Level 1 Runic Studies! Going Out to Get Polished

Makley was even more satisfied upon hearing that Tylen had directly grasped the core of the issue and even thought to pave the way for his own mentor.

This kid—not only were his hands skilled, but his mind was sharp enough to inspire awe.

"Good."

Makley stood up and smoothed his robe:

"Come, give me a live demonstration of your current skill in carving runes on bone."

"I want to see just how solid your fundamentals really are."

"Yes, Mentor!"

Tylen picked up the Purple Diamond Carving Knife, his gaze instantly turning cold and focused.

He drew the knife from his chest, its faint purple gleam catching the light, then bent down to retrieve a clean, processed shoulder blade from the cold storage compartment in the cellar.

"Hoo..."

Tylen adjusted his breathing, his eyes sharpening with intense concentration.

Though he lacked the 30x efficiency of the [Slacker Saint Body], the muscle memory etched into his bones remained crystal clear.

Over the past few days, he had practiced at least five hours daily. With the 30x boost, it was as if he had carved nonstop for a full nineteen days!

This insane accumulation had now transformed into instinct, ingrained in his muscles and nerves.

Scritch, scritch, scritch.

The carving knife glided across the hard bone surface, producing a subtle, rhythmic scraping sound.

Under Makley's watchful gaze, Tylen's wrist moved with firm, powerful precision, like a mechanical arm, without a single tremor.

The blade curved and twisted, each turn landing perfectly at the optimal mana node, each stroke's depth controlled with flawless accuracy.

Just over ten minutes later.

Tylen withdrew the knife and blew away the bone dust.

A small, exquisitely crafted Bone Domination core rune, with a flawless circuit, lay before Makley.

Makley picked up the bone piece, his fingertips gently tracing the smooth, flowing lines, his eyes full of admiration.

"Good. Very good."

"I can see you haven't slacked off these past few days. You've poured almost all your energy into honing your craft."

"This steady technique already rivals many senior apprentices at level seven, even level eight."

Makley set the bone piece down, the heavy stone in his heart finally settling.

He had absolute confidence in Tylen's theoretical studies.

After all, this kid not only had a remarkable memory but also exceptional logical thinking.

Now, seeing his practical skills were equally outstanding—even gifted—he was completely at ease.

"Prepare well for tomorrow's match. Bring me glory."

With those words, Makley transformed into a crow, flapped his wings, flew out the window, and vanished into the night.

After his mentor left, Tylen didn't slack off for a moment.

He immediately locked the doors and windows, lit all the candles, and placed the three thick lecture notes on the table.

These books had no titles, only gray covers with handwritten labels: Runic Studies Lecture Notes, Ritual Studies Lecture Notes, and Ancient Language Lecture Notes.

Each book wasn't thick—only about a hundred pages or so.

But when Tylen opened them and read the contents, he was instantly captivated, even obsessed.

Because the density of knowledge within was terrifyingly high!

These weren't the generic textbooks given to low-level apprentices in the Wizard Tower; they were the real "meat" meant for insiders.

For example, in Runic Studies Lecture Notes, it not only detailed how to link two runic arrays in series resonance but also listed the operational procedures for "hot patching" when one array malfunctioned while both were running simultaneously.

It also covered how to use mental power for three-dimensional carving inside solid crystals to inscribe micro-arrays...

And most precious of all were the annotations written in red ink.

Those were the crystallized fruits of Makley's many years of experience.

Often, the annotations were so detailed they specified exactly how much mental power to inject, how to control mana flow rates, the deflection angles at mana turning points, and the proportional balancing of different materials...

It was like a battle-hardened veteran personally teaching you how to survive and kill on the battlefield.

Tylen devoured the texts, his mind racing as he greedily absorbed the knowledge.

Then, he opened Ritual Studies Lecture Notes.

This book mainly covered how to establish contact with the vast Astral Realm through complex rituals and allow one's spirit to journey through it.

