Lucas could only stare at the dome while it displayed the most horrific things. People who are getting eaten alive, crows picking apart a person that's running away, the fire scorching the faces of the ones that got stuck beneath their collapsed house. Monsters that were flying overhead ready to snatch a child that fell down, but only managed to take their upper body, ripping it apart. The scenes only got worse from there.
'How do we carve this into our dome? Unlike the runes that automatically settled in, now we want to do it ourselves.'
Stumped with this question, he could only experiment and think further. Asking questions was impossible while under the pressure, so asking Elam anything would have to wait. The only thing he had as a source of information were the runes in his dome.
The only reason the runes of light and dark were carved into the dome was due to his core being mostly light with a speck of dark. Just like any mage with a red core would have the runes of fire automatically carved into the dome, he needed to figure out how to do so with something else.
'Why do the runes automatically get carved out? Does our core decide that or something?'
'If you're saying that the core acts then it means it can process information and make its decisions. Then our core is like an organ that can make its own decisions but doesn't require any external directives?'
'No, we already saw our core and when I think back to reaching Rank 1 we could even clearly communicate.'
Thinking about what happened back then the dome started to show the different memories. The visuals displayed across the dome were vague or blurry in some parts. Just like actual memories, some simply disappear or slowly vanish. Anything that he couldn't remember must've not been important, or that was their conclusion.
Lucas had to think back to all the moments he confronted his own core. The dazzling sun that had to light up the abyss while a speck of dark on that sun confirmed it was his core. No matter how bright the sun shone, that speck of dark stayed as black as the surrounding void. During those moments he could feel the sun somehow.
Even the voice of the dark was more than enough to show that it wasn't just another organ, it was something more. He didn't know what that voice was, but with the current information he had, he assumed it was his unconscious mind given a voice.
'If the core decides what is carved out on the dome and what not, can't we just ask them to do our bidding?'
'Hmm, I doubt that. Only on rare occasions were we capable of communicating with our core. Any other attempts resulted in nothing. We can't ask our organs to stop working, why would the core be any different?'
'Then how are we going to carve the moon in our dome?'
Just mentioning the moon again made the entire dome turn red and eerie. The scenes of slaughter started over from the beginning. He would always carry these emotions with him. He couldn't just sit there and wait, he got bored hours ago.
'Fuck it, let me try something.', Lucas stood up and floated towards the Scarlet Moon that hung at the very top. 'What are you planning?'
'I don't know, the first mages had to convey meaning and emotion through some stupid scribbly lines.'
'Yeah, and...wait, are you going to do what I'm thinking?'
'How do I know what you're thinking, but propably yeah.'
Reaching the top Lucas places his hand on the moon, or at least the dome that showed the moon. If meaning is meant to be drawn, he would draw his own interpretation of the moon and it's presence.
Taking his nail, he tried to push the dome in. The instant headache and throbbing pain made it clear that whatever he was doing wasn't natural. He just started, but every fiber in his being was beggin him to stop.
Lucas tried to drag his finger down to create a single line in his dome.
'AAAARGH'
Opening his eyes, he could see and feel the cold floor. Looking up he saw Elam still sitting on a chair he made himself. The pain ejected him from his own mental sphere. The headaches were still present, his body really didn't like his actions.
He felt like going unconscious, but he had finally made some progress. The line was still visible on his dome.
'Hahaha, it worked.', he sounded more tired than ever, or at least those feelings were conveyed.
'You damaged our mental sphere with one of the most thoughtless ideas just to create a stupid line.'
'Hey! At least my stupid line has meaning. Just give me some time, and I'll create a rune befitting the horror of the moon.'
'Tch, I don't like it when you're right. But if you're going to create a rune with its own meaning it only makes sense that I add mine on top of yours.'
'What! How does that make any sense!'
'Don't you have the same memories? Runes are made by the mages interpretations, how can I let you create one by yourself?'
Lucas partially had no idea what he started, creating runes wasn't a process that could be done so easily. To convey the right meaning so that the world and the user understood wasn't something that could be done by drawing lines on the mental sphere.
What he started out doing was practically harming himself for no reason, if he went too far he could cripple his own mind, becoming mindless in seconds. Yet, something inside pushed him to do this, even if there was no justifiable reason.
