Engraving a second rune was a fairly simple process overall. It could only be slightly more complex than the first rune due to the restrictions of essence at Rank-1. That being said the process of engraving would still take several minutes and drawing the guides for everyone would take even longer. Jack estimated that it would take roughly half of an hour for them all to finish their second runes. Their third runes, whenever they were all ready, would take closer to an hour.
"So, did you decide which rune you wanted for your third, Clay?" Jack asked as he retrieved his paints.
"I thought about what you said last time and did a little research. I was thinking of using the rune of lightning affinity." Clay responded thoughtfully.
"That's a good choice. While it won't directly increase your attack power it does increase the efficiency of your lightning attribute skills." Jack observed, "That's one of the best runes to engrave for this, although it is one of the more complex ones."
"Well then, I'm going to paint the guide on your left forearm leaving plenty of space for runes later on. Please place your arm on the table and don't move. The brush might tickle a little." Jack instructed.
At the other side of the table Rust was also assisting Iris, painting a rune of agility on her foot. It only took a few minutes for Jack to finish drawing the affinity rune, his work mostly done he went to grab his research on the storage runes. It wasn't an extensive amount of research but it was more than a single page, Jack also wanted to grab the old textbook and a few other things for Rust to look over and give her opinion. It took him a little to find all of the pieces of paper he'd doodled on.
When he re-entered the kitchen Rust was about halfway through drawing the rune of lesser plant control. Jack sat back down at the table to wait for her to finish. He didn't have to wait long. Rust proficiently finished the pattern with a few deft strokes. Seeing her finish up and Amber begin to concentrate on manipulating her essence Jack walked over to Rust.
"So what rune were you planning on using, Rust?" Jack asked while walking over.
'The Spell of Shielding.' Rust replied, ' We still don't have a reliable method of healing or any defensive countermeasures.'
"That's smart. While we can make scrolls we can't make an infinite amount of them, and they're not at readily usable as an engraved rune." Jack approved.
'I assume your rune has something to do with that large pile of papers and books you're holding?' Rust questioned.
"Yep, this is my research, theorizing, and the source, the old tamer text book. Give it a look, I want your opinion before I engrave it." Jack handed over the mess he was holding.
Rust took her time reading through Jack's notes.
Clay finished engraving his third rune first out of the team. He opened his eyes and exhaled deeply before stretching. Cracking sounds resounded from his joints as he stood. The changes to one's strengths and physicality at the lower Ranks were noticeable to oneself, but not greatly so to others. The higher the Rank one ascended to the greater the phenomena involved in the process. It was rumored that at the upper Ranks ascension might provoke natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning storms.
Iris finished soon after Clay, having engraved her second rune and only halfway to Rank-2, there were no major physical changes. It was another ten minutes or so before Amber finished her rune. Rust was still reading through Jack's notes.
"Hah, I feel great!" Clay exclaimed, "I want to go test out my abilities, Jack, can I use your backyard?"
"Yeah, just don't destroy the whole place." Jack offhandedly responded waiting for Rust's response.
'Why don't all of you test out your abilities while we're at it? Jack and I need to discuss this rune he's decided on.' Rust requested.
Iris, Amber, and Clay agreed and headed out to the backyard. As he left Clay glanced back at Jack and smirked with an eyebrow raised. Jack sighed in exasperation as they left. Turning back around he was met with a rare sight, Rust was staring at him with a very serious expression. She neatly placed the last of his notes atop the tamer text book before speaking.
'Do you know what you're doing, Jack?' Rust asked with an almost severe amount of seriousness.
"Of course I'm aware. I'm engraving a rune that's completely new and totally untested. But the theory is sound." Jack started to explain himself.
'It is not just about the untested runes. People do that all the time, and I don't need to explain to you the consequences. Iris is the best example. This is about you totally deviating from the proscribed paths.' Rust interrupted.
"I may be treading on thinner ice, but the Academy doesn't care that much about one or two students going back to these abandoned classes." Jack replied.
'You've done this much research on this rune already,' Rust gestured to the stack of paper, 'you must have realized that the Tamers weren't just disbanded. The majority of them died. This rune that you're using has been permanently banned and listed in the Tome of Forbidden Runes. Just by engraving it you're committing a crime.'
Jack paused for a moment as he absorbed the new information.
"I knew it had been banned after all the ... incidents. But I had no idea the response was so serious." Jack voiced his ignorance.
'That'd be because they buried everything related to it and burned all of these text books. I have no idea where you managed to find a copy.' Rust explained.
"Still" Jack continued on, "You've seen my research, this will work. And they'll approve of it after seeing the results."
Rust sighed as she heard his response.
