In the end, I did not invest any of my unallocated points into Arcane Acuity. As it turned out, I merely needed to complete three layers of Way to reach 25 points in the advanced attribute, and all three were already close to completion.
Well, not Engraving, but I was so new to the path that I could practically complete the next two layers in two weeks if I put my mind to it.
Then there was Essence Sense. My progress stood at (928/1,000). In about 72 more hours, I would gain 8 points in Arcane Acuity—more than half of the points I needed.
In the next two days, I managed to draw ten perfect elementary Fire runes in a row, which meant Mum would finally allow me to inscribe them onto metal pieces and potential fabricators. However, I hadn’t asked her yet.
Instead, I put my mind to the other elemental runes—Earth, Water, and Air—and began practising those. There were many variations within these elements: ice or vapour for Water, metal or sand for Earth, and don’t even get me started on Wind.
It was arguably the most complex elementary rune I had practised. Water was as easy as Fire. It had two alternative runes—one that absorbed vapours and humidity from the air to form water, and the other that simply transformed essence into water. The first was more complicated but more cost-efficient; the latter burned essence to produce water, but its formation was quite similar to the Fire rune. I practised both. Since I had already perfected the Fire rune, mastering them wasn’t too difficult.
The octagonal forms were identical; only the inner runes needed practising. Five days after Mum’s promise, I completed the second layer of Rune Engraving.
[Congratulations! Rune Engraving II (25/25) is complete.]
[+2 Arcane Acuity.]
[Way of Rune Engraving III (25/50) is now accessible.]
It was only the beginning. I stole time from my playing hours and even from other activities such as reading, painting, and music to practise Engraving. Since I had been working on foreign essence, there was no strain on my body.
Instead of being pleased to see my growing interest in runes, Mum had become pensive. She should have been more careful before issuing me this challenge. Well, she didn't throw it as a challenge, more like an olive branch, but I took it as a challenge to achieve my goal in the shortest time, and that too, without spending any unallocated points.
I didn’t practise after bedtime or during my recreation period, however, fearing she might confiscate my stencil papers and engraving pen, as she did with my books. Besides, Engraving required a sound mind and focus; if I didn’t get enough sleep, my work would suffer.
While I was entranced with runes, I didn’t neglect my Essence Unification sessions with her either. She still supervised me through every step, even though I had memorised every nook and cranny of my essence channels.
One hour of Essence Unification progressed both Essence Sense and Unification by one point, since I needed to fully sense the essence within my body to draw it. At that rate, it would have taken me half a season to complete the seventh layer of Essence Sense. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
Even when working with foreign essence in Engraving, I still had to sense it, and make sure the lines were precise, the runes perfect. That, too, counted toward the Way of Essence Sense.
Additionally, I could simply sense essence anywhere, In my free time, I began scrutinising every little fabricator we had at home. From the tubewell that supplied water to the water heater and kitchen appliances, there were even runes and essence veins carved on the walls of our house to keep it warm during winters and withstand those ashen storms.
I was in the middle of Essence Unification when it happened. I was so grossly aware that it would happen that the Spell didn’t find it improper to announce the good news I had been dying to hear.
[Congratulations! Essence Sense VII (1000/1000) is complete.]
[+8 Arcane Acuity. +8 Focus.]
[Way of Essence Sense VIII (1000/2500) is now accessible.]
[Congratulations! You have met the criteria to evolve your elementary attribute Focus.]
[Please choose between two advanced attributes: Split Focus | Immovable Concentration.]
“Whooa!” My mouth parted in stunned awe. I wasn’t aware this was going to happen. It had been so long since I received a prompt like this.
“What happened?” Mum asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
“I just completed the seventh layer of Essence Sense,” I told her, my lips curving upwards into a grin.
“So you only need three more points now, hmm…” Mum murmured, and then it finally dawned on her. “Did it… did it upgrade your Focus?”
