Caleb couldn't help but laugh upon hearing the boys words.
'You didn't just make the rune you even learned how to control it enough to allow yourself and me to talk as well! You do not know how talented you are Ryder!'
"Great! Release the rune and come with me, next I'll be showing you a silver rune! The rest of you will spend the rest of class trying to complete the [Silence] rune. If you complete it before my timer goes off you may join us in the next room"
It was obvious that Caleb was focusing mainly on Ryder. However this pushed the others into giving it their all!
'I can't let a commoner get ahead of me! Let's complete this rune quickly!'
'If he can do it so can I! Just compress it and- fuck!'
The moment the student tried to compress his mental power into his finger and tried to write with it nothing happened. Instead the moment he started focusing on writing it the energy dispersed making him just wave his finger in the air.
On the other hand two people were struggling with making the rune but it was clear as day that these two were making progress before finally one of them succeeded.
"Yes! Finally Ryder is going to be so surprised to see me hehe!"
Kaylee had been the second to complete the rune, shortly afterwards Jacob had done the same. Both of them had been sweating a little, they had to put more effort then usual into manipulating a new form of energy with their teachers rune still guiding them.
They quickly went into the next room leaving the others to struggle as the timer ticks down.
———
Caleb and Ryder had walked into the warehouse filled with beasts only to head through a path of cages till they were brought into a sectioned off area looking like a science lab made specifically for studying runes.
Immediately Caleb began to place another image on the wall as he went through a couple drawers looking for specific materials.
"Now then Ryder, a silver rank rune is very different compared to a bronze rank. Silver rank becomes much more complex depending on the rank. For now I will give you materials that should help with the creation of this rune it is called [Mobility Restriction]
This rune uses 2 bronze runes combined into 1 creating a 1 star silver rank rune. Usually this kind of rune does not need materials to create however there are many support materials that help in the completion of the rune. Now take this 9 Colored Snake Venom, Devil Ox's Horn Powder, and Teleport Snail Mucus. Mix them on your palm and use it as ink to draw on the air"
Just as Ryder was about to get started he noticed 2 people walking into the laboratory. Both of them had a smile on their face, one was just happy to see Ryder. While the other had a small smirk as if he was saying 'don't think I'll let you get ahead of me that easily'
Ryder just gave them a wave as he took the materials and began to trace the rune just like he did in the lobby.
This time it took much more effort, he was forced to create 2 runes at once before connecting them to form 1 rune. Both Kaylee and Jacob started asking questions about their next rune before another individual showed up in the lab.
"S-sorry sir! I'm late!"
A women stood at the entrance of the laboratory, here hair part white and black, her eyes as red as blood, however she wore a tight set of robes with a white dress underneath exposing more skin then most women at the school. This left many of the boys looking her way while she walked by, especially since her clothes left little to the imagination.
"Crystal didn't I tell you when to be here? What kept you so long!"
"I-I'm sorry! I was held up by some of the other teachers…"
"Huh!? Who is going out of there way to hug my teachers aid! Tell me their names and I'll file a complaint after class"
"N-no it's fine sir! I'll just start my duties!"
Caleb sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Then go out front and assist those who are struggling with the first rune. If they make the rune before my timer is up then send them back here"
"Ok!"
The women even though she looked very mature and beautiful she was a little timid. She dares to wear such revealing clothes yet acts like a frightened mouse when dealing with her fellow employees.
While they were having their conversation Ryder was focusing solely on the silver rune. His hand would keep waving through the air, the materials still stuck to his fingers however the rune kept collapsing after a couple of seconds.
Upon looking at their own timer he realized it had only been about 3 minutes since he started. This let him relax a little as he examined the problem he was having.
'Hmm… the mental power is dispersing since I'm spending to long on doing one at a time… should I just use both hands to quicken the pace? Or should I use more mental power to surround the tune just to keep the runes together?'
He first tried to surround the tune with mental power. This stopped the energy dispersing so fast however now it was more difficult to make the second rune especially if he wanted to connect them.
Ryder could only smile to himself as he tried to concentrate mental power into both of his pointer fingers writing both of the runes at the same time. This allowed him to get half way done before it started to disperse. He took a deep breath calming his mind as he puts all of the processes together!
He began making two runes at once, his mental power would surround both runes keeping them together before he finally pushed them close quickly releasing a portion of his mental barrier before combining the two runes to successfully create the [Mobility Restriction] rune.
'Phew… looks like there was just a small trick to this rune. I understand now though that the runes themselves didn't have enough concentrated mental power in them so they were very easy to disperse. I guess that's the bad thing about mixing Bronze rank runes to make a silver rank instead of using enough mental power to just create a silver rank rune by itself'
Ryder knew that if he had added more mental power to his lines then it would have been much easier holding its shape. However that extra mental power would have disrupt his concentration and he wouldn't have had been able to write with both fingers at that moment.
'Dividing my attention is challenging… looks like I'll have to ask Celestia if there is any mental training exercises I could learn to help me multitask or have an easier time'
"How did you do that? Ryder! Teach me!"
Kaylee moved closer to him looking at the finished tune obviously curious how it only took him a few short minutes to look at a rune and find a way to make it with his own style.
"It's not as hard as you think princess, all I did was draw with both hands while enveloping both runes with mental power so they don't disappear"
Shortly after 15 minutes of practice Kaylee and Jacob had succeeded at creating the rune. Only Ryder passed when making the silver rune.
"Now then Ryder! I have on last time for you today. This one is a gold rank rune, so try your best!"
He threw up an image on the wall, this rune had been way more complex then the last one. It's name was [Pacify] Caleb was explaining the runes functions as Ryder examined it.
"[Pacify] can be used on any rank beast at or below gold rank. Even using it on people in those ranks is possible, it's a rune that allows you to calm your target. This rune is usually used for capturing beasts or taming them, as well as capturing criminals. This rune is very versatile since it can be made at any rank, the stronger the mental power the stronger the rank was"
It had been little over an hour since Ryder had started working on [Pacify]. Even with the materials she was still unable to gather his mental energy enough to even produce one stroke from the gold rank rune.
This had been mentally draining for the boy, with him putting his all into it. He could only make 3 lines before he lost focus and failed to create the rune.
After awhile of this Caleb sent Ryder back to his dorm. His teacher was neither happy or disappointed, instead it felt like he expected this to happen. So he let all of them rest for the day.
Ryder, Kaylee, and Jacob walked back to the dorms together. It was surprising to Kaylee to see Ryder acting friendly with someone else besides just her. It was a new experience and she was happy for him as they split up only for Ryder to be surprised by Celestia casually sitting in his room waiting for him.
"Oh! I didn't know you would be staying with me, I thought I would have to send you a letter or something if I had any questions"
"I have been assigned as your personal maid master, I will follow you wherever you go. I have also been tasked with teaching you from now on like before. It seems like a man named Caleb Runechild had your schedule changed to get rid of your basic studies so you can focus solely on Mental Fortitude and Rune Creation classes. The only class that wasn't affected was your knight training class"
"Thank you Celestia, I'm going to go and take a shower before training my Soul Force. I'll see you in a bit!"
He walked to the bathroom grabbing a pair of pajamas before going inside.