Magic, magic and some more magic!

Sat in his cave next to a cute little egg, Elias flipped the pages of the book in his hands quietly. He has been doing so for days on end, completely taken by the subject of runes. The young hunter was happy about the change of pace, discovering more and more about his magic affinity.

The introductory book on runes helped Elias learn a little history behind a few of the runic languages present. What he discovered was that the pantheons in this world are very similar to that of earth's; the Greek, Hindu, Egyptian, and Norse. And while the regions behind the naming of these pantheons does not exist on the physical map, they are apparently areas in the God realms. These realms are present in a separate plane on Eos; each realm housing a different pantheon.

The runic book he read provided him with two runes; both of which he was eager to master. The Sowilo rune {ϟ} and the Uruz rune {П}; symbols of Greek origin. It seems that both were of them were the easiest to use.

The Sowilo rune is described as the energy of the sun, and can help enchanters harness the fire element. It is a very strong symbol, the advanced form of which wields unimaginable power on par with the ferocity of dragon fire. However, in Elias's case; a beginner, the rune can only aid in providing light through the carved pattern. The activation of the rune straight forwardl, carving the symbol on a surface and channeling Aeter is enough to activate it.

Meanwhile the Greek Uruz rune is a bit more complicated. And I say Greek, to differentiate it from the Norse one; a rune he is yet to learn. The Uruz rune is one that blesses with vitality, physical power, endurance and life force. In addition to carving it, one's intent is key. One must have clear intentions when carving the rune in order to utilize the intended effect.

During the very early mornings Elias would practice his martial arts training, honing his strikes and stances. He would finish training and directly head back to the cave, carving runes all around advancing his proficiency. The walls of his humble shelter have been filled with runic scribbles; all failed attempts at successful runic enchantment.

You see, the world recognizes runes as a magical concept, thus no rune is carved without the sacrifice of Aeter. Should one attempt to draw the symbols haphazardly, injury is nigh inevitable.

Elias would sometimes find himself using too much Aeter to draw, other times to little; resulting in many errors. Some would explode, others would break the medium it is used to empower.

The runic amateur witnessed firsthand how much finesse runes require, they were evident all over the cave walls. Some of the runes had a stroke too wide or one too thin, Resulting in the cave walls breaking off or worse exploding.

'Alright, I only have one chance.'

Elias took a sharp breath and creased his eyebrows. He placed his trusty hatchet on an elevated piece of earth, and poised his finger atop it; over which a fine blade like crystalline energy solidified.

Elias traced his finger upon the wooden surface just under the metal blade, moving it vertically in a zigzag fashion; just like a lightning bolt.

As the symbol was completed, and the last stroke formed, he briskly removed his finger and the energy retreated into his body with a whooshing sound.

The young boy panted heavily as beads of sweat trickled from his forehead onto the silver blade.

'Just one more step to go, you've got this!'

Elias cheered himself up while he regained his composure. He waited till his breathing returned to normal and then brushed his hand over the rune. Energy seeped from his palm nourishing the symbol with Aeter and empowering the symbol.

"Sowilo"

Just as Elias muttered the name of the rune, the little egg beside the fire was dyed red, as a strong red light from the symbol illuminated the cave.

The rune was rough, and needed more work but Elias was satisfied for now. He waived the runed hatchet around in the cave overjoyed with his work.

"BAHHAHAHAH, see that! I'm a genius little birdie, I'M A GENIUS"

###

The next day, Elias woke up early and practiced staff arts as usual. He struck and thrust, he swept and performed overhead strikes.

All around him were wooden dummies marked with an "X", representing vulnerable area almost all living beings would possess. Elias danced among the targets, like a raging storm raining punches, kicks and staff strikes. Sometimes, he would even use magic to raise himself off the ground and creatively attack the opponents.

Walking out from the tree line, Isaac looked at his son's display with a smile

"What's gotten into you boy, you're gonna tire yourself out before the day even begins."

Elias abruptly stopped his onslaught upon the wooden dummies and ran over to his father in glee.

"I did it dad, I finally did it!"

Isaac was confused. He had only been away for a day, what could have happened.

"Did what Eli?"

"Follow me dad! I'll show you, C'mon hurry up!"

Elias eagerly led his father into the cave as an excited grin made its way to his face. The large man was shocked at his son's behavior. Just what could Elias be this excited about?

'What's going on…?'

Isaac did not get to complete his train of thought as he was taken aback by what he saw in the cave. Scribbles littered the walls of their shelter which Isaac recognized to be runes. Even though they were not complete and only a small percentage were barely flickering, they were undoubtedly runes.

But this could not be, even the simplest of runes take practitioners with years of experience a long time to complete.

'Preposterous, am I supposed to believe a five year old only months into his magic studies and weeks into his runic ones was able to carve incomplete runes?'

Isaac looked at his son in awe, his gaze containing wonder and pride far beyond what a childless man could understand. He raised him by the scruff of his tunic and laughed loudly, his voice bouncing around in the cave walls.

"BAHAHAAHAH, YOU BRILLIANT BOY; those runes you drew take an average runic scholar years to achieve! Well Done! Very well done Elias!

The proud father was overjoyed, all his worries of the future and the sadness his heart held seemed to melt in these moments with his beloved son.

'Not only is Eli an excellent hunter and a magical prodigy, but he's a rune genius!'

Isaac was lost in his thoughts as his laughing fit ensued. Taken away by his thoughts he was late to notice the weird silence from Elias. The young boy tugged on his father's beard and looked at him befuddled.

"What are you talking about dad? These are all failed attempts. And d-don' worry about the walls I was gonna fix them I swear! Any ways just let me down, let me show you the hatchet."

Not sure what to do, Isaac just listlessly nodded and let the boy down.

The boy walked further inside where the light was scarce. He tapped his leg on the ground and raised a stump of earth, almost up to his elbow. He then took out his hatchet from his dimensional ring and smirked at his father.

"Sowilo" Elias muttered before he threw his weapon into the air. A red light shone powerfully through the rune on the wooden body just behind the blade, lighting up the cave.

Isaac's jaw hung loose, unable to process what happened. Much to the misfortune of his stunned heart, the poor man's son gave him another shock.

The hatchet twirled once and twice before it landed in the young boy's hand and another rune shone on the silvery metal. The rune had an earthen brown color and pulsed with strength as veins branched from its center and covered the whole blade.

"URUZ"

Contrary to the activation of the previous rune, this one needed a strong and loud voice as well as clear intent.

Elias yelled the name of the rune and swung the hatchet downward with sizeable strength cleaving the earth straight in half.