A week passed after Ash came back from the illusion conjured by the Rune of Truth. During this past week, he half expected the Rune of Truth to contact him again, to test him further or at least say something about what had happened. But nothing actually happened.
During this time, he also checked his own state carefully. When he examined his progress, he realized that after his comprehension of the Rune of Truth had reached 1%, his skill Eye of Omniscience had become more powerful.
The change was not vague or something he merely felt. It was clear in the numbers and in the way information flowed into his mind.
To his delight, the previous 0.01% knowledge that he gained from using his skills on the Runes had changed to 0.1%.
Although the difference was only of one zero, that difference was almost like heaven and earth. It was not just a numerical change, but a shift in efficiency that directly reduced the time required for comprehension.
First and foremost, he would require far less time to comprehend the Runes. Whereas earlier he required almost 1687 years to comprehend 1% if he had started from scratch, he would now only require around 119 years to comprehend 1% of the total Rune.
The difference was just like heaven and earth. And if we talked in terms of the outside world, that would be around only one month to comprehend 1% of the total Rune.
Broken.
Absolutely broken.
That was the only thing that came to his mind. Yet instead of feeling uneasy, he felt giddy. The slight grievance toward the will of the Rune in his heart quietly vanished, replaced by excitement at this overwhelming advantage.
I will forgive him this time because I am feeling quite good...
Ash thought with a satisfied smile on his face, his earlier frustration dissolving almost embarrassingly fast in front of such benefits.
He also checked his status window, and his body outside was forming splendidly. After the formation of the heart, veins, or rather mana veins, began spreading out from it. They extended gradually, branching outward and taking shape with careful precision, forming a network that would later carry his power. The structure was stable and orderly, and there were no signs of instability.
All in all, everything was going well. From the speed of his body formation, he could summarize that he still had quite some time left inside his Soul Space before it would be completed.
Thus, without any waste of time, Ash met with Eric for a while and instructed him to do something.
Hearing his words, Eric was so shocked that he looked at Ash as if he had just heard something impossible, his eyes widening and his posture stiffening in disbelief.
"You are serious?" Eric asked slowly, as if hoping he had misunderstood.
Ash simply nodded and repeated his instructions calmly, explaining the general direction and what needed to be done. His tone was steady, leaving no room for doubt.
After Ash assured him once more, a faint sense of hope ignited within the heart of the Unicorn Prince. It was fragile, but it was there, flickering behind his eyes.
After giving him the general direction and clarifying everything that needed to be handled, Ash did not linger any further.
He turned and once again jumped back into comprehension, focusing his mind with renewed determination.
Soon, 119 years passed.
Ash in these years comprehended another percentage of the Rune of Truth, bringing his total comprehension to 2%. The long years inside his Soul Space did not feel wasted. Each glyph he understood settled quietly into his mind, as if carving itself into his very being.
**
[Rune Comprehension]
Rune of Space - 0.000000772% (0/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Truth - 2.008% (520/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Balance - 0.000000386% (0/25,920 glyph)
**
A total of 520 Runes were comprehended by Ash. And if looked from another perspective, Ash comprehended one Runic symbol of the True Rune.
This Runic symbol’s meaning is solely centered around the concept of ’Witness’.
It grants the authority to witness all kinds of truths, whether hidden, twisted, or deliberately concealed.
If one were to ask what its use was, the answer would depend on creativity. By using this symbol along with other compatible glyphs, Ash could create an artifact and imprint this symbol onto it. That artifact could then allow others to perceive hidden truths and details that were not easily visible to the naked eye. Illusions, concealed intentions, disguised formations, even subtle inconsistencies in reality could be exposed depending on how it was structured.
It was just a simple example, but that was the gist of what it could do. The true potential of a symbol depended on how it was combined and applied.
After comprehending 2% of the Rune of Truth, Ash stopped and decided to switch to another Rune. This time he chose the Rune of Knowledge.
Since Truth allowed him to witness, Knowledge would allow him to understand what he witnessed.
And thus he again began his comprehension.
Time continued to pass, years and centuries passing by in steady silence, with nothing marking their flow except the slow increase of understanding within his mind.
During this time, Ash continued his comprehension and even then took some time out to ponder on the future prospects of how to shape his Weapon Art and Movement Art.
