Rune Proficiency Assessment - 1

Aavesh woke up 12 hours later, he was now refreshed. He checked up on Eon, but found the latter resting in his mind pond.

If Anyone knew about Aavesh's ability to see his inner mind, they would be terribly shocked. Due to certain events involving Visor - Aavesh not only opened up his mind pond to a large extent but also gained a slight form of inner vision which allowed him to at least inspect his mind pond and view his soul.

Generally People only developed inner vision after Stage 3.0 in the Soul Cultivation Path.

Aavesh was unique in that aspect but he could not make full use of it yet - but having it was already Advantageous.

Inner Vision - A cultivator strengthens the quality of his mind pool to help it develop a mental extension from the consciousness within the pool - like a tendril that seeps out from it and is able to view the structure of the Mind Pool and the Astral World that is superimposed on the Material World.

It was like upgrading your house to a Palace and it forms an automatic butler that views the whole palace and only reports to you - because the butler is also you.

Anyway, It would be a while before Eon woke up, He might as well go down and refresh his mind with other things.

To be honest, it had been a while since he had taken a break and soak into the fact that he did not have to deal with the nightmares now - Ever since he broke the Rift Invasion, he no longer felt imminent danger that he felt when he woke up for the first time in this Timeline.

Yes all those Eldritch Evil Beings were there and all - but for now, He could finally sleep without those memories haunting his dreams again - like a Psychological Burden had been lifted off him. He no longer had those headaches and it seemed that his mind had adjusted to the new memories fully.

But still those memories existed, like a warning about what would happen if he wasn't strong enough.

'Eh - Too much brooding for the day, I am pretty hungry anyways, I should go down and have dinner'

He immediately came down from his Room to see his mother Practicing her Rune Craft. It seemed that she was still trying to fully absorb the gains from the Primeval Runes.

He then saw her creating Rune strokes mid air and how they mutually transformed as well. He saw the various Energy formations and was somehow able to identify a series of patterns through which the runes were forming. Even though he did not completely understand, Aavesh still felt a bit drawn to it.

His mother noticed his reactions and stopped practicing immediately shaking Aavesh out of his stupor. She then secretly smiled inside and then chided him in a teasing manner,

"Interested in runes are we? First go eat some food - No One Learns on an Empty Stomache"

'Damn Why is Mom So Perceptive'

Aavesh immediately replied in compliance,

"Ok Mom, But Please Teach me afterwards?"

"Sure, Now Go Shoo!"

She waived her hand and nagged him to eat his food. Aavesh rushed to the Kitchen and found out today's Dinner was Roasted Chilli Potatoes and Stir Fried Vegetable Rice. He immediately dug in. Aavesh never had complaints about Different food types - He was just happy to eat food in a safe Environment! Not to mention Tasty Home Cooked Food!

He ate till his belly began to bloat and after that, he had chill cool Mint Lemon soda with Ice cubes.

He let out a loud Burp and felt satisfied. But he would not go to sleep. He wanted to learn runes and rushed back to his Mom who had gone back to her Craft Studio on the Second Floor. He knocked on the Door. A moment later the door was opened by his mother.

She was literally wearing a welding mask and Aavesh could see his dad working on a New Mobile Mech Armor. But first his mother asked," How was the Dinner?"

"Mom I loved the Dinner - Everything was perfect! I ate till I felt bloated" He spoke this while giving a thumbs up. His Mom smiled while letting him into the workshop. His father stopped working and smiled back at him,

"How are You feeling Ave? Saw you steamroll through that whole body healing process - It was awesome, You did Well kid, Your Mom Told me you wanted to start learning Runes - So We prepared a basic testing kit to see whether you have the necessary Proficiency to Start Learning Runes as a mortal"

His Mom then chimed in as well,

"You could always start later once you become a cultivator, but learning Skills like Runes as a mortal is quite different - Not all Mortals have the necessary Talents, So We'll first test you - got it?

"Crystal Clear Dad"

"Good"

Antrix got up from his workbench and took a book along with a Runic Cube and brought it to Aavesh. He spoke,

"Read the book for 30 minutes, then solve this Rune Cube"

Aavesh nodded his head and took the book and started to read, through its contents. It was a book on Basic Runes, Runology and different levels of Rune Masters.

