Charlie followed Nahr into his study, watching as he took out the materials for drawing scrolls, feeling a sense of relief. His efforts from the previous night had not been in vain; he had finally moved the master.
Nahr summoned a breeze that swept away the dust on the parchment and placed three items in front of Charlie. "This pen is the work of Master Conan, originally priced around 800,000 gold coins. It's now a discontinued item due to the extinction of the Silvermoon Wolf. If someone were to collect it, its value might be far greater than that; to concoct this bottle of starlight ink would likely cost about 1,000,000 in materials and 200,000 in labor. Now, due to the shortage of Shooting Star Stones, the costs might be even higher. The enchanted parchment is the cheapest, as the Arcane Ring has factories that produce it in bulk—100 sheets for only 60,000 gold.
If these three items were to circulate outside, their value would likely increase by 50% because they are internal products of the Arcane Ring. The reason I emphasize their worth is to prevent you from underestimating them due to a layer of dust. Ten years ago, I relied on drawing scrolls to earn points, but I've long surpassed that stage.
Now I'm giving these to you; use them well, and they will create considerable wealth for you. Of course, the most important thing is not earning points but taking your first step as a rune engraving apprentice."
Charlie reverently accepted the three items, saying, "Thank you, teacher."
"I'm making an exception for you because of your extraordinary talent in sketching, allowing you to directly use actual scroll-drawing tools, not to mention practicing with intermediate materials.
Typically, first-year rune engraving apprentices hardly ever encounter real materials; they start with the lowest-grade materials in their second year, and only those who become rune engravers receive such treatment. Make sure to seize this opportunity."
Charlie nodded silently, carefully feeling the magic pen in his hand, trying to appreciate the traces of time on it. "Can I use it right now?"
Master Nahr smiled, "Of course, it belongs to you now."
In that moment, Charlie's heart raced. He had finally stepped onto the same path as his mother. Who would have thought that just half a year later, the once-despised Charlie of Hainai would not only become a golden badge apprentice but also a rune engraving apprentice? If he could make breakthroughs in this field, it would astonish everyone.
Charlie took a deep breath, pulled out a piece of parchment, laid it flat on the desk, pressed down the corners with a paperweight, and twisted open the glass cap of the starlight ink, pen in hand.
However, after lifting the pen, the tip hovered over the bottle's opening, pausing in mid-air.
In that moment of stillness and motion, Nahr noticed Charlie's conflicting emotions.
After a brief hesitation, Charlie exhaled, decisively dipped the pen in ink, and began to scribble midnight blue on the parchment…
Something felt off! The pen seemed unresponsive!
Oh no! The first energy storage rune had encountered an issue; at the corner, the tip of the pen felt slick, as if it had a mind of its own, and with a tug, it pulled too hard.
Looking back at the rune, Charlie felt that this first attempt was bound to fail.
Sweat began to bead on Charlie's forehead as he desperately tried to use the chip to adapt to this strange sensation, attempting to find a pattern within it.
Energy storage, conduction, arcane missile, activation; three basic runes, one magical array diagram, but the lines were crooked and askew. It could be seen that by the time Charlie was drawing the last rune, he had vaguely grasped some feeling. However, that unreliable feeling persisted, turning success into a probabilistic event, creating a sense of loss of control that overwhelmed Charlie.
Putting down the pen, Charlie looked confused and couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, why does using a magic pen feel so different from using a regular feather pen? I keep feeling like there's an inertia interfering with my drawing."
Nahr feigned seriousness and said, "I want to ask a question: can something that's been sent out be taken back?"
Charlie smiled awkwardly.
"Just kidding." Nahr chuckled and said, "If you can manage to finish the first stroke completely, that's already impressive; many apprentices can't even draw ten lines without stopping. I'm not saying this to criticize you but rather to help you experience that feeling of losing control.
The feel of a feather pen and a magic pen is, of course, different. You must understand that the tip of a magic pen contains magic power, and magic itself is difficult to control; it requires you to harness it with your mental strength.
However, how can one maintain consistency between the pen tip, mental strength, and the characteristics of the rune structure while drawing? That's a big problem!"
Charlie looked bewildered.
Nahr continued, "The sages haven't found a precise answer to this. Currently, we know of two ways to increase the success rate: first, practice; use ink more often to slowly get used to that slick feeling—practice makes perfect. Second, draw with emotion. The sages discovered that emotions possess an elusive magic; they can cause fluctuations in mental energy. The right emotion can enhance the success rate.
As for why? I want to know too. The sages discovered this phenomenon but didn't find an answer.
