Nahn's Premise (2)

And after that, days passed.

The phantom had actually taught them with patience. From unlocking their rune cores to how to control its flow, and output it, the phantom had taught it all, within the span of the first week.

Nahn specially, learnt with the highest conviction among the four. He learnt at a spectacular speed that even the phantom praised him for. Days passed well... tiring for them but at the end of it, the Phantom had to move on to a new lesson. Rune Abilities.

Every rune core had their own abilities, often relevant to its design. Unlocking them, according to the phantom, was perhaps the hardest part for any rune mage. Although, its also the greatest boon.

"You human lots, to start, break this boulder I found."

said the phantom.

Scary as he was, in this one week the four survivors were quiet accustomed to him. To talk about the phantom there wasn't much, he wouldn't show any personality. So you could say that phantoms are mostly devoid of emotions but they definitely have a fain glint of it. That phantom also bore a stupendous physical prowess, even if he was not enhancing his powers by the rune energy.

The four thus watched him casually throw a massive stone boulder he carried on his shoulders and threw it near them.

"Break it! Then we will proceed to the next lesson."

"Break this!? It's too huge." Aster rebutted him. Well truly, it was massive. And they were complete novice in this runic magic.

"I have no time so it must be like that. So force yourself. Four of you try at once. Simply break the boulder, that's all." he paused, "If you can't break such a slim boulder, never in a hundred years would you unlock the rune abilities."

Convinced, they didn't argue anymore.

Nahn flowed the rune energy through his body, it was a unique sensation every time considering how it was very differentiable from the basic blood flow. Quickly he gathered lots of his runic energies on the right palm, supported by his left arm catching it slightly supporting the flow.

Just like him, the other three followed.

Then together, in one side, they thrusted their palm in. True that one week was not nearly enough for them, but they had understood the principles, and the rest was simple training. Therefore, there was a chance, always.

A little hole appeared on the boulder as it was pushed aside too. He turned back at the Phantom who looked in dismay, "Not enough. Break the whole boulder."

Nahn estimated that they would require to do the same thing over twenty times to break it in that case. So he sighed. Even if he and Aster could actually do that, the other two would run out of runes.

'Well, the less time wasted, the better.' he thought.

"Let's finish it!" he shouted, trying to inspire his comrades.

Nahn repeated the same process, and a new hole appeared on the boulder. Again, and then again. The four put all their stamina in their work. After around ten swings, hands begging for peace, the latter two gave up as Nahn expected. Aster, he was sure that he wielded stamina even more than him, strangely. So they went on.

Exactly eighteen swings it was.

Then the massive boulder split apart.

"Dang! You have gotten stronger..." Aster complimented all of a sudden.

"Have I?"

The Phantom, being a statue audience from afar moved his weird legs to come closer. "You two, might learn it. But you two..." he said, pointing to the ones sitting down, exhausted, "will take a long time."

Nahn looked back at the Phantom. He knew that this monster wouldn't give them a minute of rest. But he did, that day.

The phantom paused for a while and started a lecture.

"Rune abilities... are unique to every person. To realize what your rune ability is... look at your rune core. Your ability has to be similar to it." he looked at Aster, "Your rune core represents a storm. So will be your rune ability. You can use weapons of pure air, perhaps lighting too. And with enough mastery, one day you might perhaps see the rune core before you. That day, you would bring a storm yourself."

Surprised, Aster asked the Phantom, "So, I have mastered my runic ability when I can see the rune core before me... as in.." he couldn't explain it well.

"Indeed."

That meant, Aster's rune core is a storm. So if he is able to bring a storm with his runes someday, he has achieved mastery over his rune. Not that it was the highest potency of the rune, just that he was now a master of his rune.

Nahn understood. And asked the phantom, "but the rune energy itself, isn't it just an unseen physical force? How can it... do stuff like that?"

The phantom didn't answer immediately. When that happens, it always means that he was preparing for a long answer. That the two knew.

"The concept of runes is beyond your body. In fact, you are surrounded by runic energy. You just don't realize it. With the apocalypse, the earth was encompassed by a massive runic force, so the energy is everywhere. So it's not just an unseen physical force... not even the unseen...," he paused again.

