“Is there something wrong with the runes?”

“No. The runes are written correctly. It’s just…”

Orneptos looked down as if she was in a bad mood.

“It’s just that it’s annoying that the runes are written correctly.”

Reed didn’t understand what she meant.

Why would writing runes correctly be a bad thing?

“The time when runes were used was in ancient times, before humans learned magic. To borrow the words of humans, it was a time when fire formed the earth, the earth moved like water, and water spread like fire. What was used then was ‘runes’.”

It was the ancient times known as the age of upheaval.

It was a story from a very long time ago when the world was so extreme that it was impossible for humans to survive.

“But at the end of that meaningless fight, everything ended when harmony was achieved. There was no reason to use runes. No spirits would have used them since then. Undoubtedly, when humans began to learn magic, there would be none who even properly remembered.”

Orneptos turned her head again and looked at the axe.

“It’s truly strange that someone has embedded such runes in an axe without us spirits knowing.”

It was strange from the spirits’ perspective that someone knew the characters they didn’t use accurately.

“Since it’s an ancient axe, I’m not sure now.”

“I’m not particularly interested either. I just think it’s annoying to think who tried to spread this to humans.”

Orneptos didn’t like the idea of using their exclusive property.

“Although it’s vague in my memory, looking at the characters, I can see what kind of magic this is drawing.”

“Can you explain it?”

“Of course, but just because I explain it doesn’t mean you can use it.”

“Then?”

“Don’t magicians know well? Every magic has a set way. If you don’t know that way, no matter how many times you explain it, it’s like reading a sutra to a cow’s ear.”

Just as you need to know the basics to use magic, you need to understand the basics of runes.

“Please teach me the basics.”

“Runes are not about drawing magic. It’s about engraving mana.”

Orneptos demonstrated by tapping with her thumb.

“What does it mean to engrave mana?”

“How do humans manifest magic?”

Reed went over it one by one.

When humans practice manifesting mana, they match it to the sound of their heart.

This is the most natural state and the most suitable for generating the power to draw and gather mana.

They then condense the naturally drawn mana into their hands, or auxiliary items like the production arrays.

And they add the magic circle drawn in their mind to convert the pure energy into the magic they want to use.

That’s exactly what magic is.

“That’s what it means to draw directly. Engraving and drawing are different. If you know how to pull up mana and implement it, understanding runes is not difficult. You just need to print out that rune with pure mana.”

“Print out…?”

“Hmm, which rune do you want to use?”

Reed chose one of the two characters at the bottom.

It’s definitely either ‘Explosion’ or ‘Haste’.

“Look at the shape of the rune character you chose. You don’t need to look closely. If you understand, that rune will be engraved in your mind.”

Just look at it simply.

But even that simple look was not easy.

The characters called runes were peculiar.

It was a mixture of simple shapes, but like a detailed masterpiece, it was hard to contain everything in your mind.

‘I need to correct it…’

It’s hard to understand even one, there’s no doubt that Larksper, who understands both, is a smart guy.

Even after listening to her explanation now, Reed didn’t fully understand.

“It’s difficult.”

“It can’t be difficult. As soon as I saw this character, I understood everything.”

“Isn’t that possible because you’re a spirit?”

“Humans, orcs, and spirits are all different. But using mana to cast magic remains the same.”

Although the color and shape of the blood may be different, the form of mana inherent in it is the same.

That’s why Larksper, an orc, was able to use the spirits’ characters.

Reed understood and didn’t understand Orneptos’s words at the same time.

He realizes that it’s entirely his problem.

“I’ll think about it alone for a while.”

“Do so.”

Orneptos hid her figure at Reed’s words.

Reed stared at the rune character.

He tries to draw it himself once.

He tries using Explosion and Haste, or uses the opposite magic and looks again.

He tried various things, but all failed to understand a single rune character.

In the midst of such a series of failures, Reed suddenly questioned why he was doing this.

‘Do I really need to know the rune characters?’

Good magic. There are other magics, do I need to know the runes?

Then a hollow laugh burst out.

‘I can’t use that better magic, you idiot.’

Reed is a genius among the mediocre.

He was mediocre even when he was rampant.

No matter how superior magic appears, Reed can’t use that magic.

So Reed was trying to become stronger from something no one knows, and the first thing was magic engineering.

‘And the second is runes.’

If he can understand runes, there are countless ideas to utilize.

Even the two characters used by Larksper had a wide range of applications.

Reed needs to know this.

‘Am I thinking too hard?’

Is it hard to think about trying to look really simple?

Why could Larksper, which is difficult for other magicians, do it?

Suddenly, Reed remembered the problem that only elementary school students could solve.

If 1+1=2, 3+7=10, 5+8=1, what is the answer to 9+10=?

At first, he thought it was a problem made for fishing, but he was amazed when he heard the answer.

A problem that can give the answer to that question because there is not much to know.

‘Purity.’

Orcs have a simple way of thinking.

They don’t even consider themselves as high life forms.

That’s why they hope for the appearance of an absolute being, elevate Larksper to the throne, and follow him.

‘Humans know too much.’

Over a thousand years, they have learned and propagated many things.

Whether it’s actually an illusion or a truth, they gradually become familiar with that knowledge through repetition and mastery in their gradually hardening minds.

That complexity becomes common sense.

‘Let’s think more… more simply.’

He looks at it like Larksper, who shows deep trust in his brother, and Rosaria, who studies for Reed and believes in Reed.

He closes his eyes.

He pulls up mana.

He temporarily put down all the magic he thought was common sense.

‘Like the first time I saw magic before I possessed Reed’s body…’

He recalls that time when even the small flame floating on his palm looked amazing.

His senses become distant.

His mind is a vast plain, a quiet lake.

When he reached a state of nothingness, so much so that he couldn’t even realize nothingness, Reed opened his eyes again.

“Ah.”

The first thing that catches his eye is the rune character he was staring at.

Orneptos’s words hit him all at once.

The character that didn’t draw an image in his mind was being engraved in Reed’s mind.

A rune settles in the quiet plain, and he understands its essence.

‘I get it.’

It only shows when you let go of everything.

The rune was like magic stored in a shortcut key.

The essence of this rune that Reed thought of was neither ‘Haste’ nor ‘Explosion’.

It’s not about thinking about the process of wrapping a wind barrier using mana, attributing properties, and instantaneously accelerating the human body.

Just press it and get faster.

With that realization, wind wrapped around Reed’s body.