Runes of Rebirth

Ceasing these thoughts, Muse swiftly reined in the aura he exuded. In an instant, he adopted the demeanor typical of a noble—arrogant, imposing, yet tinged with a trace of restraint.

"First, I should assess my current physical condition," Muse thought, sinking his consciousness into his body.

The keen perception of a Grand Arcanist was unparalleled. Soon, Muse gauged his state:

Strength: 0.6

Agility: 0.5

Constitution: 0.7

Spirit: 9.8

A wry smile crept onto his face. "My body is unimaginably weak—worse than even an average person my age…"

"But my spirit stat is abnormally high!"

Muse was mildly surprised. After all, mental strength stemmed from the soul, and this could only mean his soul was exceptionally powerful.

"That shouldn't be," he mused, puzzled. "Logically, the soul and body are interdependent. A frail body shouldn't be able to sustain an overly strong soul. Doesn't this contradict the ironclad conclusions of the renowned paper Secrets of the Soul: Studies on the Relationship Between Soul and Body, co-authored by His Majesty Darwin, the Great Arcane Emperor, and His Majesty Solomon? Forcing a powerful soul into a weak body should cause the body to collapse!"

Caught in a frenzy, Muse felt as though his understanding of the world had taken a severe blow.

"Impossible! Something unknown must have happened to cause this anomaly!"

He racked his brain, desperately trying to recall what could have occurred to him.

"No! Rather than wasting time speculating, I should investigate directly!"

Grand Arcanists were, without a doubt, a breed of madmen—or rather, their thirst for truth bordered on obsession. Yet it was precisely this obsession that propelled them forward on their path to truth, ultimately forging them into Grand Arcanists.

Take Muse, for example. When he uncovered the truth behind gravity, he didn't hesitate to steer a floating city into the boundless astral plane to verify his calculations, seeking the object that must exist according to his theory. He spent endless years and braved countless dangers in the astral realm for that pursuit…

Muse sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began silently reciting strange syllables. His mental energy surged, accelerating with the rhythm of these odd sounds.

Here, Muse's extraordinary control came into play.

With precision, he manipulated the azure mental energy within him. Strand by strand, it twisted and morphed… until it formed arcane runes.

Muse temporarily crafted 18 arcane runes with his mental energy, distributing them evenly throughout his body. They faintly formed a circular ring.

As he inscribed the final rune, the circle of arcane symbols flared with a brilliant azure light under the spark of his last thread of mental energy. The glow flickered briefly before subsiding into stillness.

Muse was preparing to undertake the initiation of an Arcanist—right now! He intended to use the talent arcane model inscribed during the initiation to perform a soul introspection!

This wasn't a reckless whim. On the contrary, as a Grand Arcanist, Muse maintained absolute rationality at all times.

This decision came after carefully evaluating his condition and circumstances. The essence of an Arcanist lay in the soul, their immense power derived from knowledge. Everything else was merely an extension of that knowledge.

Since Muse knew his soul was sufficiently strong, initiating as an Arcanist—with the knowledge of a Grand Arcanist backing him—would be a trivial task.

Moreover, this wasn't just about exploring the changes in his soul. Muse hadn't forgotten the reason for his coma—Garry Alex's attack!

Muse didn't believe for a moment that Garry Alex just happened to pass by at the perfect time. It was no coincidence—it was a conspiracy by the Alex family!

And who knew what other schemes might target him in the future? To protect himself, Muse needed the power to fight back.

"Heh, I was so naive back then. How could I think a casual outing would lead me to a beautiful, charming commoner girl—and that I'd fall for her so easily? Looking back, that eerie allure and the hidden sigil… it must have been a priestess of that harlot among the gods," Muse reflected with a self-deprecating smirk.

"Even dumber was letting Garry Alex goad me into attacking him with just a few words after his 'convenient' appearance. I really was 'young' back then."

Dismissing these useless reminiscences, Muse refocused on his preparations for initiation.

The 18 arcane runes formed the foundational layer of his advanced meditation technique, "Myriad Attractions." Under his guidance, they drew in and captured the four fundamental elements of nature—earth, wind, fire, and water. In the unique way of Arcanists, these elements were fused into a distinct energy—arcane power—which then flowed into the cycle within Muse's body.

Simultaneously, his mental energy grew more adept and fluid with each cycle of operation.

Soon, his body brimmed with azure arcane power, fully prepared for the Arcanist initiation at any moment. This demonstrated the potency of Muse's advanced meditation technique, "Myriad Attractions."

Muse paused, allowing the abundant arcane energy to circulate naturally within him. At the same time, the 18 arcane runes glowed faintly blue once more, drawing tiny, invisible specks of light from the natural world to slowly replenish his depleted mental energy.

When he felt his mental energy restored, Muse opened his eyes sharply. The 18 arcane runes began to fade, erased mercilessly by his will. After all, these were merely temporary constructs of mental energy, not true arcane runes. They couldn't serve as a permanent foundation for "Myriad Attractions."

With everything in place, Muse jolted his mental energy, entering the state of Arcanist initiation.