Evan's tent was small and clumsy, made of worn fabric and rough wood. The gaps in the stitching let sunlight in during the day and cold wind at night, making the space far from welcoming. It lacked privacy, comfort, and security—a reflection of the simplicity assigned to beginner apprentices in the Arcane Field.
It was just one of 128 huts that made up the area designated for the initial-level apprentices. Evan knew the exact number because he had spent two years counting the rows of tents during his solitary walks. Each of these huts housed a boy or girl, all with grand dreams and personal challenges to overcome.
It was a place of expectations and frustrations, where everyone sought a glimpse of potential to justify their presence there. Some trained from morning till nightfall; others got lost in conversations, forging alliances or rivalries. For Evan, however, the space was a shelter—simple, imperfect, but his.
Now, in the dark, the tent felt like a sanctuary.
He preferred the darkness—a secluded space where he could focus without distractions.
Sitting cross-legged on the hard ground, he took a deep breath, trying to reconnect with the sensation he had experienced in the forest. The core in his chest pulsed faintly, as if waiting for a command.
Closing his eyes, the darkness in his mind slowly filled with soft lights. Runes began to appear, floating in the void.
Evan studied the runes closely. Each seemed to have its own energy, spinning gently like small stars. They glowed faintly, yet in a way that felt familiar—simple, basic runes he recognized from his studies.
He reached out with his mind toward the nearest one. It was a heat rune, used for simple warming spells. As he focused on it, he felt something in the core within his chest respond—a faint pulse that made the rune spin faster.
"What if I try…" he murmured, knowing no one could hear him.
He brought a second rune closer—a lightness rune, used to reduce weights. In his mind, he attempted to connect them, as though piecing together parts of a puzzle.
The moment the runes joined, something happened.
A wave of warmth surged through his body, starting in his chest and spreading to his arms. The sensation was so vivid he almost opened his eyes to check if something physical had changed. But there was nothing.
The feeling vanished as quickly as it had come, and the floating runes separated, returning to their inert state.
"Only in my head," he said, taking a deep breath. Even so, the experience was undeniable. He had felt something—a reaction to the combination of the runes.
Evan pressed on. He chose another rune, this time a compression rune, used to mold materials or fold fabrics. It was a rune he had studied before but never mastered.
He brought it close to a protection rune, trying to understand how they interacted. As the outlines of the runes began to overlap, he noticed something curious: the glowing lines adjusted, creating a larger pattern—a new rune formed by the combination of the two.
The moment the new rune completed itself, a sensation washed over him.
He felt as though his body were being compressed, as if an invisible force were squeezing his muscles. He tried to move his fingers but realized the feeling was purely illusory—a mental manifestation of the runes.
"It's like the effect is real," he thought, struggling to catch his breath.
The runes separated again, but he was left with a new idea: perhaps the combinations didn't just create patterns but also effects that could be mentally predicted.
Evan decided to take his time observing the runes. He studied each one, memorizing its form and the subtle glow that indicated its energy.
After several attempts, he noticed something: some runes seemed naturally compatible. Their outlines fit together easily, while others seemed to repel one another, as if they were opposites.
He began testing quick combinations, pairing two or three runes at a time. Some generated faint sensations, like warmth or cold. Others created illusory discomforts, such as pressure or tingling.
But one combination caught his attention.
When he combined a lightness rune with a flow rune, the two connected more fluidly than any others so far. The resulting pattern seemed larger, more complex.
He couldn't explain why, but the pattern reminded him of something he had seen before—a structure, something alive. It was as though the runes were mimicking the function of something deeper.
When he focused more intently on the new rune, a sharp pain shot through his mind. He opened his eyes, gasping, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"There… there are limits," he said, massaging his temples.
It was clear that manipulating the runes came at a cost.
Evan spent hours repeating the process. He tested dozens of combinations, observing how the runes interacted, creating sensations and patterns in his mind.
Each combination seemed to teach him something new. He began to understand that some runes weren't useful on their own but, when connected to others, formed larger, more complex structures.
Although none of this had any effect in the physical world, he knew he was learning something valuable. He was starting to understand how the runes worked together, how they created effects that could be replicated in the future.
"If I can predict the effects here…" he thought, gazing at the floating runes in his mind, "then I can use them in the real world when the time comes."
As night fell over the Arcane Field, Evan remained seated in the darkness of his tent. He was exhausted but satisfied.
In just one day, he had learned more about his core than in years of frustration.
He knew the path ahead would be difficult. He was still a beginner apprentice, without allies and with few resources. But for the first time, he didn't feel stuck.
With his eyes closed, he visualized the floating runes again. This time, he didn't try to combine them. He simply observed them, feeling the faint pulse of his core in response.
"I'll figure out what you are," he murmured, touching his chest where his core faintly glowed.