It was like combining different words to form a coherent sentence but one did not have time to manually parse through a multitude of combinations in a test - Especially when it had more than 43 Quintillion Combinations to try out.
As Aavesh tried to remember what could 6 faces mean, he looked at the Cube's face once more. '- A face had 9 unique movable characters - The Number 9, Wait! When Rune Characters are connected together, they form an Array .'
It was another lead.
Aavesh remembered the Basic Array Chapter from the book which gave information about different Array Series, Looking at the Cube Aavesh further filtered his thoughts to remember a specific Series - The Grid Series, which was basically trying to connect Runes using Matrixes, A Matrix could be divided into small equal sized cells which would house a Rune Character Each.
It then provided examples of different combinations and what they meant- So he must remember the Nine Rune Character Combinations Page - Aavesh thought really hard now and managed to recall The Six Elemental Hymns Array - It was a complicated Rune array created to call upon the Power of the Six Elemental System - Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Light, Dark.
It was an outdated Elemental System considering the Current Sciences - but it was a common System used to focus on Beginner Arcane Studies.
But wait! This Array had a progression-based learning format, One had to be able to use the first 3 Runes to call a Low Elemental Force, 6 Runes to call an Intermediary Elemental Force, and 9 Runes to call A Strong Elemental Force...
That's it! there was no other possible way to Solve this Runic Cube because the preparatory book had no other Nine Array Combination Series than the Elemental Hymns!'
'Finally!' Aavesh thought Joyfully in his heart and then first examined all faces of the cube to see the Rune Characters that would be able to help form a Hymn Array - Make no mistake, Each Part of the Hymn Array required different Rune Characters and Not a Single Element could have the same Rune in their Combination.
It was a Necessary Aspect to ensure No Conflict of Energy is Placed here. Aavesh Decided to first Try and Assemble the Combination of the Earth Elemental Hymn Array - He Switched different Runes from other faces to each part of the Nine Spots in a Face.
The Combination could be roughly translated as 'Solid-Rock-fall-brittle-patient-mother-stand-plant-dust' Obviously all the Runes had to be joined together to make it Interpreted this way.
As soon as he performed a final switch to complete the Earth Face, A 'Click' sound could be heard from within the Cube and the Rune Characters on that face gave off a Warm - yellowish Brown Glow.
The Earth face was Complete, Proving his Hypothesis that the Rune Cube had to be solved using the Elemental Hymn Series. An excited light flashed in his eyes as Aavesh looked at the Cube with more interest - He wanted to solve the full cube.
But he had to be careful as well, Each Face must have an opposing Element Paired on the Face Opposite to it, They could not be Adjacent - No matter what!
If Earth had the Front Face, the Air Must have the Back Face - Fire the Left Face and Water the Right Face, Light the Top Face and Dark the Bottom Face.
It could not be done in any other way. It was because he Heard about the Elemental Conflicts in the book as well - The Rune Cube here was a prototype for an Elemental Reservoir following the 6 Elemental System - It was like an Energy Battery Pack where the Elements were arranged in a way that the opposing Elements were directly paired against each other and Neutral Elements were kept adjacent to each other.
It was necessary to avoid the 'Spill' Effect where when the 2 Opposing elements - like Fire and Water if Placed Adjacent to each other, it would cause the Elemental Energies to Rebound and bring severe instabilities to the Structure.
Therefore, this rule made Aavesh's Assessment even harder. But Aavesh wanted to solve it anyway. Such challenges were interesting to him now.
Unfortunately, he did not know that solving a single Face meant that he passed the Test with Full Marks. Actually, Aavesh could have used other Array series as well, as long as each Rune was connected to another Rune and was not isolated - It was considered a pass! Like using a combination of 2 connected Runes + 7 connected Runes vice versa 6 + 3, 4 + 5, 2 + 4 + 3... Except 1 + 8, or any combination that left out a single character would not be evaluated.
The Main Objective of the Test was to be able to Utilize a whole Space of Runes and ensure that atleast a face has 100% utilization of the Rune Characters Given. Anything less simply meant that the person was not Ready enough to follow the Path of the Runes.
Why You may think so? A Person's Temperament, learning ability and Critical Thinking is evaluated here. There was no Physical Talent that would be looked for - as Physical talents will only augment the Rune Master but not illuminate the Path, which Rune Master must depend on herself/himself.
If one did not possess the above traits, then trying to become a Rune Master as a Mortal would be impossible and they must attempt it later if they show considerable change in their temperament.
You might wonder - why all this Nonsense about the 3 traits above - These 3 traits were crucial to become a Basic Rune Master - A Rune Master without the above 3 traits did not exist at all- for they all died Quickly in Wars.
Yes - Infact basic Recruits are banned from learning Runes if They do not pass this test - because they often ended up killing themselves and others in the process of using Botched Runes and rubbish Rune Arrays.
When the Death Rate in the wars were calculated - The Ruling factions did not expect that Several Fatalities in Battle was caused by such incidents. An Investigative probe authorized jointly by them made them realize the problem, So they created a committee to Govern the Teaching of Runes across the Galaxy.
The Committee racked their brains with research data on the Learning Process of Runes and finally came up with the '3 Trait Law' and A custom Rune Proficiency kit for eligible races. They allowed the Several Organizations the various blueprints and their own adaptation of the Testing Kit provided that '3 Trait Law' was strictly followed.
But the grading was common - for mortals - The Passing Grade was to be able to fully Solve a face of the Runic Cube. As for those who were able to go past the first Face and manage to reach the Next Face while retaining the First Face - They would be considered Good seedlings.