'I knew you'd say something like this. I'm just warning you, before you reach Rank-4 and show actual results if you're found out you will be arrested.' Rust warned.
"Then I'll just have to keep my arms covered in public. It'll be easy to bluff. Most summoner's can't call a Magick Beast until Rank-3 or so. I can say I've engraved some runes to strengthen my summon and let it's ability speak for me." Jack was confident in his plans.
Rust sternly observed him for a few moments, looking for any change in his confident expression. Finally realizing he had full faith in his plans she sighed in defeat.
'Haaa, fine. You know what you're doing. Unfortunately my family and I aren't on great terms right now or the Vermillions could back and legitimize this project. Well even if we are caught, with your notes and my limited influence we might be able to avoid criminal charges. Even more likely if Clay's family supports you. But it's still best if no one learns of this before you have concrete results.' Rust complained a little.
"As if anything in this world would be so convenient and easy." Jack grumbled, "Regardless we still need to engrave our runes."
Jack pulled his paints over to him, across the table as he spoke.
'Assuming we reach the high Ranks there will inevitably come a day when we need to assist each other with painting the guidelines.' Rust brought back a somewhat uncomfortable topic.
"Yes...?" Jack replied, not sure where exactly she was going,
'Since it is an inevitability I propose we do our best to mitigate the eventual discomfort and awkwardness.' Rust gradually approached the end result. 'Namely by getting used to assisting each other with the runic guides.'
Jack considered her suggestion for a few moments. It was logical. While there was no real need for a rune master to receive assistance at the early ranks, it was indeed impossible to paint the guides on ones own back. An ordinary citizen might say that when one reached the level where assistance was required you could just find a rune master to help them. However it wasn't so simple.
The final three or four Ranks of cultivation required runes to be engraved across the shoulders, back, neck, and head. Simply finding a rune master who could draw the mind-numbingly complex guides for the runes at such a level was difficult. Moreover you needed to find one who you fully trusted with your life. This was in no way an exaggeration or needless precaution. The easiest way to kill any cultivator was to have them engrave incorrect runes resulting in energy feedback and an explosive death. It was an absolutely despicable method of assassination that would absolutely ruin the rune master's reputation, but the higher one's rank of cultivation the more influence one would have. It wasn't unthinkable for someone unpopular to be assassinated before they could become a serious nuisance.
Naturally Rust and Jack didn't currently have any life or death enemies. However it would be foolish to say that they would never gain such enemies. On a less dramatic note with both Rust and Jack being rune masters and with their love of pushing the boundary of rune research it would be difficult to find anyone who could engrave the strange runic combinations they came up with.
Jack planned to combine two storage runes together with his summoning rune eventually, so he chose the middle of the inside of his left forearm for the first one. Rust, for the sake of efficiency and future customizability chose the back of her left hand. Painting a guide required one brush and one singular type of paint, all of the results were purely do to the runes themselves. This being the case it was totally possible, and much more efficient for them to both paint the guides at the same time. It was also natural instinct to steady what one was drawing on. These facts being present it was perfectly natural for the present situation to occur -Jack and Rust clasped their left hands together, with Rust's hand atop Jack's allowing the back of her hand and the inside of his forearm to be presented and paintable at the same time.
This was a natural and efficient method and these two naturally had no ulterior motives or untoward thoughts. However the picture presented to others was naturally... Clay, Iris, and Amber had finished testing out their new abilities in the nearby grounds and returned back in time to view this interesting scenery. In a rare display of 'consideration' Clay stopped at the door and didn't go in to disturb them. Instead he began gossiping with Amber.
"I told you they were dating." Clay whispered victoriously to Amber. "Even if Jack said they weren't I still knew it."
"You keep saying that. Rust and Jack have both denied it and from what you've said they told both you and me roughly the same reasons in their denial." Amber returned.
"Exactly my point, they both deny it with the same words, they've got their stories straight. The moment we leave them alone they're holding hands. I'll bet you five bucks if we walk in their now they'll jump, let go, and start blushing." Clay pressed on.
"Are you even using your eyes, Clay? They're painting their rune guides right now and you think, what? They're having a romantic moment?" Amber defended.
While the two of them stood arguing in whispers Iris pushed past them and walked back into the kitchen.
"You got anymore food?" She walked over to the table and asked.
"There should still be a few bags of snacks on the counter." Jack responded without moving his attention from painting.
'I also brought some hot dogs and burger patties that you can cook if you're particularly hungry.' Rust similarly replied.
Iris nodded, satisfied, and walked back towards the kitchen counter. Clay and Amber only half paid attention while they stood arguing until Clay's Id bracelet vibrated. He opened it. There was a message from Iris. As he opened it Amber walked around to his side to read it as well. The content was simple.
[You owe me five bucks.]