'Every Rune is a form of communication - a symbol to the Laws of the Universe to act upon - A Target for the Chaos of the Universe, It is fundamentally a higher form of Language.

Runes What are they though? - They are a language, a weapon, a component and Existence. They are the basis for spells, Higher Level Martial Techniques, Mantras, Tantras, Astras, Invocation of Mythic Power, Forging, etc.

They are like atoms - they too can be further divided and investigated, but that is what Runology is for - Rune craft however is more on the Practical applications of how to create runes and Use them.

A Rune requires Components - from just Energy, to a lot of materials depending on the dialect and Runic Purpose.

Runes are known across the universe in different names.

They have been approached in various ways - Geomancy, Vastu, Feng Shui, etc.

They are a vast field with unlimited forms - but only restricted by the user's imagination.

They can be grouped together or combined to form Arrays or Formations by interacting with specific items. Arrays and Formations are more like circuits where the Pathways are made up of Runes and the whole chip is made up of the preferred Material.

The first Runes were formed in an unknown era, where those beings deeply observed the Order and Chaos of the Universe began to inscribe its working in their mind but such esoteric processes not only took too long to record, they also were far too large and complex .

These Proto Beings began to search for a way to store these processes, but accidentally stumbled upon a frequency range of Energy, which lay between Order and Chaos. Upon Trying to learn more about the this Line, they accidentally stumbled upon a Primeval Rune formed Naturally at the sight of that Unique Frequency.

They interacted with it using their nascent raw Mental Force and the Rune Activated before them! It contained every single Profundity they were trying to preserve.

It was incredibly revolutionary - so much so they collected this information and stored it in indestructible Primeval Materials to ensure they would not forget it in the future!

They then began working on different Runes after being inspired by the First Rune and brought their civilization to new heights!

Thus Began the first Creation of Runes by these Proto Beings who called themselves Protoss but soon they too disappeared Mysteriously in Time, but their Legacy on Rune craft and Runology was preserved and passed down through several eras, finally ending up in the current Era.

But that was just the Start of Rune Craft!

Rune Masters have their own way of cultivation until they reach the Mythic Threshold - The final Level between Mortality and Immortality. They rely on forging a Soul Core made from Mental Energy generated by the Soul, residing in the mind pond. The Mind Pond would be developed into full fledged Structure capable of housing the Soul Core - an Arcane Pool.

That is the end goal for all Mortal RuneMasters - As the Path of Rune Craft is the only known Defined Neutral Path to cultivate the Soul without major prerequisites.

Other paths require a certain Alignment restriction as well - Even some of the specialized Rune Master paths have certain preconditions to satisfy apart from the base Rune Master Class.

Make one thing clear - The Rune Masters are different from Spellcaster classes and Holy Classes, To Use Runes as a Runemaster one requires to shape the Mind Pond into an Arcane Pool and must follow the teachings of the Arcanist Archetypes.

Spellcaster Classes instead study the blending of runes into spell crafting which requires them to have an Energy Pool. Although spellcasters also open up their Mind Ponds - they do not do it as carefully as Runemasters - although they have a similar 'Arcane Pool' as well, they only use it to store crucial blueprints of Spells that can be accessed at any time required. It would vary from the different forms of spellcaster classes but ultimately it is not quite like an Arcane Pool.

Therefore as long as they channel their energy - Spell Master could cause ultra havoc and be able to use a lot of temporary buff-type spells and do a hell lot of Area Damage.

But Rune Masters approach the concept of using Magic Differently - They focus only on developing their Mind Pond wholely into an Arcane Pool in a delicate and a Targeted Manner. Rune Masters instead maintain a whole repository of Runes Laws in their Arcane Pool and use Mental/Soul Energy to Inscribe Runes.

These Rune Laws are developed from the Rune Scripts a Rune Master comprehends - The More complex the Rune Scripts, the more Powerful the Rune Master. Rune Masters are only limited by their Mental Energy stored in the developed Mind Pond.

Their Style of attack is quite different as well - The effects of Runes are more potent but limited by the Range which depends on the Strength of the Rune Master - Rune Casting is done more conservatively and used mostly in treating afflictions, traps and instant buffs - The more useful aspect of Rune Crafting is using them to build arcane constructs, Large scale arrays and formations along with the most famous skill - Enchantment.