This is also why, while teaching you sketching, I always emphasize approaching it from an artistic perspective; art often carries emotion, and perhaps you can gain some insights from it.
I've always felt you are someone capable of creating miracles, and I hope you can make a breakthrough here. I just wanted you to give it a try, but now it seems I might have been a bit too hasty!"
Being skilled is definitely out of the question; practicing a thousand times with a feather pen is not as good as practicing ten times with a magic pen—the differences are too vast, even if you're drawing the same thing.
As for emotions? Charlie had plenty of those.
He raised his hand to stop Nahr from continuing, closing his eyes as memories from his childhood surged forth.
The vague impression of his mother in his early years, the debauched life of a wastrel in Hainai City, the panic of facing Princess Aisha's reprimands, that hand infused with the power of lightning that terrified him, the embarrassment and awkwardness at the family meeting, the thrill and excitement of facing the wolf pack outside Hainai City, the exhilaration of using magic for the first time, the composure during the battle against the griffin in William Castle, the rush of ambushing Peter in the reeds…
Countless emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness flooded his heart, intertwining, all culminating in the most intense feeling: rage!
Rage toward the enemies who had framed him, rage against the griffin's oppression, rage against Prince Weining and Peter's continuous scheming, and rage against the suppression from the esteemed Fernand!
At the same time, the books he had read on the ship, Faraday's elemental magic, and the magical array diagrams he had recently become familiar with, as well as the 1,200 repetitions of basic runes, and the knowledge he had gathered from various channels—all of it compiled and analyzed by the chip, seeking patterns amidst the vast amounts of knowledge, each piece interlinking and forming a coherent understanding, while more questions rose to the surface.
His right brain was ablaze, while his left brain was as cold as ice, and his blood surged through his body like a tide.
Suddenly, Charlie opened his eyes again, took out another piece of enchanted parchment, laid it flat on the desk, and dipped his pen in ink without the slightest hesitation. As he made the first stroke, it felt as if he had pierced his heart, and his brow slightly furrowed.
With the pen rising and falling, he drew fluidly, without calculation, without imitation, and without concern for mistakes—expressing the emotions within him…
Nahr's eyes widened, sitting up straight as he observed Charlie's deeply furrowed expression, watching his rich and varied emotions with contemplation.
After a moment, Charlie set down the pen.
Looking at the scroll, Charlie could hardly believe his eyes. It depicted a twisted and complex design, flowing smoothly from beginning to end, with no hesitation whatsoever, and it had a clear sense of layering. From a technical perspective, it was undoubtedly perfect, showcasing Charlie's highest level of skill.
It should be a magical scroll.
However, there was still one question lingering in Charlie's mind: what the hell had he drawn? Why couldn't he understand it?!
After scrutinizing the parchment for a long time, he handed it to Master Nahr, chuckling bitterly, "What I intended to draw was an arcane missile, but it seems I lost control and drew it a bit off!"
"That's not just a bit off!" Nahr laughed heartily as he took the scroll, examining it closely. "Let me see what you've drawn after unleashing your emotions."
After studying it for a while, Nahr rubbed his eyes and said, "To be honest, I can't figure out what kind of scroll this is."
Charlie was taken aback.
That was truly ridiculous!
Nahr frowned and attempted to explain, "It contains some non-standard runes. It looks like basic runes, yet they are unfamiliar to me. I don't know if you unintentionally doodled these or if they are genuinely new runes. In any case, it appears to be a complete scroll, but I can't discern what function it possesses."
Hearing this, Charlie couldn't help but ask, "So, can it be used?"
"I don't know; let's give it a try!"
Nahr infused a bit of magical power and recited a commonly used activation spell.
Suddenly, a dark energy started to coalesce in Master Nahr's hand, a deep purple-brown hue, dull and lifeless. It gathered so quickly that, in an instant, it transformed into a shadow sphere, which Nahr casually tossed away. Since Charlie had intended to draw an arcane missile, Nahr didn't concern himself with its destructive power.
The purple-brown light sphere, complete with a long tail, shot out speedily and silently…
It could really unleash magic?!
"Oh no!" Nahr thought to himself as he hurriedly acted, deploying a magical absorption shield in the path of the shadow sphere.
However, he was a bit late; the shield hadn't fully formed before the shadow sphere broke through it. Fortunately, it mitigated some of the sphere's energy.
In the next second, the sphere struck the bookshelf opposite them. Instead of the expected shockwave, the shadow sphere burst into a cloud of purple smoke, which swept over half the bookshelf and disappeared without a trace, leaving the bookshelf seemingly untouched.
Seeing the bitter expression on Master Nahr's face, Charlie knew something had gone terribly wrong.