Chapter 41: Promotion

Ace sensed the surging mental power on the mural and the Mana that was automatically drawn to it. A unique Soul Rune structure was naturally forming. Ace observed intently. This was the first time he had witnessed a Soul Rune structure naturally generating.

The surrounding Cimali people also held their breath. They thought Ace was simply admiring his masterpiece. This was an exceptionally outstanding work of art, and everyone was immersed in it.

The Soul Rune used the mental power on the mural—Ace’s as the main structure and the crowd’s as the auxiliary—as its skeleton, forming the initial shape of the rune. This was similar to when Ace first traced a Soul Rune with mental power, but differences soon emerged.

When Ace formed the Soul Rune with mental power, he tried to activate it, which quickly exhausted his mental power, and the rune structure dissolved.

The naturally forming Soul Rune structure did not activate at all. It continued to siphon Mana. The siphoned Mana automatically converted into a new type of existence, similar to the Mana Particles converted by the Mana-Crystal Rune. Then, these quasi-material entities combined into various new quasi-material existences.

This type of quasi-material existence appeared to be different. They quickly combined into the Soul Rune skeleton formed by mental power, filling the skeleton.

In Ace’s mental power perception, a rainbow-colored light flashed at this moment. After this, the Soul Rune completely formed. The quasi-material entities were also difficult to observe again. The Soul Runes combined, generating a new rune structure.

Ace sensed the expression of the new rune structure. His will and mental strength seemed to be greatly enhanced, and his insight into life and living was deeply moved. Perhaps it was a rune structure primarily focused on will.

Under the aura of this rune structure, he clearly recalled the inspiration he first felt at the bonfire festival when he arrived in Cimali. He felt his spirit warm and infinitely abundant, increasing rapidly.

The surrounding Mana quickly gathered, rushing toward him competitively. He had no time to do anything, nor did he want to do anything. He watched everything quietly, like an outsider.

The Mana flowed in, adhering to his mental power. Infected by the original Mana Particles, it automatically converted into Mana Particles. The excess Mana that couldn’t enter his mental power surged into his body, accelerating the “magification” of his physical body.

Ace felt as if he was floating higher and higher. It seemed as if all things in nature were whispering to him.

He listened carefully, yet he could hardly hear clearly. This state continued for an unknown duration. He suddenly fell, an uncontrollable descent.

He looked down and saw another version of himself standing on the ground, surrounded by the crowd in front of the mural. Ace felt an extremely powerful suction, pulling him into the other self.

This is my body. Ace broke free from the trance-like state and suddenly realized that he must have been in a soul-like state. He abandoned resistance and followed the suction back into his body.

“Boom!”

A loud noise seemed to occur. After returning to his body, Ace continued to fall into endless darkness. He struggled vigorously. After an unknown amount of time, he saw a light, twinkling, gentle, and firm.

He approached it little by little and finally touched the light. He seemed to have entered a dimensional space. He was formless and immaterial, yet he could do everything he wanted here. He tried to leave the space.

Ace opened his eyes. He moved his body, looked at the crowd around him with tears in their eyes and resolute expressions, and looked at the mural containing the accumulated Mana. He knew he must have returned to reality.

He used his mental perception to check the rune structure of the mural again and made a new discovery. He could once again observe the quasi-material entities that were previously unobservable. The quasi-material entities existed in a tighter and more hidden manner within the Soul Runes.

“My perception ability has greatly improved. I can observe things much more minutely. I seem to have been promoted to a new level.”

“When Sharp died, a spirit body briefly appeared, but it couldn’t last long. I was just in a state similar to soul departure, and it must have lasted longer than his. Soul departure, the mysterious dimensional space, and the understanding of Soul Runes all need experimental verification. They may need to be overthrown and re-understood.”

“What is Magic? What are Mana Particles? What are the quasi-material entities? What is the relationship between Soul Runes and them, and the relationship between Soul Runes and Lesser Runes? Perhaps all these should be experimentally verified.”

Ace thought to himself.

He turned and walked away from the crowd. Even his promotion could not stop his exhaustion. He needed a good sleep.

The next day at noon, Ace woke up naturally.

Hundreds of Cimali people were gathered outside the inn where he lived. Seeing him come out, they greeted him warmly.

“Master, Master, can you draw a picture for me?”

“Scholar Ace, I really like you.”

“I salute you, favorite of Pontos.”

…

Ace returned the greetings to the enthusiastic crowd but only fueled greater enthusiasm. After a long while, he managed to break free.

He walked to his mural and saw many people gathering around it. Again, there was a round of enthusiastic insistence. Finally, Ace reached the painting and began to observe the Soul Rune again. He attempted to recreate the process of the Soul Rune’s appearance. In the eyes of the crowd, the great painter was deep in thought, and no one dared to disturb him.

After a long while, Ace finally succeeded in imitating the process of Mana Particles combining into quasi-material entities through observation and imitation. He hadn’t figured out the underlying principles but simply forced himself to remember the combination process.

The initial stage of research is often the imitation of experience, followed by generalized patterns summarized from large amounts of experience, which is incomplete induction in Logic. Then, the patterns derived from incomplete induction are used for verification and analogy, leading to bold assumptions and careful verification, continuously approaching the truth.

Although it was merely forced memorization, it was successful. Ace replicated one Soul Rune. He named the quasi-material entities Mana Elements, or Mana Essence

The process of Mana Particles combining into Mana Essence is called Mana Essence Configuration.

To use an analogy, Mana Essence are the molecular structure of Magic.

The Soul Rune floated in the air. The result was relatively stable, but it could not exist long-term like the Soul Rune in the mural. After about an hour, the rune dissolved.

Ace continued to replicate runes. As precision increased and he repeatedly replicated them, his understanding of the runes deepened. The Soul Runes Ace replicated grew increasingly similar to the one in the mural, and the duration increased from one hour to four hours.

Ace had already analyzed the meaning of the rune. In addition to the runes already discovered, Ace found two new runes: the Will Rune and the Empathy Rune.

The Will Rune can change willpower and mental strength. The Empathy Rune can make people feel the same emotions, enhancing a sense of shared identity and cohesion.

Ace condensed his own sense of inspiration into the mural. All the Empathy Runes expressed this inspiration. The longer people looked at the mural, the more easily the inspiration would infect the viewer.

The replicated Soul Rune struggled to exist permanently. Ace tried once more to activate the rune structure he had spent several hours replicating with his mental power. A sudden change occurred.

The moment Ace’s mental power contacted the Soul Rune structure, it did not activate. Instead, it rushed along his mental power toward the depths of his soul.

“Boom!”

Ace found himself entering the mysterious dimensional space again. The Soul Rune he had just replicated was quietly floating in the space.