Other than those things, there were two more matters that Ash had to keep in mind, and both of them were not small.
That was, if his comprehension of a certain Rune reaches 10%, that particular Rune can communicate with Ash anytime. It would no longer require a special trigger or a fixed threshold like the first 1%.
From a certain perspective, that could be extremely helpful to Ash, because having direct guidance of Runes could be quite valuable, but it ultimately depends on the Runes if they want to help Ash.
Another important thing that he learned was that after reaching a certain percentage of comprehension, one has to go through certain kinds of trials.
Generally, there are three trials per Rune, which occur at 33.33%, 66.66%, and 99.99%.
These were not random numbers, but fixed milestones that marked qualitative change rather than just quantitative growth.
The Rune of Truth, however, did not wait for Ash to reach 33.33% and instead initiated the trial at just 1%, which was clearly not normal. But that also meant Ash would not have to take any trial at 33.33% for the Rune of Truth, since the first checkpoint had already been bypassed in an unconventional way.
As for why the Rune did that, Ash had no idea. From what he understood, if a Rune truly wished to test its bearer, it could initiate a trial at any point. It was ultimately up to the will of that Rune.
Even so, why was this trial held in the first place? There were two reasons.
One was to see if the inheritor was worthy enough to possess the Rune. The other was to temper their will and mindset into something capable of encompassing all and nothing.
It was not merely a test of strength, but a shaping process.
That means, if counting the 25 Runes, Ash would have to undergo 75 trials just to forge a mindset and heart that can encompass all and nothing.
As for what this all and nothing truly meant, Ash had his own guesses, but there was no certainty in them. He could only move forward and discover the meaning through experience.
But if one were to say that this was all he gained in these long years, it would be a lie.
There was another thing that Ash came to understand after comprehending the Runes.
And it was...
The Ranking of the Runes.
To be honest, nobody told him the ranking. No Rune explained it to him.
Ash simply analyzed the information available to him and reached a conclusion based on patterns he noticed during his comprehension. It might be false, but Ash was 80% sure he was right, because the difference in depth and complexity between certain Runes was too clear to ignore.
Ash divided and ranked the Runes into three tiers.
**
Tier 1 : Harmony, Truth, Knowledge, Wish.
Tier 2 : Life, Death, Space, Time.
Tier 3 : Stability, Balance, Concealment.
**
With Tier 1 being the highest and Tier 3 being the lowest.
This ranking was based on the amount of concepts and knowledge stored in each Rune. Even though each Rune has 72 Runic symbols and each Runic symbol has 360 glyphs, that did not mean they were equal in weight or depth.
Not every Runic symbol or glyph is the same. They contain different amounts of knowledge and information depending on the Rune they belong to. Some glyphs feel simple on the surface, while others seem layered, as if one meaning hides behind another.
For example, the amount of knowledge contained in one glyph of the Rune of Stability and one glyph of the Rune of Truth was completely different.
The glyph of Truth carried broader implications and deeper connections between concepts, while the glyph of Stability felt more limited in scope. Because of that difference, the time taken for their comprehension was also slightly different.
Ash believed that the more knowledge a Rune contains, the more powerful it is. That was the logic behind his ranking.
But Ash was only 80% sure, because who knows if the knowledge contained in the Tier 3 Runes would expand and reveal greater depth as he continued to comprehend them.
What seems lesser at a low percentage might not remain so forever.
"So much time has passed....lets see what Eric is doing....."
Ash muttered under his breath as he walked out of the darkness of the Soul Tree, his steps slow and steady as if adjusting himself after years of silent comprehension.
It was then that he noticed something different.
"Hmm? Is this.....mana...?"
Ash’s expression visibly changed as he felt energy permeating his Soul Space, brushing against his senses like a gentle current flowing through still water.
Only then did he truly look around and realize that his Soul Space had changed a little bit. The black waters below his feet felt darker, deeper than before, as if they could swallow light itself. The sky above was a pristine, clean azure, stretching endlessly without a single flaw.
But the atmosphere was darker than usual, as if shadowed by something vast, and yet there was still enough light to see everything clearly, as though the darkness and light had reached a silent agreement.
And most of all, the Soul Tree felt even larger than before. Its previous size was already larger than the World Tree, but now it felt as if two World Trees were fused into one, its trunk thicker, its branches stretching wider, its presence dominating the entire space.
It was humongous.
"The Soul Tree size has shadowed the light coming from the azure sky, but still its own light has illuminated the whole space....."
A faint glow flowed from its bark and branches, soft but steady, spreading across the Soul Space and reflecting faintly over the dark waters below.
To be honest, the whole scene was just mesmerizing, as if it came straight out of a fantasy, something one would only imagine in legends yet now stood before him as reality.
And most importantly, he could feel some sort of energy filling the whole space. It was not mana.....Ash was confused at first, because the sensation was different. It was just too pure and felt more powerful than mana, denser and more refined, as if mana was only a diluted form of whatever this was.
Ash, in all these 3000+ years, had not left the residence of the Runes, thus he had no idea about all the changes he had experienced or how much his existence had transformed in silence.
Although he was curious, he did not open the status window, not yet.
Lets check on Eric first, I have neglected him enough and after meeting him and organizing all things, I will summon back Snow. She had been all alone in the outside world for years.....I would rather have her with him for some centuries so that she can grow up much faster....
The thought of Snow being alone outside for years made him feel slightly uneasy, even if he knew time flowed differently for her. And she was safe.
Still, he decided that before checking anything else, he should first see how things were progressing here.
Thus, after taking in the scenery around him, Ash first went to the library. And seeing the state of library....Ash was speechless....
"What the hell? Did a storm came here or what....?"
All around him, books were scattered here and there, lying open as if someone had been flipping through them in a rush. Some were thrown aside carelessly, pages slightly crumpled, while others were stacked in uneven piles that looked ready to collapse at any moment. Papers and all sorts of large diagrams, filled with complex lines and unfamiliar patterns, were spread across the surroundings as if intense planning or research had been taking place for a long time without pause.
In fact, Ash felt as if he was not in a library, but in the research place of a crazy scientist who had lost track of order in pursuit of some grand design.
He hasn’t gone Crazy....has he...?
He looked around carefully, his eyes scanning every corner, but did not find Eric. The atmosphere did not feel abandoned, rather it felt actively used, which only made the chaotic sight more confusing.
Thus, he teleported into his Soul Vault.
And was again stupefied to see that the things inside the Soul Space were visibly reduced. Shelves that were once filled with treasures and resources now looked noticeably emptier, and several items he clearly remembered storing were no longer there.
Ash felt a faint heartache rising in his chest at the sight, as if something precious had been taken away, but he put a stone on his heart and restrained himself from reacting prematurely.
There had to be a reason behind this.
He then moved towards the large room at the furthest end he could see.
There, he could clearly feel the presence of Eric.
***
A/N: Status window in the next Chapter. Coming soon.