The Wizard's Secret Journey

Chapter 249 Runes and Quests (4.2k)

Black Falcon, meditation room.

Lynn, who was sitting cross-legged on the cushion, suddenly took a deep breath, his dazed eyes gradually focused, and he withdrew from his state of contemplation.

He summoned the Insightful Light Screen and shifted his gaze to the Secret Techniques section.

Although the Black Moon Rune still indicated "Beginner," Lynn could clearly feel that his understanding of the Black Moon Rune had deepened.

The gains from this insightful exploration were almost equal to the results of his months of painstaking research.

Lynn exhaled, sat quietly for a moment, and digested the lingering effects of the insight.

'Unexpectedly, the Black Moon runes, like the sorcery model, can be inscribed in the mind's eye, only requiring the specific rune points to be identified…'

This short sentence encapsulates all of Lynn's gains from this glimpse into the principles of things. Seemingly insignificant, it gave him his first glimpse of the possibility of directly converting the Black Moon Runes into combat power!
After resting for a long time, Lynn felt that he had recovered enough and reached out to take out the Healing Wrist.

Lynn skillfully disassembled it, revealing the core rune area.

Although he was already very familiar with the structure of the healing runes, he still found the original version as a reference, considering the experiments that needed to be done next.

'Next, I need to inscribe the healing runes into my mental sea, just like I would inscribe a sorcery model.'

Although Lynn had planned it this way, she was still a little uneasy at the moment.

The spiritual sea is located within the soul and is the most important area for a wizard, without exception. Any changes to the spiritual sea must be made with utmost care.

Although Lynn knew through his clairvoyance that the Black Moon runes could indeed be inscribed in the mind sea like a sorcery model, and he also knew how to inscribe them.

However, whether the engraving is safe or what the effects will be after it is completed cannot be determined with 100% certainty. It can only be said that there is a 95% chance that there is no danger and that the effect will be positive.

Just to be on the safe side, Lynn pondered for a long time and decided to test it on ordinary souls first.

Human souls are generally forbidden to be bought and sold, and even when they are sold, there are strict requirements regarding the identity of the buyer.

But these are only the surface; behind the scenes, the buying and selling of souls is a huge, albeit illegal, gray industry that continues to operate despite repeated crackdowns.

However, Lynn did not intend to buy human souls.

If the purpose is simply to test whether the inscribed Black Moon runes cause damage to the soul, then using the soul of an ordinary magical beast is equally feasible, and there is no need to worry about whether one possesses a spiritual sea.

Monster souls weren't exactly rare commodities, and when Lynn emerged from seclusion, the Rankin caravan was still at Watchtower 16-8. So, thanks to Karls's enthusiastic invitation, he quickly bought several crystal balls that sealed monster souls.

Lynn hurried back to the Black Falcon's meditation room and immediately began the test.

He released one of the pale white souls that resembled a fox, and focused his mind to control it, causing it to condense into rune points!

To construct the Black Moon runes with one's spirit, they must be inscribed in one's spiritual sea; the rune points are the most crucial part.

Lynn's previous attempts failed because he simply copied the Black Moon runes into his mental sea in great detail.

However, if one needs to use mental power to construct the Black Moon Rune, one must first condense the rune points, and the requirements for the order and timing of condensing the rune points are quite strict.

If there is any error in the sequence, or if the timing of the condensation is even a second too late, the Black Moon runes will fail to connect into a unified whole at a higher level. In the end, even if the structure is perfect, it will be unable to perform any function.

However, once these symbol points are constructed, the surrounding structure will naturally grow, and it will also vary depending on the environment.

Although Lynn had simulated the construction of the Black Moon Rune many times in his mind, this was the first time he had actually done it.

Unsurprisingly, his first attempt failed.

The problem lay in the timing of the condensation; he was a little slow when constructing the penultimate symbol point.

Undeterred, Lynn immediately began her next attempt.

This time, he was even more careful and made no mistakes, ultimately achieving complete success!
On the dim fox demon soul, a silver-white three-dimensional rune has now condensed, shining brightly even in the bright meditation room illuminated by the luminous crystals.

Lynn carefully observed the fox's soul's reaction.

The essence of a wizard's soul is no different from that of any intelligent being... at least, Lynn knew that apprentices, first-order wizards, and second-order wizards were all like this.

