[NR] Chapter 147 - Connecting the Runes (Patreon)

Jason wakes up the next day well rested. He would have spent most of the day sheepishly avoiding Rosha and Courtney if not for one fact. Having gotten a good night’s rest after learning about the core rune had nudged something loose in his mind. With a new fervor he went at searching his core.

Now he didn’t find the rune right away or anything however by the time night rolled around again there it was. A complicated 3d nonsense squiggle which nevertheless felt like a complete representation of him. In fact, it felt almost too much like him. Jason puts this thought aside for the moment though.

His elation knows no bounds as he will be able to continue his lessons and had managed it in less than a week. Sure his teacher had said he should be able to but life happens sometimes. For now, all that matters to him is finishing dinner and going to bed. He doesn’t even taste the food and is in his bedroll before the sun sets.

As soon as his jitters settle and he drifts off to sleep Jason is once again in the training hall with his trainer in front of him. She nods at him, “decent time. Now that you have found your core rune we can continue. I won’t ask you to draw it for me. In the future you might want to be able too but for now it isn’t needed. Instead just hold it still in your core and have the System share what it looks like with me.”

A thought later the rune stills and is shared with her. She takes her time to examine it but in the end sighs. “I still can’t make heads or tails of these things. Would never mistake who the rune is for but it might as well be a child’s scribble. Anyway, here and here are the endpoints of the rune.” She projects his core rune up on the display and highlights two areas. At first Jason isn’t able to see what she means.

The trainer has to zoom the image in about 10 times on those two spots for him to see it. In the middle of some of the gnarliest of tangles Jason can barely make out the two spots where it looks like a three way intersection. Now knowing what to look for, he turns to his core and explores it. This still takes a while as the rune shifts around but after he catches hold of the two ends there is a sense of an intuitive grasp on their locations. Not only that but he can tell the one is the start and the other the end.

When Jason looks up she continues. “Okay, you’ve found them inside that snarl of a rune and should know which end is which. The next step should be easy enough if you're at all able to draw the other two runes. Chain the first two together and have the spirals arrow point at the core runes start. Because you always know where that is now this shouldn’t be too hard.”

“With that in place it is only a matter of sending your main energy through it a few times. Nothing will happen at first but keep trying. You will know when it works. Until proficient enough, the internal runes will make a foot tingle like it had fallen asleep. Oh and the foot it affects is random to start. At about the same time you lose the tingle is when you get enough control to decide which foot to use it with. Now give start practicing until you succeed. You already spent most of our time on your core rune so there isn’t anything else to do.”

This is easier said than done Jason soon finds out. Yes he does know where the start of his core rune is at all times. Problem is that location changes. If he tries to hold the rune still though he isn’t able to focus on forming the other two runes.

When Rosha wakes him for his watch Jason is still stuck on that step. The two runes form and connect but the spiral only points at the core rune when he first sets it. All there is to it is he needs to make either the core rune or the spiral lock onto the other. He doesn’t want to be forced to have a good night’s sleep again though so surrenders to the night once his watch is over.

Next day doesn’t provide him with any more insights either. Just wolves, lots and lots of wolves. There must be a monstrous den nearby as they hound the group non stop and even forced to travel through the night. Not attacked as they are just normal wolves. Even Courtney can handle a few alone but as a pack they drive the party away.

Next day dawns to them dragging themselves along. They all agree that they can’t stop yet. Wolves might not be endurance hunters but whoever is in control of this pack has a nice relay team set up. The fear of being attacked by an uncountable amount of wolves the second they go to sleep is too real for the party.

However this new day passes by peaceful. Then again not much would stay so near such a fierce pack. Tonight everyone needs a proper sleep. Rosha was going to take the middle shift to let the other two get just that but neither would let her. Instead Courtney brought out a scroll of warding. An expensive one use item but no wolves would be able to find them once they lay it down, let alone enter the camp. She declared right there in no uncertain terms that they were all going to sleep the whole night through. Rosha only shrugs, Jason however speaks up.

“Those scrolls aren’t cheap, are you sure this is a good situation to use one in? A few wolves won’t get us and a normal watch should do. I’ll even take the middle watch as usual.” Courtney scrunches and scowls her mouth, “I bought this to use, not to let it rot in my pack. They might be expensive but once it isn’t, we won’t need it. Now is the time to use it when it will protect against monsters on and slightly above our level. Not later on when it might as well be some glorified bug net.”