Chapter 102: Craft and Chemistry
Victoria glanced toward the window, gauging the dim hue of the sky outside. The faint light of early morning crept in through the curtains, casting soft shadows across the room.
"We’ll likely have three hours," she murmured, estimating aloud. "Four if we’re lucky."
With a small sigh, she sat beside Marcus on the edge of his bed, letting her posture relax slightly, though her crimson eyes remained alert.
"To be honest... I don’t know that much," she admitted, flipping open the thick tome resting on her lap. The pages crackled slightly as her fingers landed on a familiar section. "I mean, yeah, I’m pulling this from game knowledge, so don’t expect a professor-level lecture. But I can teach you the rune combinations I use... how they work, and why they work."
Marcus nodded silently, listening as Victoria began to explain.
One hour passed.
It wasn’t quite a traditional tutoring session. In fact, it was more like fragmented ramblings stitched together with the occasional insight. But Marcus paid close attention regardless. Even through the scattered delivery, every piece felt valuable—like puzzle fragments slowly forming a picture.
She described how the rune circle itself mattered just as much as the inscriptions inside it, emphasizing their relevance and alignment with magical intent. The magic wouldn’t activate just because it looked cool or had dangerous words in it.
"Random inscriptions slapped into a circle won’t do anything," she explained, her tone serious. "Even if you somehow create a powerful word or concept, if the inscriptions don’t resonate with the rune circle’s flow or intent... it won’t function. Magic doesn’t tolerate laziness."
Marcus leaned forward, drawing a rough sketch on the nearby parchment. "Then how does this work?"
It was the same rune he’d instinctively crafted before—an oddly simple, almost childish design. Just a large outer circle with a few intersecting ones and some crude symbols.