Cultivation is Creation

Before leaving Elder Molric's laboratory, there was one final question that had been nagging at me. I hesitated for a moment, watching Constantine perform what appeared to be his cool-down stretches after his workout.

"Elder," I began carefully, "how exactly are runes removed?"

The elder looked up from where he was adjusting Constantine's new weight set (apparently the cactus had complained that the previous dumbbells weren't challenging enough). "Remove a rune? Oh, that's quite simple at your rank!"

I didn't like the way he said 'simple.' In my experience, when Elder Molric described something as simple, it usually involved at least three different ways to accidentally crystallize yourself.

"Since the runes are inscribed on your physical body," he continued cheerfully, "all you need to do is separate the rune from your body! There are several methods, you could scrape the skin off – that's the most common approach. Or burn it away if you prefer a quicker solution.”

Yes, that was exactly the kind of 'simple' I'd been worried about.

“And of course, there's always the option of completely removing your limb if you're in a real hurry, or worse is when someone removes it for you during battle..."

I stared at him, wondering if he was joking. His expression suggested he wasn't.

"Though I wouldn't recommend that last one unless absolutely necessary," he added, as if that was the problematic part of what he'd just said. "Reattachment can be quite troublesome.”