"Runes aren't merely flat patterns."
Makley turned around, the chalk in his hand sketching a complex three-dimensional structure on the blackboard.
"In the eyes of low-level apprentices, runes are stamps. You press one down, and it takes effect."
"But in the eyes of a true Wizard, runes are needles, and Mental Power is thread."
"The key to Weaving Runes lies in transforming Mana into resilient 'spiritual threads.' By making them vibrate at a specific frequency, you can make them pierce the microscopic structure of matter and form deep connections."
As Makley explained, he walked over to the corpse with a severed arm that Tylen had prepared.
"Watch closely."
He extended his right hand. A point of faint blue light shone at the tip of his index finger.
"Rune: Spirit Thread: Suture."
Buzz!
A faint hum filled the air.
As everyone watched, the blue light burst apart, turning into dozens of strands as fine as hair.
The strands didn't fly off in all directions. Instead, as if drawn by some magnetic field, they precisely slipped into the Ian Rune frameworks around the corpse's severed limb.
The next moment, a miraculous scene unfolded.
The runes Tylen had drawn seemed to come alive. They greedily absorbed Makley's Mana, turning it into tangible threads that pulled the severed arm toward the wound.
Muscle aligned with muscle, blood vessels with blood vessels, and bone with bone.
Sss, sss, sss...
With a faint squelching sound, the severed arm was perfectly reattached to the corpse in just three seconds.
The seam was smooth as before, without even the slightest scar.
"That is the power of Weaving Runes."
Makley lowered his hand and said calmly:
"They can be used not only to stitch corpses together, but also to repair magic devices, weave Mana shields in battle, or... weave an enemy's blood vessels until he dies from the inside out."
"Wow!"
A wave of gasps rose from the students.
Though they looked down on Tylen, they were filled with longing for this wondrous power.
"Now, pair up and come try it."
Makley pointed at another corpse with a severed leg.
"Use the frequency resonance technique I just explained and try to guide the runes."
The first to step forward was the fat man in red robes.
He was so nervous that sweat poured down his face. He waved his Magic Staff and chanted for ages, but ended up pouring out too much Mana.
"Bang!"
The severed leg exploded in a spray of blood, splattering him with bits of flesh.
"Idiot." Makley's assessment was cold. "Your Magic Control is below 1. Go back and copy Theory of Mana Control a hundred times."
Next came Jane.
She walked up with confidence, held a handkerchief over her nose in disgust, and released her Mana from far away.
But the distance weakened her Mana too much. The runes only flickered a few times before going dark, and the severed leg didn't move at all.
"Too weak." Makley frowned. "Your Mana is as loose as cotton."
Jane flushed red and slunk away.
Seven or eight more students took their turns, and every one of them failed.
Some couldn't control their Mana, others couldn't match the frequency, and one even drew the runes backward.
Tylen stood in the corner, watching coldly.
"A bunch of fools who don't know how lucky they are..."
He calmly expressed his disdain in his heart.
"They didn't pay attention in class, let their minds wander, and fiddled with little toys. It'd be a miracle if they succeeded!"
Tylen had seen too many students like them in his previous life.
"Makley is an excellent teacher. His explanations are concrete and vivid, building from the basics to more advanced concepts. He made the core principles clear: frequency resonance is what matters, not brute force."
"It's like threading a needle. If you take a sledgehammer to the eye of the needle, it'd be a miracle if the thread went through."
Though he wasn't qualified to try it himself, his mind was racing.
Though the Slacker Saint Body couldn't be activated in front of everyone, his Mental Power of 3.4 and Magic Control of 4.5 let him clearly pick out every detail of the Mana fluctuations in Makley's demonstration.
"I see..."
"The textbook said 'spirituality is like water,' but that wasn't right. It should be 'spirituality is like a wave.'"
"By adjusting the wavelength of Mental Power to match a rune's natural frequency, you can produce resonance and achieve the greatest effect with the least effort."
Tylen felt as if a layer of paper covering his mind had been pierced.
The obscure theories about Weaving Runes that he'd memorized by rote yesterday now seemed vivid and clear, their truth confirmed by an experienced master's demonstration.
Ding!
A faint chime seemed to ring in his mind.
There was no system notification, but Tylen could clearly feel Runic Studies on his status panel slowly but steadily rise from 0.1 to 0.2.
