“Raziel was known as the creator of Trial’s Ground,” Neyman’s words confused some students.
“It is said that after the creation of the High Council, Raziel started working on creating the place that became the most desired thing in the world many years later,” he explained.
“He disappeared, saying that he wanted to create something special. Although people tried to follow him, all of them were rejected.”
“But after Raziel’s disappearance, people searched for him for years,”
“Many believed that Raziel perished as there was no news about him for years,”
“But their doubts turned into reality when they found the Trial’s Ground,”
“His creation first attracted the then High Council, who discovered the existence of the Trial’s Ground,” Neyman said.
“As you know, there are only a few floating islands that have existed throughout the history of mankind since the first dungeon breakout happened,”
“It is believed that those pieces of land float because they were exposed to the Space Element of the highest tier during the first SSS Rank Dungeon Breakouts that almost caused mankind’s extinction,” Neyman spoke.
“And the famous Castle where the High Council was situated was one such island,”
“There was a similar island above the skies of Somaria, and it was the last place where Raziel was spotted around,”
“Those people then started searching that particular floating island and found what we now call the Trial’s Ground.”
“And that floating island is the same one we are on currently,” Neyman spoke.
“And this is the place where they found what is known as the Epitome of Runic Creation,” Neyman tapped on his wrist, and the picture of a temple-looking building appeared on a large hologram behind him.
“Trial’s Ground, the only place where a person could improve their innate talent,” Neyman described.
“But some call it the Eternal Maze of Illusions,” a smile appeared on Neyman’s face.
“Only people below the age of 20 could enter it, and those who did, suffered through unique trials that were made of illusions,” Neyman said.
“Although we still don’t know how but every single person who entered the Trial’s Ground gained a better understanding of their own skills,”
“It was almost like their innate talent itself had increased. Some mages found motivations to create spells, and some even created unique sword arts,” Neyman said.
The eyes of all the students lit up when they heard that their talent could increase further. This was the only reason everyone wanted to enter World Academy. And why every single person from an elite family attended the World Academy.
Suddenly a student raised his hand.
“Yes,” Neyman said.
“Professor, why don’t we study the runes used to create it?” he asked.
It was a genuine doubt. But, if Trial’s Ground was such a coveted place, why had no one tried to study the runes used to create it?
“It’s not that we didn’t try, but we simply couldn’t,” Neyman replied.
“It is a creation made by runes that even we, to this day, cannot decipher at all,”
“If we could study those runes, do you think the Artisan’s Association would have left such a place alone?” Neyman laughed.
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“Whoever even tried to do it couldn’t even understand the runes visible on the entrance of the Trial’s Ground, let alone the ones inside it,” Neyman said.
“But why?” the student asked.
“The answer is very simple: the runes Raziel, who we assume created the place, used the same runes that dungeons had,” Neyman replied.
“Even to this day, Runemasters can only decipher the intent behind the runes but not their workings,” Neyman said.
“And we created the current society based on that very Rune Arts. Look around the World Academy, for example. You will find all kinds of runes being used to make sure everything runs smoothly,” he said.
“But the ones on Trial’s Ground were even more complex. Not only could the runes on the entrance not be deciphered no matter who tried, but the ones inside were not even visible,” he explained.
“The moment you enter Trial’s Ground, you are thrown towards various trials that judge you,”
“Nobody knew why Raziel created such a place and even more so how he was able to create it,”
“Everyone who entered it never saw a single rune inside, and most Runemasters believed that Raziel used his special knowledge about runes that he didn’t share with the world to hide those runes from sight,” Neyman said.
“This is the reason why, despite being the creator of Rune Arts, Raziel was never once praised by people who study Rune Arts,”
“Call it ungrateful, but those who truly learned this beautiful subject were deeply hurt when they realized that Raziel never shared the True Rune Arts with others,”
Although Neyman didn’t have such strong hate towards Raziel, it was not the same for others. Even Asher thought this was why Raziel’s name was ultimately removed from the records of the past.
“But many still are grateful that he at least showed the basics of Rune Arts, which had evolved quite a bit during those hundreds of years,” Neyman said.
“Although many still claim that Trial’s Ground was not something built by Raziel but was a natural occurrence just like a dungeon,” Neyman spoke.
There were various theories that people came up with regarding Raziel, but nobody knew the correct answer. No proof clearly said that Raziel created the Trial’s Ground, but knowing him and his greatness, people in the High Council named him as the creator of this mystical place.
“Well, you will know more about the Trial’s Ground when the time comes. Let’s start with the class,” Neyman stopped his story.
He could speak on this topic for days, but he still needed to teach them for now.
‘Ah, I wanted to know more,’ many students had such thoughts.
Going from a story about a mysterious person they didn’t know much about to the Rune Arts was a letdown for them. But Asher was waiting for the class to start.
He knew that Rune Arts was something only those with a talent for it could learn. And the most essential part of that talent was your comprehension rate, and Asher was confident about it.
“Let’s start with the very basics of the Rune Arts,” Neyman spoke as he stood up.
“Don’t think of Rune Arts as a complex thing that we learn to create and identify artifacts or whatnot,” Neyman said.
Many students tried to think that Rune Arts was a very complex thing, which skewed their thinking.
“Treat it as a beautiful language that helps you create and enhance other things,” Neyman said.
“We will learn the basic symbols for today,” he said as a series of weird symbols popped up on his screen.
“The symbols you see in the first four rows represent the four basic elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and they are the easiest ones you can use with runes,” Neyman said.
Asher looked at the runes as he memorized the various runes’ shapes.
“All of you have special paper in front of you; try to write these runes perfectly with the special pen beside you,” Neyman instructed.
“But be careful. You will need to use your mana to create runes and try to infuse your intent together with your mana,” Neyman said.
“Infusing your intent is the very first step you need to master if you want to become somewhat decent at Rune Arts,” Neyman reminded them yet again how different rune arts were from spells.
Unlike spell weaving, Rune Arts had no shortcuts or ways to simplify them. The more complex thing you wanted to do, the more complex the runes got. And even before that, imprinting your intent on mana was much different than imagining and constructing a spell.
A Runemaster thought like a mage but used his intent like a swordsman, resulting in pure Runemasters being weaker than both. Runes were not made for combat purposes, so most Runemasters first focused on either the path of a mage or weapon user and then incorporated their knowledge into their creations with the help of runes.
Even the Artisan’s Association’s Chairman was not a pure Runemaster; instead, he was one of the strongest weapon users in the world.
Neyman signaled all of his students to start.
Asher picked up his paper as he looked at the special quill Neyman had provided them. Imprinting his intent on his mana was one of the easiest things for Asher to do. His body might not be as strong as his previous one, but his mana control was similar to or even better than before.
‘Let’s start,’ Asher said to himself as he picked up the special quill to draw those runes.