The techniques for protecting one's mental safety during the journey and avoiding contamination by Astral beings were especially eye-opening for Tylen.

All of it was invaluable, life-saving knowledge!

As for the Ancient Language Lecture Notes, they were far more tedious.

They covered the mainstream languages used by classical dynasties from the First Era to the Third Era:

The "Noble Dragon Tongue" of the Holy Light Solar Imperial Court in the First Era, which was the foundation of elemental magic.

The "Ancient Elven Language" of the Golden Thorn Dynasty in the Second Era, which was the source of runes and natural magic.

The "High Lord Terra Language" of the Golden Empire in the Third Era, which was the common tongue for soul and religious texts.

These three languages were mandatory courses on the path to becoming a high-level wizard.

Tylen did not bite off more than he could chew.

He focused all his energy on the Runic Studies Lecture Notes he would need tomorrow, especially using his practical experience from the past few days to verify the theories in the book.

Time ticked by, second by second.

When Tylen had fully digested the entire Runic Studies Lecture Notes and integrated it with Makley's annotations...

Splat

In his mind, it felt as if his brain matter began to boil and sublimate, breaking through the ceiling of his thoughts.

On the status panel, that line of data underwent a qualitative change:

[Knowledge: Runic Studies 0.8 → 1.0 (Formal Entry)]

Although it was only an increase of 0.2, for Tylen, it felt like pushing open a door to a new world.

At the moment of advancement, he clearly sensed his thinking expand dramatically.

The runes, which had originally appeared to him as mere lines and shapes, now seemed to come alive, transforming into flowing, three-dimensional structures full of logical beauty.

He looked back at the content he had studied and trained in over the past few days, even the Complete Collection of Basic Runes that had previously given him a headache, and it felt like a middle schooler who had mastered equations reviewing elementary school addition and subtraction word problems.

Where before he could only see one path of thought, now several solutions instantly appeared.

Calm, casual, even carrying a hint of looking down from above.

Many knowledge points that had felt obscure and difficult yesterday, requiring rote memorization, now suddenly became clear and self-evident.

"Is this the power of internal knowledge?"

Many of the techniques and contents here, if Tylen had to figure them out on his own, might have taken five years, or even ten.

Mastering the same techniques and methods at sixteen versus twenty-six—those were two completely different concepts!

Tylen murmured to himself, a gleam of excitement shining in his eyes.

This was a qualitative change in thinking, a complete encompassment and crushing of lower-level knowledge after mastering a sufficiently high-level knowledge system.

When he came back to his senses, the sky outside the window was already showing the pale light of dawn.

Unknowingly, it had already become light.

Although he hadn't slept all night, his mental excitement left him feeling no fatigue at all.

But to maintain his physical condition, he still forced himself to lie down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

Twenty minutes later.

Tylen woke up on time, full of energy.

He tidied up the room, then followed his routine with an intense physical muscle workout.

After finishing the workout, he gnawed on two apples to replenish his quick carbs, then took out last night's lecture notes again for a final review and consolidation.

9:00 AM.

The sun finally dispelled the morning mist.

Today was Sunday, also the Wizard Tower's rare day off.

A large number of students walked out of the Wizard Tower in small groups, relaxed smiles on their faces, ready to head into the city and enjoy their rare holiday.

Tylen also changed into a clean but faded robe.

He carried a special canvas bag containing the folded Blood Rune Bone Dog.

Arriving at the stable, he skillfully harnessed the carriage.

It was still that black corpse-collecting carriage, faintly smelling of formalin.

Although, with the exam approaching, the Wizard Tower had mercifully suspended his corpse-collecting duties for the time being.

But he was still driving this carriage out, partly to try his luck and see if he could pick up a couple of fresh corpses along the way.

And more importantly...

"This is going to be my core prop for showing off and slapping faces."

Since this was a rare opportunity to gain fame and raise his status, a "gilded carrot post" tailor-made by his mentor, then he naturally had to show off thoroughly.