“Shouldn’t we start by, I don’t know, learning to create a rune first? How would learning what element I’m aligned to help me? Wouldn’t I end up learning all of the elements later anyways?” Akata was confused. He really just wanted to learn how to create runes so that he can learn more about his internal runes.

Tabet wasn’t displeased by Akata’s question at all. In fact he seemed pleased by it. “I was hoping you would ask that hehe. You see, like I said before runes are made by what you want them to do and how skilled you are. So in order to make a rune you will first have to align it with an element.”

“So an element like fire or water?” Akata asked.

“Well not necessarily. Elements can essentially be anything that is used to evoke spells. It can be fire, water, wood, illusions, light, etc. Pretty much anything. Since elements make the core of runes then to make a rune you will have to use an element. And let’s say you make a rune that uses a wood element but you aren’t skilled in wood at all, then you won’t be able form that rune. And by that logic we will have to constantly have you perform different runes in order to find out what you are skilled at. That is why it is easier to find out what element you are skilled in first.” Tabet said with utter confidence.

Akata now had a better understanding of how runes and elements worked. It wouldn’t make sense for him to keep making different runes in order to find out what element he was more skilled in.

“Now, to find out what element you have more skill in we have to perform a test. It’s a simple test.” Tabet waved his hand and made a green rune appear. He then pointed to the rune and it spun rapidly until it lost all of its luster and color. It didn’t produce any pressure and felt empty inside.

“This is a rune without any element.” Tabet saw that Akata was about to ask something but he cut him off and continued speaking. “Now I know what you’re about to say. How can I make a rune without an element if I just said you can’t make a rune without one. Well what I said was true.

I just made a wood rune and took the wood core out of it. This made it into a rune without an element. Remember, you can’t make a rune without anything to serve as the base, but you can take the core out of something that is already made.” Tabet smiled towards Akata. He saw that Akata’s face became one of understanding once again.

“To test what element you are aligned to, you have to imprint you own core into the empty rune. To do that just apply some of your cultivation base power to it.” Tabet smiled once again.

“That’s it? Just some cultivation base power?” Akata stretched his hand out toward the rune and applied some of his cultivation base power. The rune glowed between bright and dim for a moment. All of a sudden it flashed with a multitude of colors, going from purple to red to charcoal to more. All of these colors and more flashed by in the blink of an eye and then stopped on crimson.

Tabet’s eyes flashed with wonder and utter shock. This was something he had never seen before in his life. It was something he had only heard about in stories told to him. Having multiple colors flash in this test was normal, the more colors that flashed the more talented one was seen with the final color being the strongest. He himself had four colors flash for his rune before it stopped on green.

“What does this mean?” He muttered softly to himself. “He landed on an outer element. I’ve only heard of this happening before with my grandfather.” Tabet was shocked to the point he couldn’t move or speak.

“Is that normal? What does that mean?” Akata could see the shock on Tabet’s face.

“Ah! Sorry sorry. I forgot to explain what was going to happen. You see, during the test the rune will flash with colors. The more colors that flash the more talented you are seen as. And the final color to flash will be your strongest. Your color finished on crimson which is an outer element.

There are two types of elements in nature. They are inner and outer elements. Inner elements are normal elements such as air, wood, or blood. But… outer elements… they are on a whole different level.” Tabet was simply amazed and in wonder.

“What’s so special about outer elements then? What can they be used for? And what does the crimson color stand for?” Akata asked.

“Relax relax. I’ll get to it don’t worry. Outer elements are special because they are blessed and cursed by the energy of heaven and hell. The user of the element will therefore also be blessed and cursed by the energy of heaven and hell and will cultivate much faster than others. There are some other things but I’m not too sure about them. Hehe. But anyways, the crimson color is the element of the soul.”

“The… soul… Well ok then… And the soul element can do what exactly?” Akata said sounding disinterested.

“The outer elements are made up of pairs. For each curse of hell there is a blessing of heaven. Crimson is the color for the element of the soul and it pairs with violet, which is-”

Akata’s eyes went wide. “The color of chaos! So my power can combat the power of chaos or does that mean I can learn the power of chaos?” The way Akata saw it, either way would be worthwhile. It meant he could wield power that could match chaos. That was a supreme power amongst even the heavens.

“PRECISELY! The color of chaos!” Tabet wasn’t discouraged at all. He was just as enthusiastic as Akata was as if he had gotten the color of crimson. “An again… I’m not too sure about the power of the outer elements. I don’t know if you can train using the chaos element or if it is incompatible, but I do know that it is on the same level as chaos.” Tabet said with a wide grin.

“Ah! Now that we have found what elements you are more skilled in then let’s get started with creating runes. Since I’m nowhere near skilled enough with outer elements I won’t be able to help you there.” Tabet said with clear disappointment. “But maybe my grandfather will be able to help you out! If you can heal him I’m sure he will be happy to help you.”

At first Akata was highly discouraged about the fact that he couldn’t learn about using the soul element but then his eyes began to gleam. He then nodded his head in agreement.

‘If I can heal his grandfather I will of course be able to learn more about these outer elements. Well I can be patient for now. I’ll be able to set my foundation with runes and become accustomed to them. If I start off big I might cause some repercussions anyway.’ Akata tried to console himself.

“So how do we get started on creating runes? Is it some kind of long process of learning or perhaps I have to embed something into me?” Akata asked curiously.

“Mm… nope. Just focus on the element that you want to use and turn that element into a core. Each element has their own design that is used to make a core for the rune so to make the core you need to know the design of the element.

For the brief moment that your colors flashed I noticed that you had a purple illusion element. I also have one and know a basic design for a core.” Tabet waved his hand in the air again and a purple rune appeared in the air.

He pointed at the rune and the rune separated apart. A piece of the rune glowed brighter than the rest and flew out to hang in front of Akata. That piece of rune was a deep purple that flickered between illusory and tangibility.

“Study this design and focus on the illusion element within you. Then once you have imprinted the image within you, you should be able to just create a rune. It’s that simple. Of course creating more complex runes requires more effort, but you can worry about that after you get the applications of runes.” Tabet said. He then turned back into a red furred tiger and walked to a tree and started studying it.

‘So just focus on the illusion element within me? And copy the design? That’s all I have to do then? I thought it would be way much more work.’ Akata sat down cross legged and began to focus on the design in front of him.

The design was simple. It resembled a sun that also looked like a moon but was hidden within the clouds that also looked like waves. The design looked simple but had a hidden meaning within it that Akata couldn’t figure out. He focused all of his attention on engraving the image into his mind.

It didn’t take long at all to do this and Akata was done in few minutes. After that he closed his eyes and searched for the element of illusions. ‘What is an element supposed to feel or look like? I haven’t felt anything different about my body that made it seem like I had something else within me.’ Akata frowned while he was searching for the element.

Finally he gave a long sigh and opened his eyes. He looked at Tabet and gave another long sigh. “What is an element supposed to feel like?! I don’t have any idea what this illusion element is supposed to be and how am I supposed to make it into a core?”

Tabet turned from the tree and thought for a moment. “An illusion is there yet it is not there. That is what you are supposed to feel. Just like if you were trying to find a fire element. You wouldn’t find it in the middle of a lake?” He then turned back to the tree and no longer spoke.