Just then, a timid voice spoke up.
"Mentor, I... I'd like to try."
A girl with short green hair and thick glasses stepped forward.
She was Kathy, a noble by birth, but so introverted that she'd always gone unnoticed.
She walked up to the corpse, took a deep breath, then closed her eyes and spent a full minute adjusting herself.
Then she extended her hand. A faint but exceptionally steady light shone at her fingertip.
"Spirit Thread... Suture."
Buzz.
Her movements were slow and the light dim, but the few Mana threads found the rune nodes precisely.
The severed leg trembled a few times, then moved slowly until it was just barely joined to the body.
It was crooked, but she had succeeded!
"Not bad."
Makley nodded, a hint of approval appearing on his face.
"Kathy, your Mana isn't strong, but it's steady. That's the essence of Weaving Runes. Ten extra points."
"Thank you, Mentor!" Kathy cried, her face flushed with excitement.
Jane watched, her fan nearly snapping in her grip.
She'd just failed, and now this timid little noble girl who usually wouldn't speak up had succeeded? It was as if she'd been humiliated in front of everyone!
Jealousy blazed in her eyes, but she didn't dare lash out. She could only glare at Kathy and silently hold a grudge.
The two-hour class soon came to an end.
The young lords and ladies fled the classroom as if escaping a plague, not wanting to stay a second longer.
Only Tylen remained.
He skillfully cleaned up the scraps of flesh and blood on the floor, wiped down the blackboard, and put the teaching aids back in their places.
Makley sat in the chair behind the lectern, quietly watching Tylen work as he toyed with his mithril pointer.
"Magnus."
"Here, Mentor." Tylen stopped what he was doing and turned respectfully.
"How much of today's lesson did you understand?"
It was a test.
Tylen thought for a moment. Instead of making the arrogant claim that he'd understood everything, he chose a more considered answer:
"Mentor, when I memorized the textbook, I couldn't understand the concept of 'spiritual resonance.' It described it as 'the trembling of the soul,' which was too abstract."
"But after watching your demonstration today, I suddenly understood. It's really a matter of matching frequencies."
Tylen raised a hand and traced a wave in the air.
"It's like shattering a glass with sound."
"As long as the frequency of our Mental Power matches the Mana frequency of the rune, resonance occurs, and inanimate things can come to life."
"I think the reason Miss Kathy succeeded just now was that she took time to understand the rune's frequency before releasing her Mana, instead of forcing it into the rune like everyone else."
Makley nodded in satisfaction. "You understand it well."
The seventh-level Wizard stood and walked over to Tylen, his eyes brimming with admiration.
"Many people study runes their whole lives, always pursuing greater Mana, yet never understanding the mysteries of frequency."
"Tylen, your logical thinking is among the best I've ever seen in an apprentice."
At first, he'd only wanted a laborer. Then he'd realized Tylen was an uncut gem. Now it was clear: he was a diamond waiting to be polished!
With a little cultivation, the boy might not surpass Violet Star in the future, but he wouldn't be far behind.
"However..."
Makley changed the subject, thinking to himself:
"Talent is one thing. Loyalty is another."
He flipped his wrist, and a black scroll sealed with red wax appeared in his hand.
"Take this scroll to the owner of the White Cloud Eye Rune Shop in town."
"Remember two things:"
"First, you must hand it to him yourself. Don't make a single mistake."
"Second, absolutely, absolutely do not look at what's inside."
Makley stared fixedly at Tylen. An invisible pressure settled over him, but Makley said nothing.
Tylen immediately understood. This was a test of his loyalty.
Great men spoke sparingly, generally saving the right to explain themselves for last. After all, once you said something, it no longer belonged to you.
He knew this was a classic test of allegiance.
The scroll might contain one of Makley's secrets, or it might be empty, nothing more than a trap to test whether he would peek.
It might even bear a curse that would go off if opened.
Whatever it was, he had no right to refuse.
Tylen took the scroll in both hands. Feeling its cold touch, he met Makley's gaze with resolve.
"Rest assured, Mentor. As long as the scroll remains, I remain. If the scroll perishes, so will I."
"Good."
Makley patted him on the shoulder in satisfaction.
"Go. And don't forget the corpse your senior sister asked for."
Before you continue