Logan watched as Marcus closed his eyes, falling into deep thought. The air around him shimmered faintly, pulsing with the weight of mental activity. It wasn't just focus, it was resonance. Logan could feel it, so he didn't interrupt.
Instead, he waited in silence, letting Marcus navigate his conclusions.
After a while, Marcus's breathing changed. His body relaxed.
He had hit a threshold, not a wall. The next step wasn't more thought, it was action.
Visualization is no longer enough, Marcus reasoned. I need to feel the markings through my hands. I need to inscribe them.
But first, he opened his status.
Name: Marcus Black
Age: 24
Race: Human (F)
Level: 0
Nature: Predator (A)
Attribute: [Blood Bane] [Berserker] [Deep Thought].
Skill: [True Double] [Mind's Eye]
Realm: Mortal
Comprehension: [Unfettered (1%)]
Strength: 10
Stamina: 15
Speed: 10
Mental: 94
Will: 15
Wilder Force: —
Ninety-four.
According to what Keeyah explained, one hundred should be the limit of the Mortal Realm.
He reasoned.
Turning his attention to Logan, he got up and went to his work table.
"I would like some ink and paper to use for practice."
He didn't need to clarify. From his readings, he knew real inscriptions used beast hide and blood as a medium. But for now, normal paper and ink would do.
Logan observed Marcus for a few seconds. He's already figured out that practicing inscription is the next step to take… instinctual or just calculation?
"Those are expensive, you know," Logan muttered.
"I don't need the real ones. Just normal ones."
"Fine," Logan opened the drawer on his table and brought out a stack of rectangular papers.
But before he could hand them over the library door opened.
"So this is where you were?" A voice called in.
Her voice drew the attention of the two men. It was Keeyah.
"Captain's looking for you, newbie. He said that he has some work for—" Keeyah paused mid-sentence as she looked at Marcus.
Her facial expression slowly morphed into confusion, and then disbelief. She then turned her head to Logan. "Did you do something to him?"
"No, why would you assume I did?" Logan replied dryly.
"Then how the hell did his…" She looked at Marcus once again to confirm that she wasn't sensing wrong. "How did his mental state change this much?"
"He's started learning about Rune Mastery," Logan said simply.
"What, and it increased his mental state this much?"
"Why are you so surprised at his mediocre talent? When I started I did much better than he. Take him to the Captain. I've already wasted so much time today. My progress has stalled."
Suddenly, Marcus and Keeyah found themselves outside the library—back on the street.
That was a Rune! Or no… a convergence of several Runes. A coalescence.
Marcus couldn't understand the Primes he saw briefly, but he could tell that they were of a level far above his.
Though he hasn't been able to successfully inscribe a complete Alphonic Prime yet, Marcus felt—based on everything he had learned—that he could now be considered a true beginner Rune Master.
The sun hovered at the edge of the horizon, casting a soft amber glow across the district. It gave the illusion that barely any time had passed, but Marcus knew better—he'd been in the library for over twenty-four hours. And yet, he didn't feel the slightest bit tired.
If anything, his mind had never felt sharper.
Keeyah, walking beside him, didn't seem nearly as curious about the rune-induced ejection from the library. She was too caught up in the sheer change in Marcus's mental presence. She kept sneaking glances at him as if trying to reconcile the version of him she'd left with the one beside her now.
"Where's the Captain?" Marcus asked.
"Follow me," she simply said and led the way.
They walked for about 10 minutes before stopping before an administrative building that was five floors tall, within the region of the Oasis Squad's territory.
Heading up to the third floor, even before leaving the elevator, Marcus could hear the familiar laugh.
"You've gotten stronger, Charlotte. If I'm getting Goosebumps standing so close to you." Nexus said and his voice could be heard down the hall.
Approaching the entrance of the office where he was, Keeyah stepped in immediately. She ran and hugged the other person in the room with Nexus.
From the door, Marcus laid his eyes upon someone he could arguably call the most attractive woman he had ever seen.
Charlotte.
Silken black hair flowed down to her petite waist, gleaming like onyx. Her dark eyes, framed by long lashes shimmered with a quiet sharpness. Her high cheekbones gave her face an aristocratic grace, while her caramel-toned skin remained smooth.
Marcus looked at her with interest, and then his interest quickly died out. Not because he didn't enjoy what he was seeing, but because he sensed danger.
Charlotte was looking back at him. Her gaze wasn't hostile, nor curious. Just cold and unreadable. And yet it was like standing beneath a collapsing sky. Her presence alone was enough to trigger the part of Marcus that understood the threat.
"Marcyy!!" Nexus called out as he walked closer to Marcus.
Marcus frowned immediately, he didn't like the nickname, however, because of how strong his mental stat was, his fear of Nexus had increased. The man was danger himself.
A walking nuclear bomb. It took a lot of willpower from him not to step back as Nexus approached him.
"Wait," Nexus stopped as his face wore an expression of shock. "You seem to have gotten stronger overnight… like, multiple times stronger than abnormal. Even though it's intangible now… what have you been up to?"
"Started learning about runes."
"And that made you this way? That's all? But that can't be. You are still a level 0." Nexus began wondering if all he knew to be the norms was false. He looked at Keeyah for some explanations and she shrugged her shoulders and said; "Logan."
"You were looking for me, Captain?"
His words snapped Nexus out of his thoughts. "Right, right—yeah. But before that," He pulled Marcus over to Charlotte's side. "This is Charlotte, ranked 11th on the team's official ranking. Before you, she used to be the youngest in the team.
"Charlotte, this is Marcus, the newbie I picked up on my back," Nexus chuckled.
Marcus nodded his head at Charlotte without saying anything, and she remained as she was, not acknowledging his greetings.
"Hey," Nexus leaned in and whispered. "Don't take it to heart. Charley treats everyone coldly. Ice on the outside, frostbite on the inside."
Marcus didn't respond.
"And also, loosen up, I don't bite. Especially not my subordinates. Treat me the same way you did back in the First Ring."
Then his grin returned, wide and mischievous.
"Now, where were we? Oh yes, Marcus. I have a job for you."
"Which is?"
Nexus pointed to the side of the building that was filled with stacks and stacks of old, dust-coated papers. "Ten years' worth of paperwork…" He said casually. "Well, I was going to have you deal with it. But I just changed my mind. I need you to deliver something for me to the Western Palace."
Both Keeyah and Charlotte stiffened. They exchanged glances, then turned to Nexus.
"You're not serious," Keeyah said flatly.
But Nexus just smiled, calm and unbothered. Which made everything all the more unsettling.