Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 26 – Entry Exam

“I was able to refer you to him but to become his apprentice is not an easy task, it’s very much up to you. Your performance will be the deciding factor.” Lin Zi Yan’s well defined eyebrows moved as she answered, this meeting was a serious matter to Zi Yan because it was her who discovered Ye Wei’s talent and as such her duty to follow up.

Zi Yan was under the impression Ye Wei was acting nervous and weird because of their meeting with Master Yi, “If I were you I wouldn’t worry too much.” She tried to calm his nerves. “Your soul sensitivity is very strong, I would even say it’s close to a qualified Runemaster’s level. You are young and may not have sufficient knowledge on runes. You need to be familiar with about seventy-two volumes worth of runic knowledge before becoming a Runemaster. I guess for now that’s what you have to focus the most on. But I’m sure if you’re going to study under Master Yi, he will go through the “Sacred Rune Anthology” with you himself, coupled with his training you will become a Runemaster for sure!”

Lin Zi Yan had a relaxed smile on her face as she placed her hand behind Ye Wei’s shoulder then winked at him.

She could only do so much to encourage him when she didn’t know what his concerns were. For Ye Wei though meeting Master Yi was something far bigger than himself because his future was not as important as the family’s.

In the Zhou dynasty, Runemasters were very rare, the amount of Runemasters has decreased over the years. The influentials noticed the trend and therefore will do anything to befriend them and try not to get on their bad side because they need the Runemasters more than the Runemasters need them.

“I will do my best!” After a lot of thinking, Ye Wei realized the best thing he could do was get Master Yi’s approval, to befriend the Runemaster!

‘If I perform phenomenally and am nice, Master Yi might like me on a personal level! Then I can ask him to help us!’

The runicle was nimble, it traveled through half of Green Moon City in the time it would take you would finish a cup of tea. They stopped next to a small mountain near the edge of town.

Mount Yu Ying was just tall enough to be called a mountain, but citizens always remembered it as a taller mountain than it really was because of who lived there.

On the top of the mountain inside a forest of purple bamboo sat a cottage made from bamboo, next to the cottage was a minimalistic courtyard and some open space where the runicle parked itself.

“We’re here!”

Lin Zi Yan exited the runicle leisurely followed by the anxious Ye Wei.

“Master Yi lives here?” Ye Wei was in awe this place could not look any more ordinary.

In Ye Wei’s mind, Master Yi was a god like figure, mysterious and untouchable. An influential person who lives in massive palace, not the ruins that were in front of him. It was the complete opposite of what he had imagined.

A dull small mountain, a messy courtyard, and a simple bamboo house, how can anyone with standards live here?

“Master Yi!” Lin Zi Yan stood in front of the courtyard and called for the Runemaster with a loud a clear voice.

“Boom!”

As Zi Yan’s words left her mouth, sounds of a vigorous explosion came from the purple bamboo house followed by someone falling on the doorsteps. The unkempt old man in rags screamed as he clumsily ran into the courtyard. ”Ouch!”

“Failure! Failure again! I don’t remember creating a mid level Myst stance being this hard!” The old man spoke to himself as he dug his fingers through his loose hair, scratching his scalp.

“Master Yi!” The Runemaster’s disarray made Lin Zi Yan embarrassed. She put her palm on her face and laughed awkwardly at Ye Wei.

Ye Wei could not believe his eyes. ‘This sloppy guy is Master Yi? His face looks like an old shoe!’

This was in no way how Ye Wei expected it, he’s a dirty geezer!

“Hey cutie, when did you get here?” He finally noticed Zi Yan’s arrival and looked at the two with a silly grin on his face.

“Just now actually, this is Ye Wei the boy I spoke to you about!” Zi Yan smiled back and introduced the Master to Yi Wei, entering the house as they spoke.

“Greetings! Master Yi!” Ye Wei immediately bowed down respectfully.

Master Yi’s face turned straight all of a sudden, and he stared at Ye Wei with a penetrating gaze. Ye Wei felt a shiver go down his spine, he felt completely transparent. He gained respect for the Runemaster, this kind of presence he just felt was extraordinary.

“Impressive soul sensitivity!” Satisfied by what he was looking at Master Yi gave him a nod of approval.

“This cutie here said you refined Triple Tidal Palm, and that there is now a mid level Spirit version of the stance?” Master Yi asked Ye Wei openly while he looked at Ye Wei carefully from head to toe as if it was some kind of inspection.

“You relied solely on your soul sensitivity when you upgraded the stance right? That is a good start!”

“Humm, I should test your runic knowledge and rune consonance before anything else. Soul sensitivity alone can’t count as a good foundation if you want me to train you!” Master Yi played with his patchy beard as he spoke.

“Rune consonance?” Ye Wei hesitated, he has never heard of this term before.

“That’s right, to become a Runemaster you need all three to be at a high level!”

“The most valuable trait of a Runemaster is the ability to create stances. How well one can manipulate runes and how much energy you can get out of the runes is determined by your rune consonance level. If you can’t manipulate them and unleash the runes power you can’t possible create anything and there will be no point continuing if your consonance is bad!

“But Master Yi, Ye Wei is not a seven star Student yet, he doesn’t have enough Qi to draw runes!” Lin Zi Yan was concerned about her student’s future.

“Don’t worry about that, I have a method!” Master Yi giggled. As a Runemaster he had many special tricks up his sleeves!

Ye Wei was getting increasingly nervous, not even knowing what rune consonance was before being tested on it; he felt he was out of his depth.

“This is the Runemaster apprenticeships entry exam from last year. I will give you six hours to do as much as you can. I would like to see what level your runic knowledge is at from the result.”

Master Yi looked around his desk and found a thick stack of books which he then passed to Ye Wei.

“Okay!” Ye Wei nodded, he quickly took the stack of books off Master Yi’s hands, time was of the essence, his cousins’ lives were at risk back home in the arena.

Ye Wei didn’t wait, he picked up the books and started right away. After reading the first question he immediately froze…