Magic Runes

What was information?

Information could be words, images, objects, or even sensations.

Messages received through the senses were transmitted to the brain via the nerves, forming memories!

As for memory, it could be divided into sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. They were much like RAM and hard drives, controlling the storage of information through real-time changes in the brain's physical structure.

However, before messages reached the brain, most of them had already been filtered out. The signals that remained and entered the cerebral cortex were temporarily stored in the hippocampus, where they stayed for anywhere from a few seconds to several weeks. This was short-term memory.

A portion of sensory data considered especially important could then be transmitted through the hippocampus to the area responsible for long-term memory. The hippocampus played an important role in the brain's long-term memory.

It was located in the temporal lobe and closely connected to the brain's limbic system. It was an important gateway to the emotional world. The front of the temporal lobe contained the area responsible for short-term memory.

The so-called reticular formation was located between the brain and spinal cord. It was responsible for maintaining alertness and attention, both of which were crucial to active and passive learning, as well as vivid recollection.

Memory was an important foundation of human intelligence. From the moment of birth, or even earlier, it had ceaselessly recorded, categorized, and managed the most trivial pieces of information worth storing.

"If memories are stored in the brain, why can I still recall my memories from my previous life after reincarnating?"

After being 'stimulated' several times, Borne slowly recalled some information from his previous life.

It was as though a set of shackles had been unlocked. Borne found that his psychic power was growing stronger, and his memories from his previous life were gradually returning. It wasn't just his memories that were coming back; he was also slowly recalling things he had nearly forgotten.

"If the brain is the vessel for memories, how can I remember information from my previous life after reincarnating?"

"If the soul is the vessel for information, then why do people lose some of their memories or even become amnesiac when their brains are damaged?"

"And what's the relationship between psychic power and the soul? Psychic power is stored in the brain, so why does a stronger psychic power mean a better memory?"

His memory was so good that he not only recalled events from Blue Star, but could even remember them more 'clearly' than before.

Yes, 'clearly'!

That hazy feeling when recalling memories was gone. It was as if a video had been opened in his mind. There were still black screens and blurry, pixelated parts, but everything else was vividly clear.

"Is this my 'Golden Finger'?"

Borne mocked himself.

He was probably the lamest reincarnator ever.

He had nothing and had to rely on himself for everything.

The stronger his psychic power, the better his memory.

As his psychic power developed, his memory grew stronger, eventually approaching the so-called 'photographic memory.'

At the Earl's level, he could even clearly remember the moment he was born.

Borne's recollections of his previous life seemed to be a normal occurrence.

Perhaps it was better that he didn't have any special advantages. If he did, Borne wouldn't dare use them.

Whether in his previous life as a researcher or in this one as an Arcanist, this sort of 'miracle' that seemed to transcend dimensions was clearly suspicious.

Being able to recall memories from his previous life was already the greatest 'Golden Finger' of all. As a researcher, Borne had browsed an enormous amount of material.

And that didn't even include Borne's other interest.

Reading!

Borne had a hobby: reading.

Papers, journals, literary classics from various countries, and so on.

Especially in university, he had borrowed nearly every book in the library. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known anything about D&D.

He had kept up the habit after graduation, and had even subscribed to the latest journals from home and abroad.

For other people, subscribing to journals might have been more of an obligation, but Borne genuinely read them. Even when they had nothing to do with his field or research, he still found them fascinating.

Now, as his memories 'returned,' he was even slowly 'recalling' the books he had read.

Most of those memories were still blurry. And because some topics were outside his field, he couldn't make sense of certain things.

Even if he didn't understand them, his memories from his previous life still gave him a wealth of 'inspiration.'

With 'inspiration' to guide him, his experiments with various spells progressed rapidly. The results of those experiments fed back into him, making Borne stronger and stronger. His psychic power was even growing faster than his magic, and his every move unconsciously influenced the people around him.

This was a phenomenon caused by his rapidly growing psychic power spilling out.

"...All right, boss, that's the Chamber of Commerce's situation this month. According to your plans, the market will see a major fluctuation next week, and the Ioulaum Chamber of Commerce will be affected..."

Although it wasn't the first time, Lehman still found it unbelievable.

He could make 'himself' fight 'himself' and somehow grow stronger in the process.