As for higher-ranking wizards, he knew nothing about them.

Therefore, whether the Black Moon rune causes damage to the soul can be initially determined through such a soul test.

'Now that the test results show it's safe, it's time to move on to the next step.'

Lynn waved his hand to erase the black moon rune from the fox demon beast's soul, but due to excessive force, the already dim demon beast soul also dissipated.

Lynn didn't pay much attention; he needed to keep knowledge of things like the Black Moon Rune strictly confidential.

Even if the fox demon's soul doesn't dissipate at this moment, he will carefully destroy it after he has no more use for it.

Lynn sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and closed her eyes to meditate.

It took him about fifteen minutes to get himself into peak condition.

Without opening his eyes, he immediately began inscribing healing runes in his mental sea.

Lynn already knew this rune very well, and with his experience operating on the fox's soul earlier, he felt very confident.

But this time, the experiment was being conducted on the most important part of his own body, so Lynn's attention was more focused than ever before, and he strived for precision in every operation.

Under such tension, Lynn's forehead even broke out in a few beads of sweat, a rare occurrence.

After an unknown amount of time, Lynn finally opened her eyes and let out a soft breath.

Perhaps his previous efforts had not been in vain, for he successfully constructed healing runes in his mental sea on his first attempt!

To be honest, after constructing the healing rune and inscribing it in his mind, Lynn didn't feel anything special; it was as if he had inscribed an ordinary sorcery model.

'However, since it's a transcendent model within the mental sea, I can try to activate it.' Lynn thought to himself. His eyes sharpened, and after confirming that he was in good condition, he activated the healing rune located in his mental sea without any hesitation!
hum-

The magic surged forth, providing energy to the healing runes in the mind's eye, causing them to glow faintly.

Since Lynn chose himself as the target of the spell, the next moment, he felt a warm sensation all over his body, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

'This feeling... is far stronger than using the Healing Arm!'

After carefully examining the area, Lynn was immediately taken aback!
The original Healing Arms was only equivalent to a normal level 0 high-level sorcery spell.

But at this moment, the effect of the healing rune he cast had already reached the threshold of first-circle sorcery!

It's like going up a whole level!
After careful consideration, Lynn came to a conclusion:
Generally speaking, the strength of a magical artifact depends not only on the magical array it contains, but also on the materials used to make it. The better the materials and the more compatible they are with the magical array, the greater their power will usually be.

'And the reason why the healing rune is currently more effective than the healing bracers—is it because the current healing rune is constructed purely from mental energy, making it more compatible with the Black Moon rune?'

Lynn had a feeling that his guess might be right, but he had no way to verify it for the time being. However, it was still great news, and he wasn't in a hurry to verify it.

'If my guess is correct, then wouldn't the Black Moon Enforcement Decree, originally equivalent to a low-level second-circle sorcery, be able to unleash the power of a mid-level second-circle spell if it were engraved in the mind's eye?!'

Excited, Lynn continued to activate the healing rune several more times to conduct further observations and research.

'It seems that, compared to sorcery of the same strength, the healing rune consumes less mana, only about 60%.'

Lynn was not surprised by this new discovery, since the Black Moon relics generally consumed less magic.

Even the Black Moon Enforcement Order, compared to its effects, doesn't consume much magic power.

Lynn continued to activate the healing runes again and again, constantly observing.

During this test, Lynn's brows gradually furrowed, and an expression of disbelief appeared in his pale gray eyes.

'Impossible... Healing runes don't consume mental energy when used?!'

Lynn had checked several times in the past few minutes, but he still couldn't believe it.

This discovery completely overturned Lynn's long-held belief in witchcraft!

It should be noted that even witchcraft that has been engraved in one's mental sea still requires mental energy to use, at most only slightly less than when constructing a witchcraft model on-site.

However, this reduction in energy consumption is only because pre-inscription avoids errors, while constructing a sorcery model on-site may result in errors, leading to increased mental energy consumption.

Therefore, strictly speaking, inscribing witchcraft in advance does not actually save mental energy; it only saves the construction process, but the mental energy that is consumed will still be consumed.

Witchcraft is a miracle born from the combined effect of spiritual power and magical power, so both are indispensable when casting witchcraft.

—Lynn understood this principle the day he became a wizard's apprentice and learned his first spell.

