You're Kidding Right

"This time it'll hit a thousand!" Lin Ke tiredly says. He wasn't physically tired, but he was instead tired mentally. It had been so long since he was put in this room that he had already lost count of the days he has been in here. He had drawn countless runes, each one with slight improvements to it. Each time, his lines became straighter, his work became more fluid and accurate and it was reflected in his results.

The thing with the Cosmic Wave Carving Technique was that it required speed and precision. Even if all the lines look straight, if their grooves aren't deep enough, if the energy expended in the creation of the rune wasn't regulated, any one step could ruin the rune. That was what made it so difficult.

Slowly, the score had climbed up to the 900s, getting closer and closer to that 1000 mark.

Lin Ke sets down another completed rune, this one looking to be a completely different product as compared to what he had done before. While all his lines were fine now, there was a cohesiveness, one that couldn't be found in his first work.

Lily nods, taking the rune from Lin Ke. Plopping it into the Energy Perception Device, the number began to rocket up quickly.

One hundred, two hundred, two hundred ninety, four hundred, five hundred thirty, six hundred… At the 700 point, the speed with which the values changed slowed down a little, slowly climbing up… Eight hundred… Eight hundred forty… Nine hundred…

As the number closed in on the upper 900s, it slowed down to a trickle. Lin Ke watched with bated breath as the value climb closer and closer to 1000.

Nine hundred eighty five….. Nine hundred eighty six…. Nine hundred ninety three… Nine hundred ninety seven...

Lin Ke was staring so intently at the numerical value that his eyeballs were about to pop out of their socket. At this point, there was probably a few seconds of delay between a change in value. "This is it!" he shouted. This was the closest he had gotten to 1000 and now he was going to reach that goal!

Nine hundred ninety eight.... Nine. Hundred. Ninety. Nine…

Nine hundred ninety nine. The number it stopped on. Lin Ke stood there, stupefied. He was still waiting for the number to tick over, thinking it would take a while. It was only after 30 seconds of standing there that he finally came to and realized.

"You're kidding right? 999? One away? ONE????" Lin Ke yelled, a little bit… just a little bit pissed off. "That's a scam!" He pointed at the device accusingly. "I demand a recount!!!!"

"Nope. The device won't be wrong." Lily replies, a little surprised at Lin Ke's stupidly bad luck. "Try again. You'll get it this time."

Looking at Lily, Lin Ke pleads with his eyes for her to just let him pass already. However, Lily stubbornly shook her head.

"No! You're not passing until you get higher than 1000 and that's that!" Lily yelled. She wasn't going to relent on her requirement.

Without any other options, Lin Ke could only start over, carving out the rune while controlling his brush expertly. In all honesty, carving one of these runes wasn't that hard, and after getting the hang of it, he could probably do one in under 20 minutes when he focused.

Finally, Lin Ke lifts his brush off the rune, letting out a sigh. "This is it. Finally, I can get out of this place."

Lily fits the rune into the Energy Perception Device for what seemed like the millionth time. As the number rose, Lin Ke waited with bated breath.

"This is it!" Lin Ke said excitedly as the value shot up.

Two hundred, three hundred thirty, five hundred….

Nine hundred… Nine hundred thirty… Nine hundred fifty… Nine hundred ninety…

Nine hundred ninety eight… One. Thousand.

When the value went past 1000, Lin Ke heaved out a sigh of relief. Finally, after what seemed like years, he had finally finished and could finally get out of this place. Then, with a surprised look, Lin Ke looked down at the number currently on display.

"1125" was the number on the display.

"Congratulations! You have mastered the Tier 1 Energy Gathering Rune!" Lily said with a round of applause.

"Mastered? That fast? I thought you said it needed to be at 1000 to be functional." Lin Ke asked, a little confused. He had been aiming for a value of 1000 because he thought that that was the number required to make it work.

Lily shook her head. "Nope. 1000 is considered the pinnacle of what a Tier 1 Energy Gathering Rune is able to gather. I lied to you so that you would work harder and achieve the peak in one go."

Lin Ke couldn't help but feel a twinge of anger, but it was quickly snuffed out by his rational thoughts. Lily was trying to help him, and by telling him that 1000 was just the starting point, she was motivating him to work harder. Plus, she probably wasn't wrong that 1000 was just the start. If he was to learn all of the harder runes, he was going to have to spend even more time than this.

"Alright. Can I get out now? I'm kind of getting tired of this room." Lin Ke said.

"Hm… I was kind of hoping you would stay for longer. You don't want to learn the second tier Energy Gathering Rune?" Lily asked.

"What Tier is needed for the teleportation array?" Lin Ke asks.

"Well… The rune you created today should be good enough. You just need to wait a day or so for the array to charge." Lily replies.

"Alright then take me out of here. I want some fresh air. I can learn the second tier later on."

"Okay!" Lily waves her paws, causing Lin Ke's vision to go black once again.