Li Lin... Missing?

Ethan was walking on his way to storage room of the building. He was tossing a golden card on his hand. He was feeling funny because of situation. He not only steal the card, but he also exchange it with ID-card he used as the butler when he served him tea.

What kind of face he will make when he found that out. He is starting to like this job very much.

He is having a time of his life today. It's unlikely there is anything left now, he had stolen this card, though he has no idea what is it used for. He still have a threat named Officer but he is nowhere in sight. There is also Alice but who he wants to meet but he can't since situation denies it.

Ethan suddenly stops at his feet. He thought that he should at the least meet Li Lin for last time. He is worried about officer. He clearly saw her when she talked to him and danced with him what if he approached her? He should at the least inform her about him so that she can leave this place safely.

Ethan went to party hall again. It looked less crowded and whispering was also lowered. It seems the people had start retiring. He looked for her but she was nowhere to be seen. Ethan also went to the place where he leaves her but she was also not there.

Ethan stands at his spot. His feet were frozen on the ground. Was he too late? Did that guy catch her? Dark thoughts start covering his mind in cloud of panic. His heart starts pounding and it becomes audible to his ears. He took a one unstable breath and looked for her in more places.

He comes out of the main hall from a different than last one. What stands in front of him made him taken aback in surprise. There was a fountain and garden in front of him! He remembers that he had entered this place through alleys than what is this sight?

He was curious but he put aside as he remembered his original goal. He looked around and spotted a black hair girl in a beautiful night blue sleeveless dress, sitting alone on a bench without backrest.

Ethan sighs in relief when he saw her there. She was looking at the sky with bored expression. It seems after he leaves her, guys didn't stop coming at her at all. It seems his scarring tactics doesn't work that well, after all.

"Hey."

Li Lin turned her head with an annoyed expression. She is already tired of dealing with this. She wants to curse herself for agreeing to come here. If not for her parents, she wouldn't even show her face here. Her face turned surprised when he saw the owner of the voice.

"Ethan…"

She thought he would have already left this place but he is still here and his state didn't look good.

"Are you fine?"

"…Hmm, I am. Did something happen?"

Ethan moved toward her with a quick walk, he was still a little skeptical about her but it seems she really didn't come in contact with that officer at all. Li Lin looked at him with confusion. She can tell by his state that he was looking for her for some time.

"…Have a seat."

She moved to her side and gives him some space. Ethan looked at her while contemplating if he should just inform her and leave but he choose to seat as ambience felt like he should just sit silently without any complaints.

Li Lin kept looking above to the night sky. Ethan looked at her from his side. She wasn't wearing her mask so he can see her face clearly. She looked so beautiful and attractive that he can only gulp air at the sight.

Her parted lips...Her eyes that were reflecting moon of the sky... her sharp chin that was looking upward… everything about her was so mesmerizing that he wants to engraved this sight in his mind…

"…How was it?"

"…Hmm?"

Li Lin asked him without turning her head while Ethan looking at her as he doesn't understand what she is talking about. He thought for a second that she is talking about herself…

"Party…"

Ethan opens his mouth in understanding. He thought she might be asking about herself. She tends to be a little narcissist so it wasn't impossible. Ethan thought about her question and remembers the golden card. His mood turns delight and he answered with a smile.

"It was good."

"…Really?"

She turns her head and faces him directly. Ethan turned his head away hurriedly. He was looking straight at her so when she turned her head he can't help but look away hurriedly as to not make her uncomfortable. He had a feeling she is going to make mess out of it so he avoids revealing it. Ethan looked at sky and agreed.

"…Yeah."

"…What did you like about it?"

She asked Ethan again while looking at the sky both of them were looking at moon together while there hands where resting besides them, just ten of inches away from each other.

She is seriously wondering what he liked here. There is nothing interesting in parties from what she experienced. She only found it annoying yet he actually liked something here. His opinion made her curious.

"…Dance with you…"

Ethan thinks about his answer. He can't actually tell her that he is actually kind of a spy and it happened that he recently hit a jackpot by founding certain information and he will become rich after he leave this place. So, He just told her the second thing that he enjoyed. Even though he didn't like her, he can't hate his first dance with a girl for it, can he?

Li Lin turned silent as she stared at the sky. She lowered her head and sneak glance of him from the corner of his eyes. What does he mean by that? Did she hear something else by mistake? Is he actually confessing? He is? Isn't he? Is that why he was looking for her? She was sure that he hated her then why?

"…What is up with this place?"

She raised her head again and stared at him. He felt her gaze and turns around to look at her.