The healing rune completely defies this common sense.

After it is engraved in the mind sea, it can be activated without consuming any mental power, only a little magic power!
'This knowledge, this Black Moon rune... it is indeed a transcendent knowledge outside the wizarding system!'
Moreover, judging from its current performance, this knowledge seems to be more efficient and powerful than witchcraft!

Lynn lowered her head, her eyes darting around, her heart surging with uncontrollable emotions.

But soon, he realized that the Black Moon Academy, which also possessed this knowledge, had been completely destroyed, leaving only these dilapidated ruins.

It was as if a sudden gust of cold air swept in when Lynn opened the window on a chilly morning, extinguishing the restlessness in her heart.

'The Black Moon Runes are indeed a powerful form of knowledge, but I am merely a weak first-tier wizard.'

Lynn silently stood up, paced back and forth in the meditation room twice, and felt that he had completely calmed down, so he took out the Flying Serpent Belt again.

Although both belts are at the first-level, their core runes are the same as the healing runes, consisting of only one black moon character.

Therefore, the research difficulty is only slightly greater than that of the Healing Rune, making it very suitable as the second Black Moon Rune to be inscribed.

Of course, there are two types of flying serpent runes; to be precise, they are the second and third inscribed runes.

Although no abnormalities occurred after inscribing the healing rune, Lynn still tested it on another bear-type monster as a precaution before starting the inscription.

With the support of previous successful experiences, Lynn's engraving process this time was generally safe and sound.

About half a day later, the Flying Serpent Type 1 rune was successfully inscribed.

However, as Lynn was about to inscribe the Flying Serpent II rune, he suddenly noticed a piece of information he had previously paid attention to—

The number and type of runes on the Flying Serpent Type I rune are exactly the same as those on the Flying Serpent Type II rune.

The only difference is the position of the dot.

This difference resulted in slight variations in the models formed between the two types of flying serpent runes.

This difference further leads to differences in the effects of the two flying serpent runes.

In other words, simply changing the position of the rune point can make the same Black Moon rune exhibit different effects?

Lynn thought to herself.

He has now discovered several factors that affect the effectiveness of the Black Moon rune.

For a Black Moon rune composed of a single Black Moon character, the factors affecting its effect include the number of rune dots, the position of the rune dots, and the type of rune dots.

Any changes to these rune points will result in differences in the "flesh and blood" that the Black Moon rune grows on its own, and will also make the final effect of the Black Moon rune different.

For Black Moon runes composed of composite Black Moon characters, there is an additional influencing factor: sub-runes. Different sub-runes will also lead to different effects of the Black Moon runes.

'So, what exactly is a rune point?' Lynn couldn't help but ponder this question.
What is now certain is that the runes are related to the Black Moon script. This is because each Black Moon script has a corresponding Black Moon rune.

'If that's the case, perhaps the runes originated from the Black Moon script, representing its essence, or perhaps an abstract summary of the entire Black Moon script?'

This question is destined to remain unanswered at this moment.

Lynn didn't think much of it and refocused his attention on the flying serpent type 1 rune engraved in his mental sea.

He focused his mind and tried to change the rune point on the rune that was different from the Flying Serpent II, so that its position was closer to that of the Flying Serpent II.

If applied to a witchcraft model, such a change would be completely unworkable.

Once an engraved sorcery model is created, the only option is to erase it and re-engrave it; there is no possibility of further fine-tuning.

However, the Black Moon rune is different.

Although it wasn't easy for Lynn, he successfully changed the Serpent Form I rune to Serpent Form II after a few minutes.

He tried to drive it, and the effect was exactly the same as that of the Flying Serpent II!
'Since the Flying Serpent Rune can be done this way, the Healing Rune can probably be adjusted in the same way as well.'

In other words, I can achieve different effects with the same Black Moon rune by adjusting the position of the rune dots!

This may sound trivial, but in the context of witchcraft, it means that Lynn can adjust a fireball spell model to create an explosive fireball, or even a double fireball, etc., at will.

This represents the unparalleled applicability of the Black Moon rune!
And so, Lynn became obsessed with adjusting rune points.

January passed quietly, and Lynn had both successes and failures.

But in any case, he needs to temporarily stop his research.

Because on this day, the Silver Ring Academy sent him and Samuel a mission notification.

(End of this chapter)