The years inside the Soul Space were long, but his mind never stayed idle. While one part of him comprehended glyph after glyph, another part quietly planned ahead.
He had a general idea how to move forward, which was to use the Runes as the base to create the Weapon Art and Movement Art.
The strokes of the various glyphs and runes could be used as the strikes of a weapon.
Moving the weapon in the air as if writing a rune in the air, but with subtle knowledge about their meaning and structure, he could achieve infinite combinations and achieve infinite results through them.
Although his goal was ambitious, he was not the one to give up. Because he was certain that if he could create a Weapon Art like this, it could not be replicated by anyone unless that person could comprehend the Runes.
Which they cannot, because the Runes are in Ash’s possession. Even if someone copied the outward movements, without understanding the essence of the glyphs, they would only imitate empty forms.
The same concept he also considered for the Movement Art, though he was not sure whether he should use internal energy circulation as the strokes of the Runes for movement, or rather perform subtle movements of his lower body to achieve the results.
Using internal circulation would make it more hidden and refined, but external movements might allow stronger manifestation and better coordination with his weapon.
They both had their merits and demerits.
Still, Ash was only making plans. They could only be executed after he comprehended various glyphs of various Runes, so that his foundation would be stable enough to support such creations.
And that is what he did in the span of 3570 years.
Counting the previous 1687 years, Ash spent total of 5257 years to achieve a satisfactory result that he felt was enough to start other tasks such as the creation of his Weapon Art and Movement Art.
And now his Rune Comprehension window looked something like this:
**
[Rune Comprehension]
Rune of Space - 1.003% (260/25,920 glyph))
Rune of Truth - 2.008% (520/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Balance - 2.008% (520/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Knowledge - 4.012% (1040/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Life - 5.324% (1380/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Death - 5.324% (1380/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Time - 1.003% (260/25,920 glyph))
Rune of Harmony - 6.019% (1560/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Concealment - 1.003% (260/25,920 glyph))
Rune of Stability - 2.008% (520/25,920 glyph)
Rune of Wish - 2.008% (520/25,920 glyph)
**
During all these years, Ash has stepped forward to comprehend every Rune and achieved the above results. He did not rush blindly, nor did he cling to only one path. Instead, he steadily moved through each Rune, ensuring that none of them were left completely untouched.
If one calculated them completely, it would be around 31%. That is to say, if Ash had decided to comprehend only one Rune, he would have reached around 30 to 31% in that single Rune by now.
But then he would not have comprehended the other Runes.
In fact, Ash wanted to comprehend the Rune of Truth to a total of 100% so that his comprehension speed would skyrocket after that. From a logical perspective, focusing everything on Truth seemed efficient, because once it reached completion, its passive effects could have accelerated everything else. However, he gave up that idea.
Why?
Simply because when he reached 1% comprehension of the Rune of Knowledge, he faced the Will of the Rune of Knowledge. Although he did not learn too much from it, since after saying a few things he was once again sent back inside his Soul Space, those few statements carried enough weight that Ash did not dare to ignore them.
First, he received the warning to beware of the Dark Sea. Ash did not fully understand what that meant. The term felt ominous and significant, but when he tried to question it further, the Rune did not answer his question.
Second, he was told to comprehend every Rune before his body was completed, no matter how little. The emphasis was clear. It was not about maximizing one Rune alone, but about touching each of them before a certain point was reached.
Thirdly, he learned about the Runes being sealed, and the reason why they did not communicate with Ash before. He also learned the reason behind why they were being awakened now. Their silence earlier was not absence, but restriction.
Ash needs to comprehend a higher percentage of the Runes to fully unleash the sealed Runes.
Other than that, he also learned the conditions to harness the true power of the Runes, which somehow coincidentally were the same conditions required to unseal the Runes.
Which was to have 100% comprehension and a strong body to harness the power of the Runes and third condition was not told to him. According to the Rune of Knowledge, he has already met the last condition, which he had no idea of how.
But when Ash asked who sealed the Runes and about other important mysteries such as where does Runes comes from, about the universe and many other things, the Rune went silent. There was no answer, no explanation, and in the next moment Ash appeared back inside his Soul Space.
After that, Ash continued to comprehend the other Runes, but no other Will of the Runes stepped forward to talk to him this time.
***