Ryne left with Danulo back to the open clearing where he saw Danulo taking out a rectangular piece of beast hide and rubbing it while muttering something incomprehensible.
The beast hide suddenly transformed into a ray of light that expanded towards the ground and a 150 sq. feet large black tent appeared out of nowhere.
"Follow me," said Danulo with a smile.
This was the second tent that Ryne had entered and this one felt lavish compared to the large mundane tent where the meeting took place.
There were three beds within one portion and one bed in another portion. All sorts of magical equipment, talismans, and physical equipment were neatly arranged. There was even a large desk there, around twice the size of Ryne, with a variety of books lying on top of it.
Danulo looked at Ryne who seemed to be in awe of his home and smiled, "Do you like it?"
Ryne bobbed his head, "It's great, Uncle."
"Good, then you can stay here for now. I'll be going to prepare for my hunt now." Danulo prepared to walk outside.
"Wait, Uncle, can I read those books?"
"You're a polite lad, quite the opposite of my mannerless son. Go ahead, read anything you want." Danulo replied before walking out again.
'Uncle has been so nice to me all this time. They don't seem to be bad people. I'll definitely repay this gratitude later on.' Ryne thought to himself as he stood up on a chair and saw the books lying on top of the desk.
He wasn't able to read a lot of names and the thick books scared him before he even touched them. One book, in particular, attracted his attention as it was light, new, and seemed easy to read.
It was 'Runic language for beginners'. He flipped through its pages and reaffirmed that it was easy to read and only 50 pages thick, almost like a pamphlet.
Opening the first page, he saw various strange symbols handwritten there with a few lines underneath. 'Runes are the language of the universe. Runes are the language of magic. Runes are the expression of mana. Runes are the words of silence. Runes are the basis of civilization.'
The simple words that were written hurriedly on a thin handwritten book introduced Ryne to the real world of magic - one that was practical, logical, and within the confines of the rules.
He was awed by the various ways runes could be understood and utilized from casting magic spells and inscribing them on magic equipment and talismans to understanding and unfolding the mysteries of the entire universe.
...
While Ryne was engrossed in learning the new and fascinating knowledge, in another region of the huge clearing, Golver wanted to slam his head to a large tree and bleed to death as the task that the Chief forcibly gave him turned out to be even harder than he first thought.
The usual responses he received were apologies, excuses, and falsified explanations. One grade-2 mage even cursed him behind his back as soon as he left but since he happened to hear it, that mage was now hanging upside down, tied to a huge tree after being whipped.
'Do I really have to do it? Is it within the Chief's plan? Danulo, you muscle head, I curse your nine generations. Well, there's no use delaying further then, I'll announce it tomorrow.' Golver pulled his hair in frustration before leaving a frustrated sigh trailing behind him.
..
The next morning, Ryne opened his eyes and looked around. Ever since Danulo left, no one came to visit him. He had already read the thin book three times but he still couldn't understand the Runic symbols one bit.
He wasn't someone to give up easily though, as he washed his face and started trying again. As he was about to try understanding the translated runes again, he heard a neutral voice from outside the tent.
These were the 'basic auxiliary runes', quite different from the elementary runes used to cast spells. They could be utilized in a multitude of ways, only limited by the range of human imagination.
Basically they were used to fortify and strengthen magic equipment, create multipurpose talismans, and store powerful spells within a talisman through the use of intricate design to be used without requiring much mana.
Activating them was simple as well. In a situation of emergency, a rich mage with a lot of offensive talismans on him could even overpower mages stronger than them by wearing them down or even escaping outright if the talisman was an 'escape' talisman.
Although these basic runes couldn't be inscribed that way, it still gave Ryne an overview of the multitude of possibilities they represented.
His excitement was about to burst when a low voice interrupted him.
"Come out, Kid."
Ryne pulled the tent open as he heard the voice and saw Senior Golver standing there with a stiff smile. Before he could even bow in greeting, Golver gritted his teeth inwardly and began speaking,
"Kid, I'm Golver Von Enirica, a low grade-4 light mage. I have been seeking wisdom for decades and fortunately, I've acquired some knowledge through my experience. After careful consideration, I have decided to take you in as my first disciple. Do you accept?"
"Yes, Master."
As a kid, Ryne failed to notice the bitterness underlying the solemn visage of the elderly white-haired senior standing in front of him. He quickly jerked his head up and down and kneeled on both knees as he kowtowed. It was a ritual that Danulo had told him about. He just didn't expect to perform it so soon.
Although Golver was forced to make this choice indirectly, he was still quite pleased by this new disciple's bearings and conduct. 'It's great that this kid is not someone like Danulo's irritating child, otherwise, I would've slapped his cheeks, pretending to test him.'
"Hm, now that you are my disciple, I need to know your affinity first. Follow me." Golver turned around and started walking on the ground, instead of soaring as usual.
Ryne tagged along silently without asking any questions. Although he was very excited about this new teacher and his lifestyle, his mind was already occupied by the thoughts of runes and their possibilities.
After walking for around half an hour and crossing various unfamiliar trees, they reached a scenic location, with tall trees that allowed filtered sunlight to fall on the calm stream and a simple wooden cottage nearby.
Golver sat near the stream and splashed some water on his face before turning around to face Ryne sternly
"You'll live here from now on. Now sit on this rock and try to repeat everything that you did yesterday."
"Yes, master."