Prime Originator

Within the inheritance room, time seemed to have flowed at a very quick rate, but in truth, time had always been constant. The only thing that changed was Leon's perception of it. 

Leon wasn't sure when he had seated him in a meditative position nor how long he had been digesting the information poured into his mind, but it had felt like a whole lifetime. The moment he opened his eyes, they glowed with newfound wisdom. 

"Truly magical. This feeling… it's like I, myself have practiced artifact forging, and studied runes for decades and not just some foreign knowledge instilled into me… To think the power of runes was capable of all this…"

"Runes, this mystical language was filled with limitless applications. The only limitation is one's own imagination in applying it."

Leon sighed sentimentally. What he received wasn't just knowledge of artificers, but the entirety of Arden's study into the runic language.

Arden's attainments in the runic language were so profound, he had also dabbled in formations and spiritual arrays.

While they all seemed like different professions, they all stemmed from the same source like different sides to the same coin, they were all based on the runic language and the power of runes. The only thing that differed and set them apart was their application of it.

Leon didn't know much about spiritual arrays, but from the inheritance he had received, spiritual arrays were very complex and compacted runic circles, constructed for single-use purposes by spiritual array masters.

If one wanted to construct a spiritual array, they are required a greater understanding of the runic language than artificers and formation masters. Also, only a spiritual array master can construct a spiritual array, but not just anyone can become a spiritual array master. 

A spiritual array master can become an artificer or a formation master, but an artificer or formation master cannot become a spiritual array master.

To be a spiritual array master, the most fundamental requirement was to be able to manifest their will, an ability that people with great inherent mental strength had a chance of awakening but not guaranteed.

'Mind over matter,' people call it.

The ability was crucial for shaping spirit energy in the world into runic circles with their mental energy to form the spiritual array, something only possible with mental energy due to its formless and illusory nature. 

Any other form of energy would either directly or indirectly interfere with the construction of the spiritual array.

It was a delicate process that required the greatest degree of control and concentration from the spiritual array master. The slightest mistake would render the whole process useless and one would have to restart from scratch.

However, it was said that spiritual arrays were immensely powerful, capable of rendering the heavens asunder.

No one knows whether this was true though. Spiritual array master was a profession that had died out since the spirit energy in Gaia had almost thinned into non-existence and had never regained popularity during Gaia's revitalization period.

"False Tribulation Array…"

Leon frowned. 

False Tribulation Array was supposedly an array capable of summoning the wrath of the heavens to smite one's enemies. The array was Arden's own invention and had never been tested. 

Although Leon's interest in the array was piqued, neither the current him nor Arden of the past was spiritual array masters. He was currently incapable of proving whether the array was grandiose as it was described or whether it even works. 

"Spiritual arrays are currently out of the question, but what should I practice first? Body Runes or artifact forging?"

Leon mused.

"Artifact forging is the safer route. Let's go with that. Engraving runes on one's body is a dangerous and delicate process. Although I have inherited the knowledge and the skill to carry it out, I won't know if this feeling is real or illusory until proven through practice." 

Leon decided with a frown. He was definitely not avoiding Body Runes because it was also a painful process… definitely not…

"But to begin artifact forging, it goes without saying that materials are needed, but more importantly… an artificer cannot do without his scribing pen."

A scribing pen was the most important tool for an artificer. Without it, they cannot engrave runes. An artificer's scribing pen was made with impeccable sharpness to carve runic lines on any object. These lines on its own are just ordinarily carved lines and a scribing pen would be no different to a carving knife.

What makes a scribing pen a scribing pen and distinguish runic lines from ordinary lines is its 'ink'. Anything conducive to energy can be used as the 'ink' of an artificer's scribing pen. 

In the Divine Realm, blood from high-level divine beasts was the most ideal 'ink', while the most common was liquified spirit energy.

Leon didn't want to seem ungrateful, but how can an artificer's inheritance not come with a scribing pen? The scribing pen of a great artificer like Arden Gilardi would definitely be a shabby one.