There was no one else who could pull off something like that...

Ever since Borne had taken down the entire Arcane Society three years ago, no one had bothered Lehman again. Borne had officially reached the top.

But that hadn't come without a price.

No matter what, the Arcane Society belonged to the Academy. Borne had publicly 'beaten up' his fellow students, and that was wrong. There had to be consequences.

Of course, he wasn't going to be expelled. After all, he had a powerful backer—his grandfather was the vice dean!

And so Giles Academy gained its first student held back a year.

Borne Ioulaum's name would be written in bold in the Academy's history.

Borne: (╬￣皿￣)凸

Held back a year, placed under school supervision for one year (not allowed to leave campus), and fined five thousand points.

Borne had only been a second-year student, but now he had become a 'new student' all over again.

Though he now had the identity of a 'new student,' nobody treated him like one.

Giles Academy had entered the 'Age of Borne Ioulaum.'

After leaving the underground laboratory, Lehman also breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew the psychic power covering his body.

"The boss is right. A contest of psychic power is no less effective than 'meditation'!"

"But is psychic micro-carving really something a person can do?!"

Then he thought of Borne's increasingly abnormal psychic power, gritted his teeth, and decided he would start practicing it when he got home that evening.

Mana Element Observer!

This thing was a rare find. They said that in Netheril, only the dean and the Earls owned one.

Its function was a little like a microscope from his previous life. Not only could it magnify things several hundred times, it could also detect the flow of magic.

It was the most sophisticated piece of experimental equipment Borne had seen to date. Even the lavish laboratories in the Wizard Tower's experimental area only had things like petri dishes, standard beakers, and scales. The best equipment there was the Alchemy Table, which was a bit higher-end.

The equipment in the underground laboratory Borne had built himself was certainly more complete than that in the public experimental area.

Netheril did have advanced equipment. It was just that the equipment was in the hands of the 'big shots'—in the laboratories belonging to the various families.

That was why Borne had built his own laboratory. The public experimental area could no longer meet his needs.

Borne had gone to a lot of trouble to borrow it from the Earl, and had sacrificed a great deal of his 'dignity' in the process.

The magical apparatus weighed a full eighty kilograms and stood half a person tall. Its entire surface was covered in all sorts of magic circles and runes.

Still Mind!

Borne wore an expressionless face, his eyes fixed on the eyepiece. His hands hovered at either side, his fingers trembling slightly. A closer look would have revealed a ruby on the observer's worktable. Two extremely fine silver needles flickered in and out of sight around the gem, an optical illusion caused by their high-speed vibration.

As the silver needles vibrated at high speed, blue magic shot into the ruby like a laser, altering the pattern of its internal structure.

Borne's hands were steady. Despite the long hours of control, he hadn't made a single mistake.

The Gemstone Micro-carving Technique was one of the essential prerequisites for making Ioun Stones.

That Borne could modify gemstones after only three years was unimaginable to outsiders. How many spellcasters spent more than a decade practicing while still clutching stones and fumbling around?

After all, carving was different from learning magic. Talent played a relatively small part.

The coordination of eye, mind, and brain required intense concentration. Most importantly, his hands couldn't make the slightest mistake; even a tiny slip would ruin all his work.

It required not only patience, but also stamina. These prerequisites alone stopped at least 99.9 percent of people, which was why Ioun Stones were so rare.

After years of practicing the Breathing Technique, Borne's physical fitness was no worse than that of an ordinary low-level martial class. His level-three Monk abilities already allowed him to control every muscle in his body.

After reaching level three as a Monk, he had naturally mastered a special ability.

It could clear away all sorts of negative emotions, making the mind clearer and more alert, and focusing his thoughts!

Borne had never received formal instruction. He had only made deductions based on information from his previous life, but this should be the Monk ability Still Mind.

'Ki' was a combination of life energy and psychic power, and it developed the body's potential. It was a little like the training methods in the novels of his previous life, where special powers emerged naturally once one reached a certain level of cultivation.

Still Mind wasn't magic. It was more like a power of the mind, a little like Psionics. Borne wasn't entirely sure, though.