My brows knitted together. Even the book I had bought on attributes and the Ways didn’t have any information on this—that I might get the chance to upgrade an attribute. I supposed it made sense that she knew. She had likely completed the Way long ago and reaped all its benefits.
“It gave me two options,” I said, shaking my head. “Split Focus and Immovable Concentration.”
I let the words hang in the air, waiting for her advice.
“Lucky,” Mum said, pinching my cheek. “In my time, mine upgraded to Immovable Concentration without giving me a choice.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Why didn’t it give you a choice?” I frowned. And why was I given a choice? Why didn’t the Spell just spell the criteria outright in the prompt?
“Because I wasn’t as diligent as you,” she said fondly, “and didn’t meet the necessary requirements. I imagine reaching fifty points in that attribute shaped the options you received. Remember, just like the threshold in the Ways, there is one for an attribute. Ten is approximately equal to an adult man. Twenty-five is the lowest mark when the attribute begins to show its true mystical capacity, fifty is where it evolves, and then one hundred.”
“What happens at one hundred?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“That is for you to find out, Pumpkin.” Mum smiled mysteriously. “Just know that one hundred is the threshold that most Awakened never manage to cross.”
So it was another thing where experiencing it first-hand would be better than learning from others.
Still, all this felt important enough to be covered in the book I bought. There was nothing about this sort of information in there. I etched all the information into my mind before finally asking the question she would give an answer to.
“Which one should I choose?”
“Pick whichever you like. There’s no wrong choice.”
“I’m gravitating towards Split Focus,” I told her. “Do you think it would allow me to concentrate on two things at the same time?”
“It will,” she confirmed. “Not in the way you’re probably imagining. At first, you’ll be able to focus on one highly demanding task and another that requires only minimal attention. Essence Unification and solving a mathematics problem, for example.”
“Will that change if I gain more points in the attribute?”
“You already have over fifty, which means you’ll be plenty good at multitasking in no time.” Mum sighed and shook her head. “That is to say, there will always be the trouble of over-exhausting yourself.”
That pretty much sealed my decision. Still, I forced myself to learn about the other attribute before choosing.
"Immovable Concentration is a good option too," she supplied. "I had it for years. It lets me enter a state of deep focus instantly, no matter the situation. But this too does not come without a risk. You can completely lose track of time.
"Once, I focused so intensely on my work that I forgot everything else. Two days later, I found myself with my project finished, my eyes bloodshot, my clothes filthy, and my stomach painfully empty. I must have lost a couple of kilograms in those two nights."
Wow. That certainly made me deliberate over the choices a bit more.
Then I remembered her actual words.
"You said you had Immovable Concentration," I asked. "What do you have now?"
"I was waiting to see when you were going to ask that." Mum’s lips curled into a grin. "Of course, it’s a higher form of Split Focus. How do you think I keep track of so many essence threads during my work?"
Without wasting another breath, I prompted the Spell to grant me Split Focus.
A sharp, impaling pain stabbed through my mind, sending me flailing on the meditation mat the very next moment. Mum caught me, her hands running over my back gently, telling me I’d be fine. The last time this happened, she had to stay awake the whole night to make sure nothing went amiss. The process was far more instantaneous this time around.
Within moments, the pain receded, and the spell’s voice rang in my mind once again.
[Your elementary attribute Focus has evolved into Split Focus (Advanced).]
I didn’t forget to complete my Essence Unification session when Mum asked, "You’re not going to take the day off from Rune Engraving, hmm?"
I shook my head. I had barely begun to make strides in the Way. Why would I stop? Not to mention, I only needed a few more hours of work to pass the third layer.
Mum clicked her tongue. "I guess it is time to show you the more complex runes," she said. "Hope you don’t burn out too quickly."
When I turned to leave for the workshop, Mum pointed towards the couch, suggesting we’d have the class here today. I had no problem practising in the study room. It wasn’t like I could actually forge anything yet.