After each line or scratch he got forced out of his dome with an insane headache, but he had plenty of time to recuperate and try again. Elam's 'lesson' would still continue on for some time. After what felt like hours of headaches he had to stop, but looking at the result he was only 10% of the way through.
His headaches had stopped being periodic moments, now he simply had them all the time. Even after Elam's lesson was done, he was still under constant pain. The occasional throbbing was the worst part, if it was a pain was on the same level he could try to get accustomed to it. Sadly, he wasn't offered that much luxury. After all, it was Lucas himself who decided to damage his sphere, now he had to face the consequences.
Learning of the lasting effects he never cursed so much in his life, but it was all targeted at himself. Still, even though he was angry, he knew it would result in a success in the future. He simply needed a final push.
After Elam's lesson he got to meet up with Eleven and discuss some of Gilbert's lessons, but nothing special happened. It didn't take long before Lucas heard from Eleven he found what he wanted to and was preparing for a big journey in the future. Lucas didn't really want anything to do with it, but that was a tale for another time.
Days passed with the constant headaches in the background. Training his control day after day proved to be fruitful, he was now capable of using most of his normal spells again. What came out of it was a personalized arsenal of spells. Every mage on the same level of Rank using the same spell would have the same outcome. But for Lucas that wasn't the case anymore, the pathways and gateways in the body were perfect paths to guide the magic.
It made sure that everything would be the same, but Lucas didn't have set pathways, making his control the biggest influencer over the spells. If a spell created an Ice Lance, he could do such a thing, but he could also make a Jagged Ice Lance with the same spell due to his control.
His progress with his personal rune also stopped advancing after the pain became too much. He would go unconscious every time he touched his dome now, so he had to live with his own creation of madness.
With the time passing so swiftly, it was already time for the school's competition. The goal was to test all the students in order to find the most talented ones of the bunch. They would represent the school in the national school competition.
'So this is basically removing the weak of the bunch.'
'That is a somewhat accurate view, yes.'
Lucas never bothered to join his fellow students in their activities. Even during dinner time when the students could socialize among the other classes, he either stayed in Gilbert's classroom or was up on the mountain. Any of the clubs or fun activities that most students would enjoy, he never went. Not that he would like it of course.
'Jeez, what's with all these pups? All Rank 1, but they feel so weak.'
Lucas could see droves of other students slowly fill up the courtyard. There were a bunch of teachers walking around organizing the different tests. Eleven wasn't anywhere to be found, so he was all alone, so he could only wait until the tests were ready. The students were mostly nobles who could pay the entrance fee, they all learned magic to keep up their status, but that was it.
'By the way they look and handle themselves, they've probably never actually fought anyone. Oh well, that just makes it easier for us.'
"CONRAD!", a scream that came out of nowhere. A boy with burning red hair was screaming at the top of his lungs. Eliot was looking around trying to find the man who framed his hero. There was just one issue. He had no idea how he actually looked, so as long as he could keep his name hidden he was fine.
'Just how far has our name spread? That investigation would gather some eyes, but my name shouldn't have come up though.'
'Probably that annoying priest or something, he likes to get in our way.'
Lucas made sure to stand behind some of the bigger students and that's when he noticed.
'Why are these guys so big?!', the students in front of him were around a head bigger than him, and he was pretty tall for his age.
"Hey, did you see those guys from the Martial Arts Teacher? They're all at least 2 meters in height and should have the muscle strength to break apart boulders without even using magic!"
"Yeah, but they barely get to sleep, apparently their teacher forces them to stay awake during the night!"
Lucas became a bit interested in the whole martial arts thing, but now he only saw them as rivals. Due to his improved control he was capable of using his Magic Vision again, looking at the surrounding students, he didn't see anything impressive. The teachers felt like pillars of magic, while the students felt like a small campfire. What was surprising was that the Martial Class didn't emit any magic.
'Do they learn how to conceal their level?', Lucas started to research them from afar while a head teacher welcomed the students. He looked like an old man with one foot already in the grave, but he was one of the strongest teachers and also the one with the longest beard.
"Attention", his voice was as dusty and creaky as an old door forced through its hinges. Even if he was quiet in nature, everyone was patiently listening.
"Welcome to the yearly School Prowess Competition."