Under the effect of Still Mind, Borne's mind remained in a state of intense concentration. Combined with his physical fitness, which was no worse than that of a martial class, it allowed him to master gemstone micro-carving in just three years.

His concentration remained intense. Even sweat running from the corners of his eyes didn't affect him.

The whole process lasted nearly five hours. Only then did Borne let out a quiet breath and leave the state of Still Mind. His eyes were bloodshot, but he couldn't hide his excitement.

He took the gemstone out of the machine and carefully examined it beneath a Light Orb.

Then he went over to a nearby box, opened it, and took out several marked gemstones to compare them one after another.

The box was filled with gemstones of various sizes, and every single one of them was a failure.

Holding the gemstone up to the Light Orb, he could clearly see the countless geometric patterns and runes covering its interior.

"Success!"

Unlike the runes on a normal Ioun Stone, the runes Borne had carved inside the gemstone were denser and more complex, yet not disordered.

Borne gently rubbed his eyes, then took out some dry rations to replenish his strength.

Borne had made the dry rations himself. The dining hall only opened and closed at set times, and if he missed them, he had to find something to eat on his own.

Borne had gone years without eating in the Academy's dining hall more than a few times. The experience was terrible.

Cooking for himself wasted too much time, but ordinary dry rations were hardly edible. They had no nutritional value and tasted awful, especially when he was still growing.

With no other choice, Borne made a batch of dry rations every so often and kept them on hand. They still tasted bad, but at least they were nutritionally balanced. They could tide him over when he was in the middle of an important experiment, and every now and then he could go out for a proper meal.

Identify.

He cast Identify on himself, and the familiar panel appeared in his mind.

Name: Borne Ioulaum

Netherese Human

Mage 7/Arcanist 3/Monk 3

Level: 9

Basic Attributes: Strength 2.7, Dexterity 2.5, Constitution 2.3, Intelligence 9, Wisdom 1.3, Charisma 8

Knowledge:

Social Skills +16, Disguise +25 (+10 when acting), Arcana +23, Architecture and Engineering +81, Dungeons +21, Geography +32, Toril History +88, Nature +23, Nobility and Royalty +29, Religion +18, Planes +31, Abyss and Hell +24, Ioun Stones +70, Biology +40, Physics (Electrics, Electronics) +88, Carving +101, Advanced Mathematics +107,

Languages: Netherese Noble Language, Common, Elvish

Martial Techniques: Cross Sword Technique (Proficient), Monk Breathing Technique (Skilled)

(Beginner, Skilled, Proficient, Mastered, Master, Grandmaster)

Feats: Shorthand +15 (Concentrating +10), Evasion, Fast Movement, Still Mind

Special Feats: Quicken Spell, Mobile Spellcasting, Silent Spell

Arcane Spells:

Cantrips: Light Orb, Mage Hand

1st Circle: Identify (Rune), Shocking Flash

2nd Circle: Misty Step

3rd Circle: Fireball

Spells: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Circle...

Identify was a miraculous skill, especially after Borne obtained it from the Nether Scroll and it transformed into a magic rune.

When a spell formula turned into a rune, it meant that the spell had been mastered to a certain degree. For example, Borne had already gotten all sorts of use out of his Mage Hand, yet it still hadn't become a magic rune.

After Identify turned into a rune, Borne also gained the ability to edit the information he acquired.

Then Borne expanded his personal information, adding knowledge, levels, and basic attributes. The corresponding information would then display automatically.

The information was also based on the knowledge he possessed. It didn't go beyond Borne's learning.

In fact, as Borne's knowledge deepened, the information would become even more detailed.

Take flour, for example.

At first, Identify gave him this information:

'Flour made from wheat.'

Once Borne learned that it had been milled seven days earlier, the information changed to:

'Wheat flour milled seven days ago.'

The more he learned, the more complete the information he obtained. Even information Borne had since overlooked would still show up when he identified something.

It wasn't just information. The same was true of knowledge. At first, the knowledge he had inscribed amounted to only two or three points, but as his carving skills improved, they had reached 101.

But the higher his score, the harder it was to increase. Even after successfully carving a ruby today, he had only gained one point.

After his carving skills surpassed 100, Borne seemed to understand that what came after one hundred must be another level entirely.

And he hadn't expected advanced mathematics to have the highest score.