"…When I enter, I didn't think there was a garden around…"

"...It's space expansion. This space had been expanded and sealed from outside world. All best banquet halls are like this, they are sealed from inside the building and restructure according to customer's will, to suit their taste. It is but just a good show of money. If you ask me, It's a waste of money..."

She understands what he is talking about. She took her time to explain as she also wants to change the topic and Ethan happens to bring out best one as she is knowledgeable in this field.

"Everything is only possible because of Runes…"

"…Hmm…Are you interested in Runes?!"

"…I am…"

Ethan said his thought loud which fell into ear of Li Lin. Her ears perked up as she thought he might be interested in it and turns out she was right.

"Runes are fascinating, aren't they?!"

"…They are…"

"…Do you know the origin of runes? It is actually method of Dwarves to manipulate mana. They were actually more developed than us in term of technologies and application. Humanity already found Runes but it was limited knowledge. We were unable to bring even 10% of its real potential. When Dwarves transmigrate to our world, we were able to make some qualitative progress in our rune proficiency. It was mentioned in the books that humanity's methods were more like a colorless pictures while dwarves' methods were more like a VR movies. It was such an eye opener…"

Ethan felt like he had stepped on wrong pedal. She starts reciting all of the history of runes. Ethan had already read about it and there is a whole bookshelf dedicated to it. He had read it all in his free time.

He felt slightly bored as he heard her but he still makes an effort, to not make it obvious. She keep talking and Ethan even doubt if she was taking breath as she continued to talk. She finally stopped after some time for unknown reason. Ethan took that as a chance and ask her what he wanted ask from the start.

"...Can you show me…a rune…a basic one will work?"

"…Sure. It is quiet hard and you should know it. There are only ten students in LIFE who are actually Rune User and I am best among them. You should be honored that you get to witness runes drawn by me."

She puffed her chest with a proud smile on her face. Ethan left her alone as he just found a clue to clear his bet. He doesn't have high hopes but a man can hope…right?

"A basic one…"

She muttered and brings her finger to bench. She starts by drawing a circle and draws some unexplainable structure that joins together inside the circle and forms a complex circular diagram. It took a second for draw it. Ethan was surprise as he took more than a minute to draw one.

Runes glows and Ethan can see mana circulating inside it faintly with certain frequency. It looks stable and resonating entirely different than his that look like a castle of cards, threatening to fall with slightest breeze. It looks beautiful and captivating as it glows in the absence of light.

Ethan raised his head and looked at her. He is contemplating if he should ask her or not. His mind is telling him that she might actually help him in breaking the wall he is stuck in. He can tell she has high proficiency or she is already at practitioner level but should he? He decided to take a roundabout way.

"…Hey, There is a friend of mine… you know, the thing is he is having some problem with his runes and he told me about it… I wonder if you can do something about it."

Li Lin interests perked up. There is nothing more satisfying than showing off her knowledge about Runes. It just she never get chances to as in academy other student with same interest did rather look at her with hostility and it's not unexpected as she is just too much talented in the first place.

"…Well, he told me that he is unable to make resonance with outside mana. His runes are unstable and mana circulation always gets divided in the middle and frequency changes with it."

"…Ah, that. First tell me about his teacher."

"…She is rather a mysterious person and she told him to learn it by himself and give him some reference books…cruel, isn't she?"

"Cruel? I think he should worship her as a goddess if you ask me."

Ethan looked at her with a frown. What is she talking about?

"…Hmm…What do you think is better? Driving a car or having someone else."

"…It will be better to drive it myself."

Ethan always wanted to learn driving since he saw a sports car. He wants to do skits on road and screech the tires. He had seen it once when he was walking on his way to academy from dungeon, it honestly look cool.

"…Hmm? Not the answer I expected…anyway, most people would choose to have someone else drive since it's easy but that way they will never understand anything about driving a car. It is same for runes. If you choose to learn it from other, you will never become more than the person who taught you but if you learn it by yourself, you will be the one to decide your limit. It is simple yet fascinating, don't you think?"

"…Yeah, you are right."

Ethan can't help but agree with her. He doesn't want to learn runes only to stay stuck at the same level for rest of his life. Will it not be better to hard work now and enjoy later?

"Back to topic, he can already be consider to reach apprentice level proficiency. It's just he is needed a little understanding about it. Mana Diagrams, Mana Frequency and Mana Circulation are three components of Runes but there is slight misunderstanding among people even it though it can understand by simple reading. People usually mistakes three components as its traits..."

Ethan heard her silently but he is still a little skeptical to her explanation.

"Just ask yourself the difference between component and traits and then redefine the runes forming process, you will understand it… or not, just tell your friend that and he will understand everything."

Ethan took her words seriously and tried to see if it works.