened the book that Teacher Ji gave me.
After a quick glance, I felt as if I had returned to my old days of learning letters.
But the only difference is that each of these runes represents a different meaning.
And in this book, there are three hundred such runes! The common ones, nonetheless.
The preface described that there was no limit to the number of runes, and new ones are constantly being discovered, suggesting that theoretically it is limitless.
If I were to define a rune, then a rune is a type of “ceremony,” and each rune is a ceremony!
Previously, I had also learned about ceremonies, such as chanting ceremonies, array ceremonies, etc., which are common terms in spellbooks.
But what type of ceremony is a rune?
A rune is a “rune ceremony,” which is categorized as a whole series of ceremonies!
One can imagine how terrifying such a thing is, especially since it forms a system.
Many ceremonies, such as “array ceremonies,” are a type of composite ceremony composed of rune ceremonies, and this composite ceremony is the array ceremony.
Moreover, rune ceremonies permeate various classifications of ceremonies; even chanting ceremonies have traces of rune ceremonies.
Some chanting ceremonies confer pronunciation to runes, combining them in a chanting manner to meet the standards of chanting ceremonies.
Even many runes have been stripped from various ceremonies.
From all of this, one can see the importance of rune ceremonies.
However, if I have to memorize all these runes, it is undoubtedly a massive project. These runes don’t even have any discernible patterns and serve different functions.
And this doesn’t even cover the effects of rune combinations. The text clearly states that runes can be combined, but this book obviously doesn’t mention what the effects of combinations are.
It feels like studying runes will become a bottomless pit…
But the time is limited today; I cannot finish all of this, but if I start from scratch, that’s not really necessary.
Because I saw many familiar runes in this book that I had encountered in the Fireball Spell and Energy Shield spellbooks.
Although I don’t know if this helps my understanding of spellbooks, starting from familiar things can’t be a bad idea.
Also, I recalled the rune of the Illusionary Clone; that rune wasn’t among the commonly seen 300, indicating that it is not common, or perhaps… this rune itself is a composite rune, a collection made up of multiple runes.
At this moment, I only need to take a glance to understand what this spell’s rune is about.
“Did you see it? This rune is a composite rune; no need to look; you should know just from thinking, right?”
At this moment, a teasing voice came from beside me; needless to say, I had just fallen for my own Illusionary Clone spell. This spell is excellent, but it easily ensnares its user, and this clone has quite a personality.
“Since you’re so free, how about helping me understand these runes?” I asked in the direction of the clone.
“My understanding is useless; you won’t understand; I’ll provide you with any mental support~”
“Then d*e!”
I didn’t say much and directly dispelled the clone, terminating the spell and exiting the illusion effect.
That clone was indeed right; it simply voiced my inner thoughts. This rune is indeed a composite rune, and I actually saw familiar runes within it.
However, I don’t understand what it means.
But that’s okay; I can roughly understand by looking at the book. Such things can only accumulate slowly.
If only there were spells to help me memorize quickly!
Since this is an extraordinary world, should there not even be abilities to enhance memory?
Some quick memory spells, or abilities like photographic memory, or even any clever potion; I wouldn’t be picky.
After some time, I finally felt overwhelmed by these three hundred runes; I really wanted to find a place to vent and blow up a few fireballs!
Honestly, I considered using practical situations to memorize, like directly practicing the spellbook.
However, the reality is not like that. If I can modify the internal structure of the spellbook, that’s no problem. I’m bold enough, but touching the runes inside… that requires careful consideration.
Manipulating these runes is akin to modifying code; although I haven’t dabbled in code, I know that changing one place can cause many errors or bugs, potentially leading to a complete collapse.
I don’t want to ruin my spellbook in the dormitory.
Maybe… I should solidify the theoretical foundation before getting hands-on. Unless… I genuinely have a lot of spellbooks to use slowly and experiment, but clearly, I don’t have the funds to do that.
Finally, after exhausting all my brain cells and patience, I legitimately decided to take a shower and go to bed.
I’ll deal with that troublesome stuff tomorrow.
Speaking of which, there are two more matches tomorrow; I don’t know which ones.
Since tomorrow I can freely unleash spells on the arena, my mind is energizing. I have quite a few spellbooks; they seem sufficient for me to have fun, so why not directly choose a lucky spell and alter its rune ceremony tomorrow?
Since I have so many, I won’t feel sorry about it. These consuming spells essentially conflict with my Fireball Spell— isn’t that just converting it into a different elemental spell?
For example, this Wind Blade Spell; can’t I condense my Fireball Spell into the shape of a wind blade to fly out?
Of course, I can!
If others found out about this idea, they would certainly scold me for wasting resources; maybe that’s just a matter of perspective?
I looked at my spellbook, selecting a lucky spell, and in the end, I chose the Wind Blade Spell.
It’s decided! Wind Blade Spell!
Sacrifice for my research of runes, serving as the foundation for my next big step!
Selection complete, so now, it’s time to sleep soundly~