For Third Face - Excellent Seedlings
For Fourth Face - Superior Seedlings
For Fifth Face - Extreme Seedlings
For the Final Sixth Face - Ultra Seedling
But this was under the consideration that No Rune was isolated and there were combinations of different arrays in the same Face - Heh.
They did not really think that any potential Seedling would be able to form a 9 Rune Character Array
The Titles Were no Joke - Mortals who cleared the Test in their first Try were already gifted to a certain Extent. Mortals that went beyond clearing it were Unordinary and rare.
10 minutes had gone by when Aavesh had begun strategizing on how to move each rune, without compromising existing Solved Cube Faces. He patiently Began to switch the cubes step by step while observing possible pitfalls.
He then began to switch the Runes with a strategy in mind - Starting with the center components - then begin Placing them step by step and then rotating the corners patiently to match the Rune Array from his memories.
This was not inscribing Runes luckily - The Runes were already inscribed with a Strange Energy and gave a very dull glow whenever some actual Rune Characters were created. The only time that the Rune Color change happened was when he assembled the Nine Character Array on a Face and a slight hum could be heard.
5 minutes later, Aavesh had sweat dropping from his forehead, his brain had literally gone into Overdrive trying to get the runes in the Perfect Places. His head had become slightly hot after all that thinking and his face had become a little Red.
It was almost time to finish this.
Aavesh Nervously licked his lips and performed the final two switches on the Cube.
*CLICK *CLICK *CLICK *CLICK *CLICK *CLICK
Aavesh heard 6 clicking Sounds and the Rune Cube Floated from his hands as it shined out 6 Different colors from each face, He could sea Bright Red, Pitch Black, Bright White, Bright Blue, Bright Azure Green and Bright Yellowish Brown Shine out from the Whole Cube.
If one heard closely, a slight Hymn could be heard from the Cube - Aavesh smiled earnestly as he heard this. He had achieved Success! He Passed the Test just before the Time Limit was up.
The Beginner Book suddenly levitated as well - It displayed a Projection of His Score -
______________________________________________________________________________________________
RUNE PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Applicant: Aavesh Xander
Sex: M
Age: 7
Prior Rune Proficiency Assessments: 0
No. of Attempts Currently: 1
Region of Assessment: OUTER RINGS, Ho-Jax Sector, Rathiel Republic, Deion-Tempest Star System, Planet Sarkon.
Assessment Status:
Assessment 1 Score : Passed with 200% Score, Remarks: Unconventional way of solving Missing Runes
Assessment 2 Score : Passed with 900% Score, Remarks: Managed to incorporate Nine Elemental Hymn Runes on all 6 Faces without Triggering Spill Effect - This Approach has not been ever used by Mortals to Clear the Rune Proficiency test - Congratulations Applicant for being the First Mortal to have all 9 Rune Characters utilized in each Face of the Rune Cube. We will Update the Akashic Records to Preserve this Remarkable Feat.
Final Assessment Result :- 1100%/100% (1000% has been added as Bonus Marks for Fully Clearing Both Assessments)
Eligibility for Rune Craft Path: Yes
Talent Grade: Exceptional Rank Ultra+ Seedling
Recommendation: It would be A Heavenly Waste if you chose not to pursue the Path of Rune Craft! You can contact any Rune Master Association with this result and be directly sent to the Inner Rings for Recruitment - You can also Use this as a Part of Your Resume to apply for Registration for the CORE Institute Recruitment Trials! It will increase the probability of a Successful Registration by 8%. P.S. Please Do Not Give Up on the Path of Runes!
Invigilator Spirit Remarks: What the Fuck! When did a Seven Year Old have so much Talent ARGHHHH! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE! BUT THIS IS TRUE AND VALID! KID DON'T FORSAKE THE PATH OF RUNES! OR I WILL PERSONALLY HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! THIS LIFE IS UNFAIR!
DAMN IT ALLLLL!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"..."
Aavesh was speechless as he saw the Results, It could not be so exaggerated right? He only hoped for a Pass Not for a Big Fucking Pass- This... Was too much Ahh.
Aavesh suddenly saw Eon coming out of nowhere in his humanoid form - This Dude was awake?!
"I woke up just as you started those tests and I decided to see for myself whether you had the capability to Learn Runes..."
"..."
Aavesh wryly smiled, this guy- he read people's thoughts too well.
"Only you would have such easily readable expressions - Other People Don't have anything to do with me reading their thoughts"
Aavesh felt the blow to his heart this time, Eon was... Merciless in his words.
"And that's how it should be..."
"..."
Aavesh ignored Eon and looked back at the test Results.
Eon could not help but be secretly speechless at Aavesh's Results- Yes he understood the sound principles of the Rune test, but he could not understand this Absurd Result - Sure Aavesh qualified for the 3 Traits but this result had to do with something else.
He then looked at Aavesh and thought about Aavesh's partially opened mind and Inner Vision - could they factor into it? No he understood them very well and concluded that Aavesh was not influenced by these 2.
But Could it be 'that'?
A Very rare Talent that gets secretly awakened when one walks the Edge between Life and Death. Could it be that Aavesh had accidentally stimulated his mind to awaken something?
He could not tell what it was but it definitely had something to do with Cognitive Abilities - There were strange talents in the Universe that were Unique to the Soul and would lay deep within the Person until they are threatened to an extent that it begins to manifest unconsciously...
Eon Looked again at Aavesh and felt this possibility to be very likely- This Boy had the most strangest things revolving around him and he would likely stumble onto fortune without even realizing!
'Hmmm' Eon just kept quiet and waited for Aavesh to Start the Conversation again-
"Aavesh! You completed the Assessment?!" The Door of the Studio burst open as Kriti, Antrix and Rayna Came in quickly.
They then stared at the Assessment Results and became silent...