Therefore most Rune Crafters use a different form of Combat which requires more critical thinking rather than simply accessing learned spells - they are far more calculative and effective in small skirmishes but are ruled out in Large scale Battles were fire Power of Spell Casters Remain Supreme.

It is possible to dual class both but it is not preferred and is considered a very stupid decision - As creating blueprints for spellcraft and Comprehending Rune Laws at the same time is highly inconvenient and would require an extremely stable mind to handle both. Only Two Mythic Paths have managed to enable their users to dabble in this extremely difficult feat and almost only 10 have even managed to Master them.

Those two Mythic Paths are however Ultra Difficult to even touch - Aeon and Protean Mythic Paths. Becoming an Aeon would require you to submit to the Essence of Order in the Universe and be reborn in the crucible of Stars where the Mythic Power of the Machina Realm flows the flows closest to the Material Plane.

You will be reborn as a Genderless Machine like Being who serves the will of the Infinite Machina Council to maintain and Promote Order Across the Cosmos. You will be detached from all positive and negative emotions - You would have an indestructible mind capable of not just Comprehending Rune laws but also have an auto-builder of spell craft blueprints - meaning new spells infused with the full power Rune laws that have a Touch of Cosmic Laws as well shall be accessible quite easily to you!

To Become a Protean, you would literally have to Submit to Pure Chaos and be reborn in the Broken Rift Storms between worlds like Natural Wormholes which distorts the Cosmic Order and it is where the Mythic Power of the Perpetual Vodovorot flows closest to the Material Plane .

You will be reborn as a being with all possible genders with no fixed body shape whose structure does not conform to Regular Sense and whose sole purpose is to sow chaos in the confined - Orderly structures of the Cosmos, It is very likely for you to be a bipolar schizophrenic flippant Uber Unstable being where your instability becomes your greatest asset and Instead of Rune Laws, you comprehend something Similar and Polar Opposite- Rune Chaos.

Using Rune Chaos you would also gain the ability of Spell Rigging - meaning spells created without the limitations of Ordinary Confined Blueprints that were unthinkable before would naturally come to you when you want it to.

But Both Paths are pretty hard to unlock - Not only do you need to find a Mythic Mentor to guide you on that path and reach the threshold that would let you be reborn in those Places - You would also need to ensure your soul survives the process of Rebirth or else... your soul will tear apart to its most primitive form be sent into reincarnation instantly.

So dear reader, do not go seeking the path of Dual Rune and Spell Casting - You would most probably die in the most agonizing death and take a VERY LONG TIME to reincarnate into a sapient being capable of accessing the Mythic Paths.

Another Warning to you dear Reader is not to indulge in Blood Rune Magic and Energy Rune Magic without getting the Prerequisite Mythic Power - You will Die in the worst case and suffer from very weird annoying ailments in the best case. So Don't.

Also if you are mortal - Do Not Inscribe Runes unless the testing has been done, if you lack the proficiency to inscribe runes as a mortal - Your Mind Pond might Fragment and Your Cultivation Path will be Broken - effectively.

Keep in mind, Rune Masters must have critical thought and cunning if they ever want to get far in this field. Do .Not .Forget. Lest you die the fastest in the battlefield.

Now As a mortal with a dormant Mind Pond with semi-static Mental Energy which may be slightly active if you have a special talent or just an ordinary mind everyone must undergo these assessments- the first assessment is to see if you are inclined towards Rune Craft which involves studying the Basic Rune Alphabets in a set time of 30 minutes which would automatically be triggered once you go across to the next page.

The Second Assessment is to solve a Standard Rune Cube with a duration of 30 minutes again .

The Evaluation will rank the Time Taken and measure your affinity accordingly.

It is highly necessary to do this for mortals before starting Rune Craft - if you have the talent the next information shall be revealed by your Evaluator.

Please Begin and Enjoy the process with caution as usual Dear Reader . All the Best!

- Author Julian Northhope

This Book is a basic testing kit that has been created by NH Industries and it is Copyrighted.

All Results are private and shall not be stored on any server apart from this book.

Purchased by Antrix Xander with consent From Rune Master Kriti Kumaran-Xander as the evaluator for Aavesh Xander on xxxxxxxxx.'

Aavesh took a deep breath and readied his mind and then flipped the page to begin the First Assessment.