Geometric Mage: First Spell, Circle

Listening to his words, Lian momentarily recovered from his thoughts. He shook his head, leaving behind useless thoughts. "I am Lian, Bronze 4 Mage… pleasure to meet you, Master Corvan!" he said politely, bowing slightly.

The two began exchanging some banter before moving on to the main topic.

The runes.

The man began to explain in detail the first process, the one just performed by Lian, namely the extraction of the runa from the Mana Core.

The process, as Lian had been able to ascertain, was not complex. The mana would interact on its own with the core inside the device, but only if there was an affinity, otherwise the core would explode.

Lian listened in silence as Master Corvan explained everything necessary.

After some time…

"Good, that is all you need to know about extraction. You continue extracting runes until you form a complete enchantment, I am going to take a shower. Try not to blow anything up, alright?"

"Yes, Master Corvan!"

The man raised a hand in a gesture of farewell as he walked away, leaving Lian alone in the room.

"Good, now I am alone… but I think I can manage to create an enchantment!"

Lian breathed slowly as he stabilized his thoughts. What he had done before was only the simplest of extractions.

From each Mana Core, different runes could be extracted. The one extracted by Lian earlier was a primary Runa.

An enchantment was composed of three runes. A primary, a secondary, and a tertiary, each of which could be obtained from any Mana Core.

The primary runa consisted of the element of the spell. For example, from a Mana Core of a fire monster, the corresponding fire element runa could be extracted, crimson in color.

And that was what Lian had done before. He had managed to extract a primary runa from the Bronze 1 Mana Core of a fire monster.

The secondary runa, on the other hand, corresponded to the shape of the spell. As Master Corvan had explained, it was this runa that created the desired effect for the entire enchantment, and thus for the artifact.

Among the various shapes, there was the spherical one, such as Lian's fireball, or the bullet shape. But also things like a conical shape, or even an undefined shape, or rather, defined by the artifact itself.

On a sword, for example, this secondary runa would have the effect of enveloping it in fire to inflict burn damage in addition to physical damage.

Moreover, while there could only be one primary runa, secondary runes, as well as tertiary ones, were not limited to one. But it all depended on the skill of the Rune Master.

Talking about tertiary runes. These concerned support, things like greater power or speed, a persistent effect, or other things.

Thus, the primary, secondary, and tertiary runes belonged to a complex runic system defined as Runic Scripture.

The combination of a primary rune with at least one secondary and one tertiary rune constituted the enchantment.

With these premises in mind, Lian returned to the Core Extractor.

The rune inside it, extracted earlier by Lian, had been successfully moved into a Runic Tablet, an object used to contain the runes that would later combine to form the enchantment.

[Mana Core: Bronze 1]

[Do you want to absorb?]

Lian grabbed one of the mana cores left by Master Corvan. There were about ten, all Bronze 1. He only had to extract them into runes.

After grabbing it, Lian gently placed it inside the machine. Master Corvan had told him not to damage it. It was a special and expensive tool.

"Let us hope for the best… I would not want the earlier one to have been just beginner's luck-"

"Damn it, Lian, stop jinxing yourself!" He gave himself a light slap on the face before focusing on the task at hand.

Let us begin!

Before proceeding with the extraction, Lian had to select the type of rune to extract on the screen that had lit up the moment the rune took its place.

Master Corvan had already explained everything. With determination, Lian selected one of the secondary runes he was most fond of, the sphere!

In reality, although they were called runes, Lian, like Master Corvan, could not visualize them. They appeared as luminous structures, impossible to identify with the eyes.

This tool, after all, was made by high-level Mages. Only they were capable of observing the true form of the runes, and thus only they could create devices like this that allowed runes to be extracted from Mana Cores so easily.

After selecting the secondary rune, Lian positioned himself in front of the Core Extractor. As before, his hands rested on the cold glass of the cylinder, while the mana began to flow almost automatically.

This time, Lian decided to focus more. He did not want to be just a tool; he wanted to actively understand the process behind the extraction.

Several minutes passed, and during all this time, Lian had continuously infused mana. Fortunately, his mana reserves were better than those of his peers, allowing him to complete the process without issues.

Beep-

With a hum, the computer screen lit up as the rune inside the luminous globe took on a colorless glow. Unlike primary runes, secondary and tertiary runes did not shine with their own light but reflected that of the primary rune.

"Yes! I did it." Lian smiled, satisfied, observing the rune, or rather, its colorless glow, and then the screen. "Now that I think about it… what could actually go wrong during the extraction? It does not seem difficult, I just have to infuse my mana inside… maybe the difficulty lies in this? The mana consumption is considerable, and these are only Bronze 1 cores."

Lian had no intention of resting. With excitement on his face, he used his mana like a hand to grab the rune inside the cylinder and pull it out. At that moment, the device's screen turned off.

Handling it gently, Lian placed the rune on the same Runic Tablet where Master Corvan had placed the primary rune.

The moment he did so, the secondary rune began to glow crimson, reflecting the light of the primary rune. This was an unmistakable sign that the rune was functioning.

"Great! Now I just need to create a tertiary rune," Lian said as he inserted another Mana Core into the extractor. "Now I understand why artifacts are so expensive; it takes many Mana Cores just to create a low-level one…"

As the mana core entered the cylinder, the screen lit up again. Carefully observing the tertiary runes, Lian chose one that seemed most suitable.

He intended to insert the enchantment into a staff, so he could cast fireballs without using the Mage's mana. It was a very important tool for a beginner Mage with limited mana.

"Good, we will go with this-" he said with a nod as he prepared for the extraction.

The process was identical to before, and it did not take long for Lian to carefully extract the rune.

Beep-

The screen sounded again, as another success rested on Lian's shoulders. With due calm, the boy used his mana to collect this colorless tertiary rune as well and place it on the Runic Tablet.

The moment he did so, the tertiary rune also began to glow with a crimson color, reflecting the light of the primary rune.

"Great, now I just need to fuse everything together and create the enchantment!"

Master Corvan had told him how to do it. It was not a difficult process, but delicate.

Taking the Runic Tablet, Lian moved to the workbench with all the necessary tools in sight.

First, Lian saw the Runic Stylus, a thin needle of transparent crystal. The moment Lian grabbed it, the mana inside his body was sucked into the tool as a faint light shone at the tip of the needle.

"Exactly as Master Corvan said! Every tool here seems to have a life of its own, capable of assisting a Rune Master in their task. It is incredible!"

The Runic Stylus was used to trace the connection lines between the three runes. The order had to be precise. The primary rune had to connect perfectly to the secondary rune, and both had to connect to the tertiary rune.

This was done on the Runic Seal, a disc made of three layers and entirely of mithril, a resistant material capable of conducting mana lightly and quickly.

"Good, let us begin!"

With the Runic Stylus in one hand and the other free, Lian began to gently, with the help of mana, grab the primary rune, placing it on the Fusion Seal. The crimson glow on the two runes, the secondary and the tertiary, did not completely fade. It became fainter, but it was there. This was the sign that those runes had now been "contaminated" by the element of the primary rune. They could not be used for other elements.