As I settled on the couch, Mum stood before me, composing the lecture in her mind.
"There are a bunch of elementary runes you need to learn, but these four"—Mum raised four fingers and began counting them one by one—"Amplification, Acceleration, Transformation, and Restoration, are irreplaceable in the creation of a fabricator. We may not need all in a fabricator, but having them certainly helps. We'll start with Amplification."
Before explaining what the rune did—though I could already guess—she traced it in the air with her essence. She had been doing that a lot, knowing I could see it clearly. Within a moment, an octagonal model materialised before me, shimmering in a golden glow.
"And I thought Wind runes were complicated," I muttered, shaking my head.
Although this one also followed the octagonal form, the runes inside were far longer and more spiralled than the strange letters used in elemental runes.
"You’ve probably already figured out what it does," Mum said, drawing another rune alongside it. As it came to be, I recognised it as an elementary Wind rune.
She released the Wind rune at my face. A gentle burst of air struck me, barely ruffling my hair before fading.
"An elementary rune is hardly effective on its own," Mum said, forming another Wind rune. "But what if I add the same rune with the Amplification rune?"
The two runes merged seamlessly, leaving not even a hair’s width of space between them. Without waiting for me to prepare, she released the new compound rune. Thankfully, not in my face this time. She directed it above my head. Still, the gust of wind whipped my hair wildly, with a tearing force that might have ripped my hair from my scalp if she hadn’t directed it elsewhere. Only a few books flew off the shelves.
"This is like spellcasting!" My breath caught. I jumped off the couch, eyes widening with excitement.
"What was that again?" Mum’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. "Are you finally taking an interest in the runes?"
"I was always interested," I replied, "but I didn’t know this was possible. I thought runes always needed a medium, like fabricators or those essence charms, to activate their... spell."
What she had just shown me was practically spellcasting. Of course, the wind was not threatening like a Windblade, but she would only need to use a Wind rune variant to concentrate the wind’s power into a jagged edge.
"This is spellcasting?" I asked.
"We have a fancy term for it." Mum’s smile reached her eyes. "It’s called Spell Forging, and by no means is it inferior to conventional casting."
"When can I learn this?" I asked, my excitement soaring.
"Obviously," Mum laughed, "after you awaken. But even then, it takes considerable effort to become as proficient in Rune Magic as in the conventional way of Weaving. I think you’ll do just fine, considering your gift and attributes. But of course, there is always the fear of spreading yourself too thin. To both our relief, you don’t have to worry about that today."
Now that the demonstration was over, I put my mind to practising the new rune and completing the third layer of Rune Engraving.
I had so many questions about Spell Forging, but I held them back for now. Getting my Arcane Acuity to 25 points took precedence. After all, I could practise none of the forging without the ability to draw essence outside my body.
Sensing I might struggle to replicate the form she had shown me, Mum lent me a bunch of stencil papers where she had drawn the Amplification script, emphasising different parts.
I spent an extended time studying every intricate detail of the rune. Even then, I expected that I’d fail a few times before getting used to the new script.
But I almost succeeded on my very first try.
Despite the complexity and my doubts, I found it surprisingly manageable, even if my hands weren’t particularly attuned to drawing it yet. Perhaps it was the new advanced attribute, and having over fifty points in it. Arcane Acuity itself made me inherently intuitive about all essence-related business.
Was that why Mum insisted I reach 25 points before allowing me to practise more? A question I would contemplate when I had free time. For now, I had runes to master.
It took a couple of days, and finally, the spell enunciated the long-awaited words.
[Congratulations! Rune Engraving III (50/50) is complete.]
[+4 Arcane Acuity.]
[Way of Rune Engraving IV is now accessible.]
With that, the challenge was complete. I now had 26 points in Arcane Acuity, which meant Mum would let me continue practising Unification for another session. At this rate, I was looking at a timeline of just a couple of seasons before I finally awakened. Perhaps even sooner.
I cannot wait.