"One's rune core is unique. Despite the basic runic energy, it can indeed produce a different rune. A rune that can be seen, seen only by the wielder however, as the runic ability and the wielder is spirituality connected. Using that special runes, you unlock the abilities. Abilities, I repeat. Not only one, neither two. In fact, you can learn anything relevant to your rune core, or what it represents."

The phantom stopped. Taking a glance at the four humans. Aster and Nahn were listening with the highest focus, and the other two were groaning behind. Quiet hopeless they were. His bee-shaped eyes formed an enraging stare, which haunted the meritorious two. It was the first time they saw the Phantom angry.

But then, it began explaining again,

"So, Aster, your rune core is a storm. It consists of rain or water, thunder or electricity and thunderclaps, thus sound. You can learn abilities of them. And Nahn, your rune core is a roaring tiger on a hill. That is rather hard to explain, but perhaps nature, beast taming, and the tiger's roar, as in... sound again? Animal runes are strange."

"You said my mastery is in being able to replicate my rune core. Does that mean, I could perhaps build a hill and create a viscous tiger by that logic? When I reach its mastery." asked Nahn, elated.

"Most likely..." and the Phantom nodded in reply.

"Now, how do you unlock your abilities?" he raised a question.

"Since what we want is the unique type of rune inside our rune core, perhaps sorting the core? Somehow. " answered Nahn, raising a hypothesis.

"We can barely feel the core and you want to sort things inside it?" Aster just refuted him.

The phantom looked pleased, which was an another emotion to discover from him.

"Aster is right. But Nahn isn't wrong either. Even I am surprised how quickly you figured it out. In fact, what you need is to use up or at least radiate each bit of mundane rune energy out of your rune core. So the unique rune energy may release itself. And that is when you gain a control over the core. You can simply feel it. And only then you can really sort the two energies in a balanced way as both regenerate over time... but if you use the basic runes too much, that will suppress your unique runes. While if you use your unique runes too much, you will suppress your basic runes."

'Is that the real reason behind making us crush that boulder?' thought Nahn, impressed and excited.

"Have I anything else to explain? Of course I have. I could teach the deepest secrets of runic magic to you. But truly, this is where my teachings end. "

The phantom clarified suddenly.

Aster and Nahn looked at him in shock. 'Is he going to leave!?', even the weaker two looked at him, taken aback.

"Will you just leave us then? What if those bad species of you attack us?"

"Train till you can fight them back."

"What if we die? Who will you take back at your... Dawn sanctuary or whatever you talked about?" Nahn protested, aggressively.

"Then you die. I know where a lot of survivors are alive and well. In fact, I showed you mercy by teaching you runes. Why did I? So that you kill some of us... "

"Then at least take us to the survivor's area!" protested Nahn, again.

"Head east, you will find them. Teach them runes as well, and create an army." said the Phantom.

What could be the cause that he was so eager to leave them? He had not the slightest interest in seeing his... students?... unlocking their abilities. Nahn sighed like Aster behind. The other two didn't even say anything.

The phantom though, looked as he does always. Like a monster.

"Then I shall take my leave. Survive, humans." he took a step back, click opening his wings out.

Nahn didn't even know why should he stop him now. As he said the other day, the phantom supposedly would always be aware of their positions somehow sensing it because they had used their output of runic energy inside him. So he doesn't intend to actually leave them to die, afterall.

Maybe it's just a test.

Maybe only.

The phantom was floating a feet above the land. How strange did it look? How unbelievable would it sound before the apocalypse?

The past is burnt and reduced to ashes though. So the phantom took his leave, without uttering another word.

Aster went behind putting his hands on Nahn's shoulders as they watched him vanishing into the horizon. Such a terrifying speed. Obviously unlike regular phantoms that Aster had witnessed.

That was how their meeting with the green phantom came to an end. That phantom came like an angel and gave them every guidance they needed. And then simply vanished out the horizons, just like that.

---

'Simply vanished like it appeared... without a hint. Just like the dawn sky.' thought Oisin, as Nahn finished his story.

"What did you do then?" he asked.

"Ah, and then we four travelled towards the east for one whole week and reached this camp. We battled a phantom in our way. That's right, I killed a phantom."

'That was... a lot to take in...'

"How bizarre...!" Oisin sighed.