Glancing around, Leon was at a loss. The room was like a white canvas. It could not be any more blank and empty…

"Hmm?" 

Or perhaps not. Leon noticed an inconspicuous white wooden box that managed to blend with the background in one corner of the inheritance room. It was rectangular in shape and the size was quite appropriate for a…

Leon's breathing became haggard from excitement.

'Perhaps…?'

Leon quickly went over and picked it up before opening it.

'Sure enough, it really was a scribing pen.'

Leon began to study the scribing pen. It looked like fountain pens found in every stationery store within the Human Domain. 

The body was made of star meteorite and was filled with a black luster. The surface was smooth and plain with no runic engravings in sight, making it unremarkably ordinary at a glance. 

However, the butt of the pen was eye-catching due to a spherical purple jade that was embedded into it and held in place by five claws like a dragon's grip. In addition, the scribing pen was in pristine condition and hadn't been eroded by time, making it anything but ordinary.

"Ravenous Black." 

Leon found the engraved name on the nib's body. He presumed the interior of Ravenous Black was where the runic characters and circles can be found, and the tough exterior was designed to protect the delicate runes.

When Leon swept it with his divine sense, he was still caught by surprise. The number of runes found inside had exceeded his expectation.

There were defense runes, sharpness runes, toughness runes, shock absorbant runes, anti-erosion. Basically, every rune that improves Ravenous Black's defensive and carving capability was added.

In addition, there was a bunch of runic circles that formed a miniature formation inside the purple jade point to gather, compress and condense energy to be used as magical ink.

This was a scribing pen that would never run out of ink so long as there was spirit energy in the world to absorb. Leon began to see where the name came from. Not very creative he must say.

Within the white box, other than Ravenous Black, there was also a note that stated, "The destined one is not one who receives but one who uses effectively, the inheritance. Prove thy's worth and thou shall leave, or prove thee not and thou shall be forever buried here for the next fated one."

"Son of a…" 

Leon wanted to curse out loud when he read the note. His expression darkened like the looming clouds over one's head. He looked around but an exit did not exist. The inheritance room was fully enclosed and sealed off by white walls in all four directions. 

He came inside through the power of spatial runes. Most likely, he would also have to get out the same way.

On that note, he was required to find the spatial rune's activation point, or worse, create a spatial rune himself in order to himself get out.

"Ugh… like getting inside wasn't enough trouble. Now getting out is going to be difficult too."

"I can't stay here for long. There are people waiting for me outside and an unsettled business to attend to. I cannot let that bastard escape!"

"Hm…? Something's not right."

Suddenly, Leon became stunned as his eyes slowly widened. He had just remembered something significant. It was so significant that he shouldn't have forgotten it, and yet he had forgotten it anyway.

"What happened to my chest wound?"

Leon furrowed his brows when he tried to recall the stab he received previously. If memory served him right, he had yet to tend to his wounds since arriving in this space. 

However, there was no such wound when he inspected himself.

"Not even a scar was left behind… it's like the wound never existed… What is going?" 

Leon began to shake his head. Things were getting more bizarre by the moment.

"Why does the event feel like a distant memory that had happened decades ago when it should have only happened a day ago…?" Leon's frown deepened in self-doubt.

He began to recall the inheritance process that felt like a lifetime, reliving Arden's experience and making it his own…

Leon began to pale at a possibility. 

"Don't tell me I actually did spend decades absorbing the inheritance!?"

The further he thought about it, the more he felt that was likely the case! 

Absorbing the information from a book or two from the Whitespace was already enough to jam his head full for a period. If the full inheritance was jammed into his head at once, his mind wouldn't have been able to handle the burden and gone crazy.

But if he had really spent decades in this space, what had happened to the outside world during this time? How was the kingdom? His parents? His women? 

Leon slumped to the ground with a blank look.

'How can this be…?'